The enlargement of the frontiers of the EU “is beneficial both for the old and the new member countries”, declared the President of the European Commission, Josè Manuel Durao Barroso in an intervention to commemorate, on 1st January, the 25th anniversary of the entry of Greece and the 20th of Spain and Portugal into the “common house”. Barroso explained that “today we can affirm with pride that Greece, Spain and Portugal, and Europe as a whole, have become far stronger as a consequence of the second and the third enlargement” to what was then the EEC (European Economic Community). These accessions have “contributed considerably to consolidating democracy and promoting the process of reforms in these countries”, with an “unprecedented development thanks to which stability and competitiveness have been reinforced”. Looking to the future, and after the successive enlargements that have led to a 25-member EU, the head of the Executive recalled the “new challenges” that await the Union, including the need to “fully grasp the benefits of globalization”. The next enlargement of the EU is scheduled for 1st January 2007, with the planned accession of Romania and Bulgaria.
