On May 1, 2004, ten new States became members of the European
Union. The European Union is now composed of 25 Member States.
Almost two years afterwards, data on the economic results of
membership for the ten new Member States made public by the Commission
shows that, for the fifth consecutive time since 1973, expansion
has produced wealth and prosperity in the new Member States and
has stabilized their political systems.
Expansion has been defined by some political commentators as
the European Union’s most successful foreign policy instrument.
The EU has used expansion to spread democratic principles, respect
of legality, human and minority rights, and a market economy in
the new Member States. The adhesion of new Member States has also
been subordinated to the introduction in their juridical systems
of the vast Community regulation.
The expansion of the Union is not yet complete. The inclusion
of Rumania and Bulgaria is already foreseen. Negotiations with
these two countries were concluded in 2004, and in 2005 the Adhesion
Treaty was signed. The adhesion of Bucharest and Sofia is expected
for January 1, 2007, or, at the latest, January 1, 2008.
On October 3, 2005, negotiations with Turkey and Croatia began.
The European Council of December 2005 granted Macedonia the status
of Candidate State, although it hasn’t yet been decided
when negotiations will start.
The result of expansion negotiations with the new candidate
States will depend on their respective merits. Negotiations with
Turkey will be long, and membership will not occur before 2014.
In any case, the final objective of membership of the candidate
States cannot be guaranteed in advance. As a matter of fact, the
result of membership negotiations depends on the candidate States’
full respect of current agreements with the European Union and
on the conditions placed upon them by the Member States.
The Italian Government has supported the expansion process.
At the same time, Italy has called to the attention of Member
States and of the Commission the need for attentive vigilance,
in order to guarantee the full respect of commitments and parameters
by the candidate States.
