Introduction

For a long time, the participation of ever more states in the process of European integration was of interest almost exclusively to a few ‘widening experts’. Only during the 1990s, did the process of widening and its implications for the European Union (EU) policymaking process became of central interest for most, if not all, scientific and political observers of the European Union. This corresponds to the acceleration of the enlargement process, since the 1950s and 1960s saw only the six original member states participating in the integration enterprise. The first doubling of participants occurred between 1973 and 1985, and this number did not increase until the inclusion of some of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) countries (Austria, Finland and Sweden) ten years later. Yet, within another ten years, from 1995, the EU’s membership could have increased by two-fifths to include 26 members..