Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union

Negotiations over the process of eastward enlargement of the European Union broke the applicants down into two groups in the course of the talks: eight countries subsequently joined in 2004 (along with the two Mediterranean island states), while two countries took longer to complete their acquis chapters and thus saw their accession delayed until 2007. As a lull in the further expansion of the EU can be expected to occur after the accession of Romania and Bulgaria, the two stages of this most recent enlargement will probably be analyzed and evaluated as a single, connected event, similar to the southern enlargement, which also occurred in two phases (in 1981 and 1986). In a political sense this conflation may be justified, but from the economic and institutional perspective there are interesting dividing lines. Romania and Bulgaria represent something novel compared to all the earlier new members, and not only in terms of their economic development and distinct cultural characteristics; their appearance in the European integration process also marks the beginning of a qualitative change. The article addresses the individual features of the two new member states, as well as the changes their accession brings in the EU, primarily in terms of economic convergence and with regard to institutional aspects.