Published on 7 November 2024

The enlargement process

Since 1957, the EU has been continually gaining new members. In 2004, ten candidate countries joined the EU at the same time, marking the largest expansion to date, as only two to three countries had joined in a single year prior to that. The EU enlargement process is also significant because in many countries the possibility of joining the EU plays a major role in domestic politics. The UK's withdrawal from the EU in 2020 was a first, after decades of EU expansion.