Conference on the 15th Anniversary of the 2004 EU Enlargement: Looking back, looking forward

This event, co-organised by the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC) - the European Commission’s in-house think tank, operating directly under the authority of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker - and the European Commission’s Directorate‑General for economic and financial affairs (DG ECFIN), will mark the15th anniversary of the first wave of EU enlargement in May 2004, in which eventually 11 Baltics, Central, and South-Eastern European countries joined the EU. The event will focus on the identification and discussion of experiences from which wider lessons can be learned, using concrete country cases. It will consider the channels through which EU membership has helped to speed up convergence, via an analysis of the role played by – among other things - trade, investment, financial integration, and institutional channels.