Since the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, the Union has enlarged its membership seven times: what began as a community of six founding members has grown into a Union of 27 states. After a pause of more than ten years, enlargement is once again at the forefront of the European Union’s agenda.
As Montenegro and Albania edge closer to membership, and efforts to prepare for potential enlargement to Ukraine and Moldova accelerate, ENLARGE critically examines how previous enlargements have affected the Union and its citizens. What have been the key successes—and where have the major failures or blind spots emerged?
Enlargement is widely regarded as one of the Union’s greatest success stories. At the same time, each enlargement wave profoundly affects interests and values, rights and obligations, and political, economic and social relations across the continent. It can be both a driver of integration and a source of tensions.
Citizens’ perspectives are a core concern of the project. ENLARGE conducts cross-generational surveys to capture citizens’ memories of past enlargements as well as their expectations and concerns about future ones.
