The European Union's principal task in the first decades of the 21st century is to spread peace, stability, security and prosperity to the entire European continent. The chief mechanism for achieving this end is the enlargement of the Union. In 2010 the Union's 26 members already cover much of the continent, while almost every European country which has not yet joined aspires to do so. The membership includes (in addition to the 15 countries which comprised the EU in 2000) Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Thus the Union's population is 460 million.

The paradox of trade policy is that, at a time when political leaders in most parts of the world have accepted the intellectual case for trade liberalisation more thoroughly than ever before, public opposition to free trade is on the rise. Most politicians are keen to advance the cause of free trade because they understand that it brings about economic growth. But they know that they must also address the legitimate concerns of developing countries about the workings of the world trading system, while simultaneously trying to respond to domestic criticism by those whose interests may suffer at the hands of market liberalisation.