ABSTRACT
The EU eastern enlargement of 2004-07 is predominantly described as a success, at least in comparison with the economic and political troubles that the EU has encountered since then on other fronts (the Eurozone crisis, difficult neighbourhood policies on the East and the South, fall of consent). This assessment is largely based on a conception of the EU enlargement as merely an institutional and economic undertaking. But while it is true that the project was primarily concerned with economic benefits and institutional stabilization, social considerations were also very important in the process that led to the enlargement, and should be included in the analysis of its outcomes.
