ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the European Union (EU) enlargement process in the period from 2000 to 2013 in terms of its past accomplishments and the future prospects. Specifically, it seeks answers to the extent to which enlargement policy has become unfolded in a 'Europeanized' mode or in a nationalized mode in which the Member States impact enlargement. From 1997 to 2007, the EU expanded from fifteen to twenty-seven Member States, increasing its population, territorial size and GDP considerably. Beyond the economic implications, enlargement has become the most important tool that the EU relied upon to solve bilateral conflicts in its periphery and to advance the visibility of the EU both in the European continent and globally. The chapter looks at the interplay of the Member States' preferences and the EU dynamics in the EU's enlargement process in order to assess the merits of the policy as a foreign policy tool.
