Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review

The article addresses several issues linked to the enhanced cooperation and its potential impact on new member states. Firstly, the development of the concept of differentiated integration and enhanced cooperation in particular is discussed. Actually, it should be noted that the desire to combine divergent preferences and capacities for deeper integration have been present in Europe during the entire period after the Second World War. The main circumstances and motives to formalize enhanced cooperation in the Treaty of the EU during the last decade are then discussed. Different motives and expectations linked to the concept of enhanced cooperation in the EU and the significant attention given to this issue in the debates on the future of Europe provide a strong ground to argue that developing formal and informal initiatives of enhanced cooperation will be among the main issues which will determine further development of the EU after the enlargement and the benefits of membership to the new member states. Therefore, perspectives for the use of enhanced cooperation after the enlargement of the EU and implications for Lithuania are addressed, focusing on particular issues around which future intergovernmental coalitions might be formed and the stability of such coalitions.