La fatigue de l’élargissement de l’Union européenne

Abstract

The fatigue of EU enlargement became a constant of the current political debates. There are many factors that tend to account for a break in the enlargement process such as: the reintroduction of the criteria of EU capacity absorption and the supplementary political requirement for the Western Balkans that are making the accessions conditions difficult. One should not forget that the EU member states have also the possibility to oppose their veto to any further accession. Moreover, with the difficulties of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and the recent financial crisis the EU is not ready to pursue the enlargement process. The candidate states hope to join the EU as soon as possible but the Union is in need of a deep institutional reform before any other enlargement will occur. However, if the EU continues to keep the candidate countries apart, it is not impossible to witness another fatigue - the one of the permanent reform in the aspirant countries.