Europe Moves Eastward: Concluding Reflections

The enlargement of the European Union will contribute to democratic consolidation and stability in Europe’s eastern half. But Europe is now hesitating between two visions of its future that reflect two opposite fears. One is the fear of the EU’s founding countries that enlargement will lead to a “Europe without borders” that will empty the European project of its content. The other is the fear of candidate countries that the formation of a “core Europe” will drain enlargement of its substance. To prevent the promise of a reunited Europe from dissolving into disillusionment, it is high time to begin dissipating the mutual misunderstandings that hedge about the question of enlargement.