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The pulling power of the European Union has helped to transform Central and Eastern European countries into modern, well-functioning democracies. Regarding its integration activities, enlargement is one of the EU’s most powerful policy tools. This paper analyses the legal basis of the enlargement of the EU embodied in Art. 49 of the Treaty of the European Union, which is a result of an evolution lasting for nearly 70 years, but this evolution has not been finished, because there are still unclarified and open issues regarding the legal regulations. This paper overviews the accession criteria, finds that the enlargement process found in this Art. and in practice reveals some hiatuses of the legal basis of the enlargement and proposes to extend the enlargement clause with the basic procedural rules, fundamental principles and the conditions for membership developed in practice. Raztezna moč Evropske unije je pomagala preoblikovati države srednje in vzhodne Evrope v sodobne, dobro delujoče demokracije. Z integracijskega vidika je širitev eno najmočnejših orodij EU. Ta referat presoja pravno osnovo za širitev EU, ki je zajeta v členu 49 Pogodbe o Evropski uniji in je rezultat skoraj 70-letnega razvoja. Vendar pa ta razvoj ni dokončan, saj še zmeraj obstajajo nepojasnjena in odprta vprašanja pravne ureditve širitve. V članku avtorica obravnava pristopne kriterije, ugotovlja, da širitveni proces z omenjene določbe in iz prakse razkriva nekatera razhajanja med pravno osnovo za širitev ter predlaga razširitev širitvene klavzule z osnovnimi procesnimi pravili, temeljnimi načeli in pogoji za širitev, ki so se razvili v praksi.

Diplomska naloga obravnava proces hrvaškega pridruževanja k Evropski uniji s poudarkom na makroekonomskem vidiku. Po osamosvojitvi Hrvaške v začetku 90. let 20. stoletja so se hitro pojavile težnje po vključitvi v evropsko integracijo kakršna je Evropska unija. Te težnje so se formalizirale 21. februarja 2003, ko je Hrvaška v Atenah vložila prošnjo za polnopravno članstvo v Evropski uniji. Vojna na Balkanu in svetovna gospodarska kriza iz leta 2008 so Hrvaško dvojno prizadeli. Hrvaško gospodarstvo se je soočilo z visoko stopnjo inflacije, ki ji jo je v okviru Stabilizacijskega programa sredi 90-tih let uspelo obrzdati, na drugi strani pa so eskalirali drugi makroekonomski problemi kot so visoka stopnja brezposelnosti, padec BDP-a po osamosvojitvi, povečanje javnega in zunanjega dolga ipd. Hrvaški gospodarski analitiki so v večini mnenja, da bo vstop Hrvaške v EU izboljšal gospodarsko sliko države, državljanom pa zagotovil boljši standard in več pravne države. Analize kažejo, da bo z vstopom v Evropsko unijo Hrvaška pridobila na gospodarski rasti, inflacija bo obrzdana na relativno nizkem nivoju, v povprečju se bodo zvišale plače in povečala se bo zaposlenost. Okrepljena gospodarska aktivnost pa bi naj prispevala tudi k znižanju hrvaškega javnega in zunanjega dolga. Po polnih šestih letih intenzivnih pogajanj je Hrvaška 9. decembra 2011 v Bruslju podpisala Pogodbo o pristopanju k Evropski uniji. Hrvaška je zaprla je vseh 35 pristopnih poglavij in njeno prizadevanje po vstopu je na januarskem referendumu leta 2012 potrdila tudi večina hrvaškega volilnega telesa. Predvideva se, da bo Hrvaška postala polnopravna članica Evropske unije 1. julija 2013. The diploma thesis discusses the process of Croatia’s accession to the European Union with an emphasis on the macroeconomic aspect. After the independence of Croatia in early 1990s soon appeared aspirations for the inclusion to the European integration, such as the European Union. These aspirations formalized on 21 February 2003 in Athens, when Croatia submitted application for full membership in the European Union. The war on the Balkans and the global economic crisis of 2008 struck a double blow on Croatia. Croatia’s economy was faced with a high level of inflation, which the country managed to control within the implementation of the stabilization programme from the mid 1990s. However, on the other hand, other macroeconomic problems escalated, such as high level of unemployment, drop in GDP after the independence, increase of sovereign and external debt, etc. The majority of Croatian economic analysts believe that the entry of Croatia to the EU will improve the economic image of the country, and provide citizens with a better standard of living and the rule of law. Analyses show that with the entry to the European Union Croatia will achieve better economic growth, inflation will be controlled to a relatively low level, on average salaries will rise and employment rates will increase. Strengthened economic activity is also expected to contribute to the decrease of Croatian sovereign and external debt. After full six years of intensive negotiations, on 9 December 2011, Croatia signed the Treaty of Accession to the European Union in Brussels. Croatia closed all 35 accession chapters, while the country’s efforts to enter have also been confirmed by the majority of the Croatian electoral body on the referendum held in January 2012. It is expected Croatia will become a full member of the European Union on 1 July 2013.