Widening the Community? : EC relations with European and global partners

Judged by its magnetic impact on its neighbours, the European Community has been spectacularly successful: in its first 30 years it has doubled its original membership.

Successive enlargements of the Community in 1973, 1981 and 1986 have increased the EC's economic and political importance and have significantly changed the way it has operated since its inception.

For this reason, each enlargement, or "widening" has been intensely debated.

This report, based on a Wilton Park conference, examines the pressures for "widening", analyzes EC responses and indicates the perspectives for pan-European integration.