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This study was completed within the framework of the project "Reforms and Interests in an Enlarged Union", which is part of the second phase of the interdisciplinary Research Group Eastern Europe (forost). This is financed by the Bavarian Ministry for Science, Research and Art and concerns itself with issues of EU enlargement. In total thirty nine research initiatives at four Bavarian universities and two research institutes have been or are supported. The central focus of the project "Reforms and Interests in an Enlarged Union" is on the varying and comparative interests of individual European states in an enlarged EU, in particular the intensified distribution conflicts. The last enlargement round changed the character of the Union from a club of relatively rich states to a heterogeneous group of states with an increased weighting of poorer countries. Distribution conflicts over tighter financial resources will intensify. Because the EU has not yet reached its final extended configuration, and almost only "poor relations" still stand before the door, questions of interest equalisation and institutional encumbrance take on ever more critical importance. A possible EU accession of Turkey does not stand at the centre of the "Reforms and Interests" project, however it already radiates a powerful influence on the present discussion within the Union and on its current enlargement phase. The issue of costs for additional enlargement rounds is not only of great interest because of its topicality. This already overshadows the 2004 enlargement and the positioning of individual states regarding the reshaping of EU institutions. It also influences disputes over decision-making processes, fiscal distribution conflicts, and connected reforms in the most expenditure-rich policy areas. These are also key themes in the broader project. It is clear that the EU is at a crossroads: the means, approach and speed of future enlargement have become strategic questions on the future configuration of the Union – and of Europe.

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