Most EU residents do not want to accept new members

A recent survey from the Martens Centre found just 38 per cent of EU residents want more members.

As Europe adds more members, it also gets harder to find agreement among them on who should be let in. Those decisions—along with policies on touchy subjects like security and immigration—are made by consensus.

According to Michael Emerson, a former EU ambassador to Russia at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, countries can have “a maximal deepening of the relationship on all accounts: political, economic, cultural and security,” but not become its members.

Non-EU countries can develop a collective diplomatic stance. The organization’s concept of the “European neighbourhood” allowed it to enter into resource-sharing partnerships with Armenia and Tunisia that go beyond typical trade agreements.

Some states, like Norway, are members of the European Economic Area, a free trade bloc, without being members of the EU. Others are full members but not part of the Schengen Agreement, which allows visa-free travel.

As noted, European leaders appear open to expanding the definition of Europe. According to experts, if there is any shift in EU thinking, it would likely be toward deepening strategic partnerships rather than reimagining the EU as a geographically unlimited alliance.