Europe Unites

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The EU's eastern enlargement has coincided with a decade of rapid progress toward closer European integration. Poole argues that this enlargement, more than any previous one, is closely linked with major EU projects of integration, including justice and home affairs, monetary union, a common foreign and security policy, and the effort to create a constitutional treaty. By requiring the eastern states to adopt extensive reforms in their judicial and police systems, the enlargement process makes it easier for the EU to combat terrorism and organized crime and control the flow of immigration from outside Europe. The monetary union was deliberately put in place before enlargement (which might have made the task more difficult), but now the Stability and Growth Pact requires reform to make it flexible enough to serve a larger, more diverse Union. The addition of ten new states provides one of the main incentives for drafting a constitutional treaty. Finally, the candidate countries are helping to lay the groundwork for the next EU enlargement into southeastern Europe.