Lidové noviny | How to expand the EU without major upheaval

With the opening of accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova and the granting of candidate status to Georgia, questions about the functioning of the European Union after enlargement have been raised more and more frequently recently, and it is becoming clear that the Union cannot do without significant reforms. What is the Czech Republic's position on this? Our senior researcher Jana Juzová answers this question in an article for Lidové noviny.

"The Czech Republic is one of the countries that strongly oppose this change and fear the loss of control. Yet the Czech Republic, which is one of the main supporters of further EU growth, should be aware of the need to prepare the Union for such a large enlargement. Our accession, together with other post-communist states, was associated with similar fears to those being voiced now. That is why enlargement was preceded by Agenda 2000 and the Treaty of Nice, which modified the EU's internal mechanisms and instruments so that the Union could function with a significantly larger membership and helped to overcome the resistance of the old Member States."

 Article in Czech can be found here

Jana Juzová
Senior Research Fellow

Expertise: regionalism, Visegrad cooperation, democratization and European integration of the Western Balkan countries, EU enlargement