Europe Beyond EU Enlargement

Abstract

Eastern enlargement of the European Union is a guidepost for a new pan-European policy. The current EU enlargement is less a solution bringing stability and sosperity than a challenge requiring new policies, caused by both pressure from Southeastern and Eastern Europe and European self-understanding. Post-conflict development in the Western Balkans is driven by the EU’s approach to stabilization and association, even if the transition of some countries concerned lags far behind Western standards. As reflected in the Ukrainian case, EU accession is also very attractive for some of the Soviet Union’s successor states. In addition to southeastern and eastern neighbors’ transition problems, European integration has to be modified if the Union is to retain its ability to act after enlargement. The processes of deepening and enlarging European integration will most likely reach a phase of consolidation after the Inter-Governmental Conference of 2003–04 and the accession of up to twelve states in 2004–07. Consequently, in order to shape developments beyond the outer border of the EU-25/27, in the Western CIS, Southeastern Europe and around the Mediterranean, a multi-layered Europe will have to be designed that does not rely solely on the attractiveness of EU membership for its strategic capabilities as a regional actor.