Highlight 1995 enlargement
The European political climate was totally changed with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. While Germany got reunited and the central and eastern European countries turning into democracies, the EU member countries were negotiating on what later became the Maastricht treaty.
After the fall of the Berlin wall, everyone expected that a large number of the central and eastern European countries would apply for EU membership that lead to a big revision of the EU system including the institutions.
Several western European countries outside the EC became nervous if that they did not soon were to become a member of the community, they would end up in the same block as the new countries missing out on the advantages that the EU provided. The EU received applications from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Switzerland and also from Malta and Cyprus in the beginning of the 1990s. Before any of these countries were accepted in the union, the treaty of Maastricht was implemented, which meant that the common defence and security policies were an element the new countries had to accept as well. The EU that they were about to become a member of had changed since their application was handed in. Sweden, Finland and Austria became members in 1995, but Norway turned down the referendum for the second time and Switzerland feared the same result as in Norway and froze their application.

Why EU wants enlargement
Until the 1990s the European Union at this time known as the European Community, was considered to be “an economic giant, but a political pygmy,” for, although it exercised considerable influence in economic, and particularly commercial matters, its voice did not count for a great deal in political matters, especially concerning defence and security.
With the radical changes in Central and Eastern Europe it became obvious that these