Having successfully integrated ten new members in May – including eight former communist countries with significantly lower levels of economic development – some argue that the EU should stop there. But drawing a line under the enlargement process would be both a missed opportunity for the EU and a cruel blow to those countries in the Balkans and elsewhere for whom the prospect of membership is an important incentive for reform and renewal.
拥有25名成员国，并代表着近4.56亿人口的欧盟是多边治理的范畴内最大规模和最具胆识的一次试验。我们这个从战争的灰烬中建立起来联盟，在一个日益不安全和多极化的世界上是一支维护和平与推进合作的力量。现在欧盟委员会已准备好面对另一个巨大的挑战：12月17日，欧洲理事会将会决定在何时以及何种条件下开始与土耳其的入盟谈判。这一决定将对欧洲的未来产生根本性的影响。