Eastern Enlargement of the EU Unequal memberships despite rhetorical commitment

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The present study sets to investigate the previous Eastern enlargement of the European Union from two angles. The initial decision to expand the EU is viewed as a result of rhetorical action. Candidates and their supporters used arguments based on collective identity, norms and values of the Western community to shame opponents into acquiescing to enlargement. However, rhetorical action theory can not explain why the new member states in the Union are still not able to enjoy the full benefits of their memberships, and why their decision-making powers are still constrained by decisions taken by the Member States composing the Union before the enlargement, the so called EU15. The analysis suggests that the reasons why the Union currently suffers from inequality among its members and from an unreasonably ineffective decision-making apparatus are due to egoism and short-sighted political self-interests of the EU15. Using rational choice theory when analysing three different empirical cases, the analysis illustrates how the Member States grasped the opportunities offered to them in the Nice negotiations, the negotiations on the European Constitution and recently in the negot...