The Application of EU Law in the New Member States Brave New World

INTRODUCTION Five years after the ? fth enlargement and more than two years after the sixth - pansion of the European Union (EU), an attempt is being made to give those two 1 groundbreaking events a reality check. Arguably, the time has come to subject the triumphant political discourse, praising the unprecedented endeavor of expanding the European Union from ? fteen to twenty-seven Member States against the test of effectiveness. The crucial question is: has the patient survived the operation and is it 2 still alive and breathing normally? On the one hand, we may hear that the European Union is in crisis and the fundamental questions of ? nalité remain unanswered. We also hear of the constitutional drama and post-enlargement blues undermining the effectiveness of the integration enterprise. On the other hand, some argue that the two recent waves of enlargement have been the EU’s most successful foreign policy projects, which proved their purpose and justi? ed the political and economic sac- ? ces. To evaluate all pertinent factors underpinning the ? fth and sixth enlargements of the European Union would go beyond the scope of one book. That would require a multi-volume, interdisciplinary study of enormous proportions. The focus of this study is on the application of EU law in the twelve new Member States of the European Union.