Week 4: Enlargement

Question 1

When was the first enlargement of the EU? Who entered?

Answer 1

-Early 1970s
- Denmark, the UK, Ireland
- De Gaulle thought that the UK was economically incompatible with the 6

Question 2

When was the second enlargement and who entered?

Answer 2

1981, Greece

Question 3

When was the third enlargement and who entered?

Answer 3

1986, Spain and Portugal

Question 4

When was the fourth enlargement and who entered?

Answer 4

1995, Austria, Finland, Sweden

Question 5

When was the fifth enlargement and who entered?

Answer 5

2004, Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.

Question 6

What is the actual status of Cyprus?

Answer 6

• The whole island has a “de jure” sovereignty, however, Cyprus is “de facto” partitioned into two areas: Southern part (Republic of Cyprus), and the northern part (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus)

Question 7

When was the sixth enlargement and who entered?

Answer 7

2007, Romania and Bulgaria

Question 8

when was the seventh enlargement and who entered?

Answer 8

2013, Croatia

Question 9

What is the Community acquis or acquis Communautaire?

Answer 9

The accumulated legislation, legal acts and court decisions that constitute the body of European Union law.

Question 10

What are the CEECs (central eastern European countries) principal challenges?

Answer 10

• The identity problem; language, religion, political ideology, national histories.
• Institutions and decision-making process
• Economic difficulties; less prosperous states, agriculture, slow economic adaptations
• External relations and policies: increased heterogeneity

Question 11

What are Outermost regions?

Answer 11

• territories or regions that belong to EU member states but are situated geographically far from the European continent.
• EU law and all the rights and duties associated with EU membership apply to the outermost regions.

Question 12

What are the challenges faced by outermost regions?

Answer 12

• Remote location, small size, difficult topography and climate, and economic dependence on fewer products.
• the EU has implemented specific measures and support systems to assist OMRs in overcoming their difficulties, including promoting economic diversification, improving infrastructure, supporting sustainable development, and offering financial assistance to boost regional growth and employment

Question 13

List some examples of Outermost Regions:

Answer 13

France’s OMRs 🡪 French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion Island, and Saint Martin.
Portugal’s 🡪 Azores and Madeira.
Spain’s 🡪 Canary Islands.

Question 14

What are Overseas countries and territories (OCTs)? List some examples:

Answer 14

• Located in the Atlantic, Antarctic, Arctic, Caribbean, and Pacific regions
  -They are not sovereign countries but depend on different degrees on the three Member States (Denmark, France and the Netherlands)
• OCTs are neither part of the EU territory nor of the EU single market
• they are of high political importance to the EU as a whole, they play a vital role as strategic outposts of the Union in the geographical areas where they are located.
• EXAMPLES: Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR)*, Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR)

Question 15

What are the membership conditions for EU candidates?

Answer 15

1. Legal requirements: Values: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men.
2. Copenhagen Criteria:
   - stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy
   - the rule of law
   - human rights, and respect for and protection of minorities
   - the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with the competitive pressures and market forces within the Union.

Question 16

What are the main steps to accession to the EU that a country has to follow?

Answer 16

1. The applicant country submits its application to the country holding the presidency of the Council of the EU
2. The European Commission makes an initial evaluation and submits its opinion to the Council of the EU
3. The council of the EU decides whether to consider the application and may set some conditions that need to be met before accession negotiations
4. Once negotiations are opened, the European Commission does the screening: a detailed examination, together with the candidate country, of each policy field (chapter), to determine how well the country is prepared
5. the acquis is divided into 35 chapters, each covering a specific policy area. The negotiation process aims to help candidate countries prepare to fulfill the obligations of EU membership.
6. After every criterion has been fulfilled the agreements reached are set out in an accession treaty, which must be signed by the candidate country and all EU Member States. The accession treaty must also win the support of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, and the European Parliament
7. After the accession treaty has been signed, it must be ratified by the acceding country and each individual EU Member State
8. The acceding country then becomes an EU Member State on the date specified in the accession treaty.

Question 17

List the reasons for brexit:

Answer 17

1. Sovereignty: distrust of multinational financial trade and defense organizations created after World War II; these IGOs take control away from individual nations; decisions about the UK should be taken in the UK.
2. Economics: The EU failed to address the economic problems of the last decade (unemployment, stagnation, etc.)
3. Political Elitism: Brexit was a vote against the British elite. Voters thought politicians, business leaders, and intellectuals had lost their right to control the system.
4. Immigration: Inflows of EU nationals migrating to the UK
5. European migrant crisis: Angela Merkel’s (germany) decision to open her country’s borders for more than a million refugees and illegal immigrants
6. Demographic and cultural factors; Age of voters: differential voting patterns among younger and older people. Britons felt less integrated with the EU than other European citizens.
7. Presentational factors during the campaign; Lies and misleading information
8. The role of the media; Many of the UK’s biggest selling newspapers have been arguing for Britain to leave the EU for many years.