European Union Enlargement to Include Term Paper

These reasons and the opposition met in the public opinion must be taken into consideration by the governments of each members state and so there is a great impact over the admission of new members, such as Croatia.

The date of the accession of Croatia in the European Union seems to provide great debate, not only because the country is not considered ready to join the Union, but most importantly because the EU is divided by conflicting opinions regarding the necessity or the benefit of further enlargement. The debate about Croatia's admission is not centered on the accomplishments of the country, but on the necessity of the EU to be even further enlarged.

Admitting Croatia into the European Union can represent a very important step forward for this country and an example for other Balkan nations that development can be achieved and that EU admission is desirable and worth working for. Considering the great economic boost that the 2004 wave countries have met after entering the Union, it is believed that this will also happen for Croatia or any other country joining the Union. Greater economic development and commitment to EU values will provide greater stability in the region and this is a very important part of the desires of the European Union.

Croatia has declared that is target for accession is 2009 (Avery, Batt, 2007) as it desires to meet all the EU requirement by that date. This action is doable and Croatia could accomplish great progress by that time. However, as mentioned before, the greatest obstacle is represented by the EU desire to enlarge itself again in 2009, only two years after accepting Romania and Bulgaria. One reason besides public disagreement of further enlargement is that of the economic costs that the EU would face for accepting Croatia as a member, or any other member for this matter. EU members, especially older members, are reluctant in assuming the cost of yet another enlargement.

Despite the controversy and the arguments surrounding the future enlargement of the EU, Croatia will probably become a member of the organization. The only question is when. The European Union is going through a crisis after its failure to adopt a common constitution and any further enlargement requires institutional reform. Besides, Croatia has yet to accomplish some of the requirements to enter the EU, many in important sectors such as justice. The further enlargement of the European Union requires extensive funding, but the budget attributed in the 2007-2014 period was not focused enough on Balkan countries. This means that there are not enough funds to sustain the enlargement of the Union in this region until 2014 when the budget will be approved. So, in order for Croatia to join the European Union until 2009, extra funding would be required.

The reports of whether Croatia will join the EU by 2010 are contradictory, as there are both pro and con opinions. However, it is more likely that Croatia will not join the EU this decade, especially after Angela Merker's declaration that there should be a pause in the expansion of the Union until 2010. Despite the efforts made by Croatia, its accession in the Union is not certain to happen by 2010 considering the opposition wave of the EU officials.

Bibliography (APA):

Accession of Croatia to the European Union, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Croatia_to_the_European_Union;

Archick, K., V.L. Morelli, "European Union enlargement," CRS Report for Congress, updated October 25, 2006, available at http://italy.usembassy.gov/pdf/other/RS21344.pdf;

Avery, G., and J. Batt, "Balkans in Europe: why, when and how?," Policy Brief, March 2007, available at http://www.epc.eu/TEWN/pdf/Balkans%20in%20Europe.pdf;

Enlargement strategy and main challenges," Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, Brussels, November 2007, available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/06_11_07_eu_enlargement.pdf;

Kazmierkiewicz, P., EU enlargement to the Western Balkans from the Polish perspective, available at http://www.europeum.org/doc/pdf/871.pdf;

Phinnemore, D., the changing dynamics of EU enlargement, April 2005, available at http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/esc/esc-lectures/phinnemore.pdf.