Critically Assess whether the “big bang” enlargement of the European Union is in the best interests of business in the current member states.

May 1st 2004 will be an historic date for the European Union because ten new Member States will be allowed to join the European Union. These states will be Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus. Bulgaria and Romania are pencilled in for membership in 2007 and Turkey is due to begin negotiations at the end of 2004 1. This shows the European Union’s commitment to further enlarging itself from the current EU 15 so as to increase the benefits of a larger union; these benefits will be discussed in more detail later in the piece.

After a meeting in Copenhagen in 1993, the European Council laid down a number of political and economic conditions that prospective members must meet in order to gain membership to the EU. These criteria became known as the “Copenhagen Criteria” and include the following points. The countries must have stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, there must be a respect for hu...