On May 1, 2004, I celebrated EU enlargement with my students.

The greatest success of Europe s external policy has been EU enlargement.

Much sets us apart EU enlargement, agriculture, and domestic market issues.

Further EU enlargement is undoubtedly in Turkey s interest, and in Europe s, too.

One danger of the recent setbacks is a halt to EU enlargement.

Before enlargement, it was politically incorrect to discuss possible waves of migration to the West, as EU politicians saw this as an obstacle to the enlargement process.

The 2004 European Union (EU) enlargement stimulated useful exchanges of information but full harmonization was considered difficult.

Before enlargement, it was politically incorrect to discuss possible waves of migration to the West, as EU politicians saw this as an obstacle to the enlargement process. Now that enlargement has taken place, it is easier to discuss migration objectively.

EU enlargement brought greater prosperity, with living standards improving throughout the Union, particularly in the new member states.

The EU can continue muddle along with its one size fits all policy of enlargement lite in the region.

Instead, EU enlargement is being carried out according to what might be described as the principle of asymmetrical integration.

If Europe's social market model is to survive enlargement, it must find a way to expand eastward with the EU.

Ten countries joined the fifth enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004, having fulfilled the Copenhagen Criteria that contribute to institutionalizing EU standards for governance and public administration.

The Commission s own report on Turkey, prepared by Günter Verheugen, who was then in charge of EU enlargement, shaped my decision.

Since the enlargement of the EU large numbers of migrant workers have arrived in the Netherlands from central and eastern Europe.

Nor should today s uncertainties become an excuse to call into question the need to continue and complete the process of EU enlargement.

The most recent stage of EU enlargement last May added millions of Roma from the new member states of Central and Eastern Europe.

If the EU continues to be governed under the Treaty of Nice, there will be no room for further political integration or enlargement.

The EU bet here is that, on the back of Croatia s accession, the enlargement logjam in the western Balkans will finally be broken.

Both NATO and the EU have been forced to redefine how they function and rethink their purposes after a dual process of enlargement.

EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Štefan Füle insists that enlargement is progressing, but the western Balkans remains a fragile region, defined by mutually antagonistic nationalisms, incomplete state formation, deep and pervasive patterns of corruption, and endemic economic mismanagement.

The enlargement of NATO and the EU has embraced a dozen or so states in Central and Eastern Europe and in the western Balkans.

There is ample evidence from earlier enlargement rounds of the transformative power of the EU to democratize and Europeanize states in advance of their accessions.

Britain has continued to support EU enlargement, closer links with Turkey, and development in Africa, but it has not launched any creative initiatives to bring other member states along or change the terms of the EU debate.

On the contrary, it should finalize further enlargement the economic crisis has clearly demonstrated that the EU cannot afford black holes on the map of Europe.

It is also experiencing a profound economic crisis, which erupted around the same time that the Lisbon Treaty aimed at accommodating EU enlargement was finally approved.

Olli Rehn, EU Enlargement Commissioner, has stated that if Serbia and Montenegro continue to fail to hand over Karadžić and Mladić, those talks could be suspended.

The process of enlargement will either be delayed or stopped completely, because the EU can no longer admit new members on the basis of the Nice constitution.

Enlargement fatigue entered the European political lexicon in the wake of the dramatic failures of the French and Dutch referenda on the EU Constitutional Treaty in 2005.

Following the enlargement of the European Union, thirteen Republican organizations from all the monarchies of the EU on 1 May 2004, sent a petition to the European Parliament.

It can reinvigorate the spirit of earlier enlargement rounds, or it can succumb to enlargement fatigue.

The EU can continue muddle along with its one size fits all policy of enlargement lite in the region. Or it can work harder to turn balancers into joiners.

Refusing to countenance a fresh eastward enlargement means that, at some point, those countries that are outside the EU will start to threaten the values that he holds dear.

It is unworkable, and should thus be unthinkable, to try to export the solutions used in Eastern Europe, which were based on importing EU legislation with a view to enlargement.

After 1989, history has made EU enlargement indispensable, but, without institutional reform, a Europe of 27 member states will inevitably deliver ever worse and, to its citizens, increasingly disappointing results.

Enlargement of the EU is not only an economic duty to be borne by the richest nations it is also the recognition of a common history and a shared culture.

In 2009, for the first time since enlargement, more nationals of the eight central and eastern European states that had joined the EU in 2004 left the UK than arrived.

The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty allows for an element of visionary realism in European politics, as there are no longer any institutional obstacles to the future enlargement of the EU.

But, beyond the celebrations of the most recent enlargement round and preparations for the next one, it is time to ask what effect the enlarged EU will have on world affairs?

Call this the paradox of enlargement.

Then there are those who believe that EU enlargement has prevented greater deepening, and who, with scant regard for the past or the future, argue that pursuing the latter requires abandoning the former.

The fourth shock was eastern EU enlargement, which has brought extraordinary chances for trade and investment in the east, but has also brought massive low wage competition. On average, wage costs in the ten countries that joined the EU in 2004 are only 14 of the West German level.

Croatia s accession to the EU on July 1 provides a welcome boost to a region that has been placed on the back burner as a result of enlargement fatigue and the EU s crisis induced introspection.

The enlargement of the EU to include 27 states (with more to come) means that European institutions are likely to remain sui generis, and unlikely to produce a strong federal Europe or a single state.

The first issue concerns the continuation of enlargement.