This book is concerned with the future shape of Europe in the post-Maastricht era. The question of the possible enlargement of the European Union remains to be settled with the recent downfall of communist Eastern Europe adding another dimension to an already complex situation. The fundamental issues are where the boundary of the European Union should end and the problems that enlargement raises for the Union.

In this book, a team of specially selected authors provide an examination of the underlying issues and the current 'state of play' regarding likely future enlargement of the European Union. Each of the principal, actual or potential applicant countries is considered in turn, including Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Turkey, Cyprus, Romania, Malta, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, The Czech Republic and Slovakia.

It could be argued that the Union has been using the single market programme and the Maastricht treaty as a means of deflecting, or at least delaying, the aspirations of its immediate neighbours. Various initiatives have been undertaken - the 'European Economic Area' with EFTA, the 'Europe agreements' with Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and the 'redirection' of the EC's Mediterranean policy - but these provided only partial and temporary responses.

The dilemma created by the choice between widening and deepening is longstanding and will have to be addressed by the Union in the near future.