ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The editors of the book were determined to shake up the manner in which historians have engaged with the issue of European Communities (EC)/European Union (EU) enlargement. A central message from the book is that the process of geographical widening has been a fundamental aspect of the EC/EU's development ever since 1958. Indeed, geographical expansion has been a necessary condition of the integration process, albeit one which was only dimly foreseen by those who founded the early Communities. For a start, the political elite of most participating states has generally viewed European integration in a positive light, both economically and politically. As a result, it was only natural that they should prescribe the same cure for other European countries, presenting tight cooperation as a recipe for economic success, as a means to banish pre-existing geo-political tensions, and as a means to consolidating democracy.
