Collective Aspirations: The Territorial Expansion of the European Union

Definition

The territorial expansion of the European Union (EU) is commonly referred to as enlargement and is the process by which countries join the Union (European Council 2020). Any European country committed to respecting and promoting the EU values laid down in the Treaty of the EU, specifically Article 2, can become a member, as long as they meet the accession criteria. These criteria were decided upon at the European Council meeting in Copenhagen in 1993, thus referred to as the Copenhagen criteria (European Council 2020). They set out conditions for accession, namely that the country in question has stable institutions capable of guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and respect for minorities; that it has a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competition and market forces in the EU; and that it has the ability to take on and effectively implement the acquis and the obligations of membership (European Commission 2016). There have been...