The largest enlargement of the European Union (EU), in terms of number of states and population, took place on 1 May 2004.
The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries (sometimes referred to as the "A10" countries): Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Seven of these were part of the former Eastern Bloc (of which three were from the former Soviet Union and four were and still are member states of the Central European alliance Visegrád Group). Slovenia was a non-aligned country prior to independence, and it was one of the former republics of Yugoslavia (together sometimes referred to as the "A8" countries), and the remaining two were Mediterranean island countries, both member states of the Commonwealth of Nations and were part of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Part of the same wave of enlargement was the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, who were unable to join in 2004, but, according to the European Commission, constitute part of the fifth enlargement.
History
Background With the end of World War II in May 1945, Europe found itself divided between a capitalist Western Bloc and a communist Eastern Bloc, as well as Third World neutral countries. The European Economic Community (EEC) was created in 1957 between six countries within the Western Bloc and later expanded to twelve countries across Europe. European communist countries had a looser economic grouping with the USSR known as Comecon. To the south there was a non-aligned communist federated country – Yugoslavia.
Between 1989 and 1991, the Cold War between the two superpowers was coming to an end, with the USSR's influence over communist Europe collapsing. As the communist states began their transition to free market democracies, aligning to Euro-Atlantic integration, the question of enlargement into the continent was thrust onto the EEC's agenda.
Negotiations The Phare strategy was launched soon after to adapt more the structure of the Central and Eastern European countries (Pays d'Europe Centrale et Orientale (PECO)) to the European Economic Community. One of the major tools of this strategy was the Regional Quality Assurance Program (Programme Régional d'Assurance Qualité (PRAQ)) which started in 1993 to help the PECO States implement the New Approach in their economy.
The Acquis Communautaire contained 3,000 directives and some 100,000 pages in the Official Journal of the European Union to be transposed. It demanded a lot of administrative work and immense economic change, and raised major cultural problems – e.g. new legal concepts and language consistency problems.
Accession Malta held a non-binding referendum on 8 March 2003; the narrow Yes vote prompted a snap election on 12 April 2003 fought on the same question and after which the pro-EU Nationalist Party retained its majority and declared a mandate for accession.
Poland held a referendum on 7 and 8 June 2003: voting Yes by a wide margin of about 77.5% with a turnout of around 59%.
The Treaty of Accession 2003 was signed on 16 April 2003, at the Stoa of Attalus in Athens, Greece, between the then-EU members and the ten acceding countries. The text also amended the main EU treaties, including the Qualified Majority Voting of the Council of the European Union. The treaty was ratified on time and entered into force on 1 May 2004 amid ceremonies around Europe.
European leaders met in Dublin for fireworks and a flag-raising ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin, the Irish presidential residence. At the same time, citizens across Ireland enjoyed a nationwide celebration styled as the Day of Welcomes. President Romano Prodi took part in celebrations on the Italian-Slovenian border at the divided town of Gorizia/Nova Gorica; at the German-Polish border, the EU flag was raised and Ode to Joy was sung; and there was a laser show in Malta, among the various other celebrations.EU welcomes 10 new members, CNN 1 May 2004
Limerick, Ireland's third largest city, hosted Slovenia as one of ten cities and towns to individually welcome the ten accession countries. The then Slovenian Prime Minister Anton Rop was Guest Speaker at a business luncheon hosted by Limerick Chamber.
Progress
Event Czech Republic Slovakia EU Association Agreement 1 negotiations start 1990 1990 EU Association Agreement signature 4 October 1993 4 October 1993 EU Association Agreement entry into force 1 February 1995 1 February 1995 Membership application submitted 17 January 1996 27 June 1995 Council asks Commission for opinion 29 June 1996 17 July 1995 Commission presents legislative questionnaire to applicant Mar 1996 Mar 1996 Applicant responds to questionnaire Jun 1997 Jun 1997 Commission prepares its opinion (and subsequent reports) 15 July 1997 1997, 1998, 1999 Commission recommends granting of candidate status 15 July 1997 15 July 1997 European Council grants candidate status to ApplicantSee the 10th point of the Presidency Conclusions of the European Council in Luxembourg, 12–13 December 1997, European Council conclusions (1993–2003) 12 December 1997 12 December 1997 Commission recommends starting of negotiations 15 July 1997 13 October 1999 European Council sets negotiations start date 12 December 1997See the 11th point of the Presidency Conclusions of the European Council in Luxembourg, 12–13 December 1997, European Council conclusions (1993–2003) 10 December 1999 Membership negotiations start 31 March 1998 15 February 2000 Membership negotiations end 13 December 2002 13 December 2002 Accession Treaty signature 16 April 2003 16 April 2003 EU joining date 1 May 2004 1 May 2004 Acquis chapter 1. Free Movement of Goods x x 2. Freedom of Movement for Workers x x 3. Right of Establishment & Freedom to provide Services x x 4. Free Movement of Capital x x 5. Public Procurement x x 6. Company Law x x 7. Intellectual Property Law x x 8. Competition Policy x x 9. Financial Services x x 10. Information Society & Media x x 11. Agriculture & Rural Development x x 12. Food safety, Veterinary & Phytosanitary Policy x x 13. Fisheries x x 14. Transport Policy x x 15. Energy x x 16. Taxation x x 17. Economic & Monetary Policy x x 18. Statistics x x 19. Social Policy & Employment x x 20. Enterprise & Industrial Policy x x 21. Trans-European Networks x x 22. Regional Policy & Coordination of Structural Instruments x x 23. Judiciary & Fundamental Rights x x 24. Justice, Freedom & Security x x 25. Science & Research x x 26. Education & Culture x x 27. Environment x x 28. Consumer & Health Protection x x 29. Customs Union x x 30. External Relations x x 31. Foreign, Security & Defence Policy x x 32. Financial Control x x 33. Financial & Budgetary Provisions x x 34. Institutions x x 35. Other Issues x x
