In many parts of the EU there is growing hostility to further enlargement. Charles Grant argues that the EU must keep open the prospect of accession for its European neighbours, and suggests how opposition to enlargement can best be overcome. He also examines the EU's policy towards neighbours that are unlikely to join in the foreseeable future. He proposes new schemes for linking these countries to the EU, offering less than membership but much closer ties than the existing neighbourhood policy. He concludes that the definition of EU membership will become increasingly blurred: some neighbours will take part in certain EU policies, without being full members, while some member-states will establish avant-gardes that involve only a small number of countries.

Charles Grant is director of the Centre for European Reform.