Enlargement

The European Economic Community, founded in the 1950s and now known as the European Union (EU), originally had 6 members: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. A further 22 countries have since joined the EU, including a historic expansion in 2004 marking the re-unification of Europe after decades of division. As of 1 February 2020, the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union.

The EU enlargement policy currently covers Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.

The Treaty on European Union (Article 49) sets out that only European countries that respect EU values and are committed to promoting them may apply to join the EU. The application process can only be launched at the express wish of these countries, and with the agreement of all existing EU Member States.

To make the process objective and transparent, the Member States have set out a number of rules and criteria to help them decide when an applicant country is ready to join the EU and become a member. These criteria refer to:

the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the protection of minorities (political criteria);
the existence of a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competition and market forces within the EU (economic criteria);
the ability to take on the obligations of membership (e.g. applying EU legislation).

In addition, the EU must be able to integrate new members, so it reserves the right to decide when it is ready to accept them.

For the western Balkans, additional conditions apply, mostly related to regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations (the ‘Stabilisation and association process’).

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.