The objective of joining the EU has helped the Central and East European countries to move from post-Communist upheaval to market economics and pluralist democracies in little more than a decade. Ten countries successfully joined the EU in May 2004, and Bulgaria and Romania followed in January 2007. However, the Union is showing signs of 'enlargement fatigue'. Many politicians worry that an ever larger Union will function badly, and that further widening will come at the expense of deepening. West European workers fear the economic consequences of adding 50 million low-cost workers to the EU single market. Future accession would be very difficult unless public and political support for enlargement revives.

Croatia's membership bid encounters little opposition, and the EU has accepted the other countries of the Western Balkans as potential candidates. Turkish accession negotiations, however, remain controversial. And the EU has not offered the prospect of membership to former Soviet countries such as Ukraine and Georgia.

The CER aims to debunk enlargement myths about Polish plumbers and institutional gridlock. We look at the merits, and challenges, of each individual applicant. And we point the way forward, through bold thinking on how an EU with up to 30 members could become strong, wealthy and effective.