EU2010: An optimistic view of the future

The European Union's principal task in the first decades of the 21st century is to spread peace, stability, security and prosperity to the entire European continent. The chief mechanism for achieving this end is the enlargement of the Union. In 2010 the Union's 26 members already cover much of the continent, while almost every European country which has not yet joined aspires to do so. The membership includes (in addition to the 15 countries which comprised the EU in 2000) Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Thus the Union's population is 460 million.