Publisher's Synopsis
Each enlargement of the European Communities/Union since 1973 has emphasized the strain that the 'widening' puts on the 'deepening' of the European integration process. The recent rounds of EU enlargement have stretched the operational capacity of the European Union to the maximum, triggering a debate on the final shape and borders of the Union and prompting the Member States to review the framework of primary law on the basis of the failed Constitutional Treaty.
Dr. Steven Blockmans is Senior Research Fellow in EU law and Deputy Head of Research at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague, The Netherlands. Prof. Dr. Sacha Prechal is Professor of European Law at the Faculty of Law of Utrecht University and one of the directors of its Europa Institute.