20 Years of Reuniting Europe’s East and West: Is the EU Ready for Another “Big Bang” Enlargement? Debate with a former President of Slovenia and a former PM of Ireland

In May 2024, the EU will commemorate the 20th anniversary of its largest enlargement in history, expanding by ten new member states mostly from Central and Eastern Europe. While the “big bang” enlargement undoubtedly boosted Europe’s security, economic power and spread of democracy across the European continent, integration of the predominantly post-communist and economically weaker countries posed also numerous challenges. Despite the changed context, the EU is now looking to integrate more countries from Eastern and Southeastern Europe with underperforming economies and fragile democratic systems. What were the main issues in the 2004 enlargement and how did the EU and candidates manage to overcome them? Are there any lessons learned that remain relevant for the current enlargement process? What can the EU do to make the integration of new members as smooth as possible? And why is the continuation of EU enlargement important?

Host: Jarolím Antal, Director of Centre for European Studies, Faculty of International Relations

Speakers:

• Borut Pahor, former President of the Republic of Slovenia and Founder of the Friends of Western Balkans
• Bertie Ahern, former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland
• Eva Horelová, Deputy Head of Mission of the European Commission Representation to the Czech Republic

Moderation: Jana Juzová, Senior Research Fellow, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy