ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU) has steadily enlarged over the last thirty years. Yet the demand for membership varies across countries as a result of different combinations of incentives for and impediments to integration. Many Mediterranean and Central and Eastern European states, which needed support for their young democracies and weak economies, have been eager to accede as soon as they felt remotely able to do so. Other countries, such as most members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), have been hesitant. Except for Portugal, they would have been able to join the European Communities (EC) early on: as European democratic market economies, they fulfilled the eligibility criteria and (apart from the two smallest members, Iceland and Liechtenstein) had important economic reasons for EC membership. However, for a long time these EFTA countries were not willing to join because political constraints outweighed the expected benefits of accession.
