ABSTRACT
On 1 January 2007, Romania acceded to the European Union (EU). Entry was the latest and most momentous stage in the country’s involvement in the process of European integration (see Table I.1). It also signalled acceptance by the majority of its European partners of the progress Romania has made in its postcommunist transformation from authoritarian dictatorship and near economic collapse to a modern democracy with a functioning market economy. For the EU, it increased the total number of members – Bulgaria joined at the same time – from 25 to 27. In doing so, it brought an end to the process of eastern enlargement launched at the Copenhagen European Council more than a decade earlier in June 1993.
