While the enlargement of the European Union is of indisputable and continued relevance, both for the development of the EU and for international relations in Europe more generally, it has been largely neglected in the theoretical literature on European integration.

Developed and significantly expanded from a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy, this volume draws on the insights from the recently emerging theoretically informed literature on the EU’s eastern enlargement and complements these studies with original articles that combine a theoretical approach with comparative analyses. The expert contributors focus on the broader theoretical debates and their implications for the enlargement of the EU, as well as placing the enlargement of the EU within the broader context of the expansion of international organizations and the study of institutions in international relations. This volume is a key reference text presenting the ‘state of the art’ of theoretically informed studies of European Union enlargement. It is an invaluable resource for students and researchers of European politics and international relations.

The Editors

Frank Schimmelfennig is Professor of European Politics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, and author of The EU, NATO and the Integration of Europe: Rules and Rhetoric (Cambridge University Press).

Ulrich Sedelmeier is Associate Professor in International Relations and European Studies at the Central European University, Budapest, and author of the forthcoming Constructing the Path to Eastern Enlargement (Manchester University Press).