Enlargement fatigue entered the European political lexicon in the wake of the dramatic failures of the French and Dutch referenda on the EU Constitutional Treaty in 2005. The seismic shock of the treaty’s rejection by two original EU members cried out for a scapegoat, and the “big bang” enlargement completed the previous year – in which eight post-communist countries (along with Cyprus and Malta) joined simultaneously – seemed a good place to put the blame.
扩张疲劳始于2005年法国和荷兰关于欧盟宪法条约公投的戏剧性失败。两个欧盟初始成员国拒绝了欧盟宪法条约，这一令人震惊的事件需要找到替罪羊，而前一年的“大爆炸”式扩张——八个后共产主义国家（以及塞浦路斯和马耳他）同时加入欧盟——堪称理想的替罪羊之选。一夜之间，波兰水管工蜂拥进入“旧”成员国。