Introduction"The
European Union is on the brink of one of the most important
decisions in its history. Enlargement to the East may
be the EU's greatest challenge, but I also believe it
is its greatest opportunity."
Tony Blair, 6 October 2000 Warsaw
The
Process of Enlargement
The
European Union’s biggest single expansion in membership,
since it was set up in 1957, occurred on 1 May 2004. Enlargement
is ongoing with Bulgaria and Romania, the next in line
to become EU members (Please see Timeline).
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Negotiations
were closed with ten countries in December 2002.
The Copenhagen Council of 12 and 13 December 2002 concluded
that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia would
become full members of the EU on 1 May 2004.
The
formal signing of Accession Treaties in Athens on 16 April
2003 brought EU enlargement a further step closer. Since
then, the new member states had been joining EU meetings
as observers, pending their full accession on 1 May 2004.
The EU Council of December 2004 confirmed the completion
of accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania, who
have an indicative accession date of 2007. -The European
Commission report in December 2004 concluded that Turkey
fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria for accession,
and will begin accession negotiations, on 3 October 2005
under the UK Presidency of the EU. It has also agreed
that providing Croatia cooperates fully with the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in
The Hague, negotiations with Croatia would commence on
17 March 2005 (this has now been put back).
Who
are the current members of the EU?
There
are 25 members of the EU. They are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Benefits
and Opportunities
The
UK is strongly committed to EU enlargement. Enlargement
will unite Europe in peace and stability alongside expanding
the single market. This will create commercial
opportunities for British businesses as well as wider
economic benefits for the UK.
The
UK has been at the forefront of the enlargement process.
The Prime Minister has actively promoted enlargement and
as the former Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook said, the
UK is a "champion of enlargement". Accession negotiations
were launched under the UK presidency of the EU in March
1998. The UK has consistently supported the early accession
of new members as soon as they are ready.
DTI
& EU Enlargement
The
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) leads on enlargement
overall and co-ordinates policy for the UK. Other government
departments lead in the negotiations
on their respective areas. DTI’s work on EU enlargement
has involved:
- Ensuring
DTI and UK business interests are represented in the
negotiations between
the EU15 and each applicant country. DTI is the key
department on single market issues, energy, competition
and industrial policy. DTI also has an interest in
areas such as environment, employment and social policy.
- Working
to help the accession countries prepare for EU entry,
particularly in respect of the single market, by providing
advice and technical assistance. DTI takes part in
the EC’s twinning and TAIEX (Technical Assistance
Information Office) schemes, designed to share expertise
from the current member states with the accession
countries. We also provide assistance bilaterally.
- Promoting
awareness of EU enlargement with British businesses.
For
general information on FCO’s work on enlargement please
see the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office.
For
more information on trade and investment opportunities
in the candidate countries please see UK
Trade & Investment.
For
more information please see
Frequently
Asked Questions
Related Speeches
Useful
Web links
Or
see our DTI publications
EU enlargement and the Single Market
Opportunities
for Business 
(784kb) - This DTI publication of September 2000 covers
the main issues surrounding Enlargement.
The Economic Reform
Agenda - Opportunities for Accession Countries - This
DTI publication of February 2002 explains the relevance
of the economic reform agenda to the candidate countries.
If
you have any questions please contact DTI’s enlargement
unit:
Enlargement
and Wider Europe Unit
European and World Trade Directorate
Department of Trade and Industry
1 Victoria Street
SW1H 0ET
Michael Porter
Tel: 020 7215 6078
Fax: 020 7215 2235
Email: michael.porter@dti.gsi.gov.uk
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