8. EU Enlargement and Wider Europe

• Main Authors: Sedelmeier, Ulrich, Avery, Graham
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2018
• Subjects: Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hepl/9780198807490.003.0008; https://www.oxfordpoliticstrove.com/view/10.1093/hepl/9780198807490.001.0001/hepl-9780198807490-chapter-8?print=pdf

The EU has expanded many times and many countries still aspire to join. It has extended the prospect of membership to countries in the Balkans and Turkey and has developed a ‘neighbourhood’ policy towards other countries, some of which may want to join in the future. Enlargement illustrates the success of the European model of integration. It has also provided the EU with a powerful tool to influence domestic politics in would-be members. But enlargement also poses fundamental challenges. It has implications both for how the EU works (its structure and institutions) and for what it does (its policies). The chapter first compares ‘widening’ and ‘deepening’ before discussing enlargement as soft power. It then explains how the EU has expanded and why countries want to join. It also looks at prospective member states: the Balkan countries, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland. Finally, it examines the European Neighbourhood Policy.