1 EU Association Agreement type: Europe Agreement for the states of the Fifth Enlargement.
Situation of policy area at the start of membership negotiations according to the 1997 Opinions and 1999 Reports.s – screening of the chapter fs – finished screening f – frozen chapter o – open chapter x – closed chapter
Free movement issues
As of May 2011, there are no longer any special restrictions on the free movement of citizens of these new member states.
With their original accession to the EU, free movement of people between all 25 states would naturally have applied. However, due to concerns of mass migration from the new members to the old EU-15, some transitional restrictions were put in place. Mobility within the EU-15 (plus Cyprus) and within the new states (minus Cyprus) functioned as normal (although the new states had the right to impose restrictions on travel between them). Between the old and new states, transitional restrictions up to 1 May 2011 could be put in place, and EU workers still had a preferential right over non-EU workers in looking for jobs even if restrictions were placed upon their country. No restrictions were placed on Cyprus or Malta. The following restrictions were put in place by each country;EU-25: Member States grapple with the free labour market, Euractive 17 August 2004
Austria and Germany: Restriction on free movement and to provide certain services. Work permits still needed for all countries. In Austria, to be employed the worker needs to have been employed for more than a year in his home country prior to accession. Germany had bilateral quotas which remained in force. Cyprus: No restrictions. Malta: No restrictions on its workers, but does have the right to migration into the country. Netherlands: Initially against restrictions, but tightened up its policies in early 2004 and said it would tighten its policies if more than 22,000 workers arrived per year. Finland: 2 years of transitional arrangements where a work permit would be granted only where a Finnish national cannot be found for the job. Does not apply to students, part-time workers, entrepreneurs, people living in Finland for non-work purposes, people who were already living in Finland for a year or people who would be entitled to work anyway if they were from a third country. Denmark: Two years where only full-time workers can get a work permit, if they had a residence permit. Workers did not get welfare but restrictions only apply to wage earners (all the EU-10 citizens can set up a business). France: Five years of restrictions depending on sector and region. Students, researchers, self-employed and service providers were exempt from the restrictions. Spain: Two years. Portugal: Two years, annual limit of 6,500. Sweden: No restrictions. Czech Republic and Slovakia: No restrictions. Poland: Reciprocal limits, only British and Irish citizens had free access. Countries with looser or tighter limits face similar limits in Poland. Belgium, Greece and Luxembourg: Two years. United Kingdom: Welfare restrictions only, registration needed. Ireland: No restrictions. Hungary: Reciprocal limits for seven years.
Despite the fears, migration within the EU concerns less than 2% of the population."Who’s afraid of the EU’s Largest Enlargement? Report on the Impact of Bulgaria and Romania joining the union on Free Movement of People" (archived link), European Citizen Action Service 28 January 2008 However, the migration did cause controversy in those countries which saw a noticeable influx, creating the image of a "Polish Plumber" in the EU, caricaturing the cheap manual labour from A8 countries making an imprint on the rest of the EU. The extent to which E8 immigration generated a lasting public backlash has been debated. Ten years after the enlargement, a study showed that increases in E8 migrants in Western Europe over the last ten years had been accompanied by a more widespread acknowledgement of the economic benefits of immigration.Britons feel better about immigration when Eastern Europeans settle here, Anne-Marie Jeannet, The Times Following the 2007 enlargement, most countries placed restrictions on the new states, including the most open in 2004 (Ireland and the United Kingdom) with only Sweden, Finland and the 2004 members (minus Malta and Hungary).EU free movement of labour map, BBC 28 July 2008 But by April 2008, these restrictions on the eight members had been dropped by all members except Germany and Austria.
Remaining areas of inclusion Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia became members on 1 May 2004, but some areas of cooperation in the European Union will apply to some of the EU member states at a later date. These are:
Schengen Area (see Enlargement of the Schengen Area; Cyprus is still not a member of the Schengen Area) Eurozone (see Enlargement of the eurozone; Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland are still not members of the Eurozone)
New member states
Cyprus