Book Description
Please note there is now a second and updated edition published September 2004 - Descroption of 2nd edition:-
Forgotten Enlargement (1st edition) was written as the European union was preparing to expand to 25 member states. That has now occurred and the EU is already looking towards possible enlargement in the Balkans. Turkey's application too will need to be considered and relations with Russia and the Ukraine are being debated. Yet nowhere in this vision,appear those three west European democracies currently outside the EU: Iceland, Switzerland and Norway.
Throuhg the EEA Agreement, Norway and Iceland have already taken up 80 per cent of the aquis communitaire. Switzerland,
too is taking an increasing amount of EU legislation. The European Union border now extends to the Ukraine, yet these countries remain outside the EU.
For these three countries the EU remians an unavoidable player. This publication emphasises the performance of the EFTA and the EEA Agreement. As the EU grows and developes, those institutions under which they operate become even more inadequate, endangering democratic legitimacy.
Any of the three could apply for EU membership tomorrow but there remains a danger that their relations with the EU could instead become focused around a stark 'in or out' position. Forgoten Enlargement seeks to advance a flexible and open dialogue between the EU and these countries and to stress that, as member states of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland would have much to contribute.
This second edition is a thorough revision of the book, dealing with the consequences of national elections in Iceland and Switzerland and the developing debate in Norway.
Forgotten Enlargement (1st edition) was written as the European union was preparing to expand to 25 member states. That has now occurred and the EU is already looking towards possible enlargement in the Balkans. Turkey's application too will need to be considered and relations with Russia and the Ukraine are being debated. Yet nowhere in this vision,appear those three west European democracies currently outside the EU: Iceland, Switzerland and Norway.
Throuhg the EEA Agreement, Norway and Iceland have already taken up 80 per cent of the aquis communitaire. Switzerland,
too is taking an increasing amount of EU legislation. The European Union border now extends to the Ukraine, yet these countries remain outside the EU.
For these three countries the EU remians an unavoidable player. This publication emphasises the performance of the EFTA and the EEA Agreement. As the EU grows and developes, those institutions under which they operate become even more inadequate, endangering democratic legitimacy.
Any of the three could apply for EU membership tomorrow but there remains a danger that their relations with the EU could instead become focused around a stark 'in or out' position. Forgoten Enlargement seeks to advance a flexible and open dialogue between the EU and these countries and to stress that, as member states of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland would have much to contribute.
This second edition is a thorough revision of the book, dealing with the consequences of national elections in Iceland and Switzerland and the developing debate in Norway.
