European Commissioner for Enlargement

The Commissioner for Enlargement is the member of the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Olli Rehn (ALDE) who has overseen the enlargement to Romania and Bulgaria The portfolio deals with the Enlargement of the European Union, which has already grown from 6 members to 27. Currently there are seven candidate and potential candidate countries, all but one in the western Balkans. It is a powerful policy tool that has helped the Union extend its influence and democratise Eastern Europe, it is also a hot political topic domestically. The enlargement agenda;

:"Accession of: Turkey, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia

Current commissioner

Olli Rehn became enlargement commissioner in 2004, following the enlargement to 10 new countries. In 2007 he oversaw the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Union. In 2004 Candidate status was granted to Croatia, and in 2005 to Macedonia.

As Commissioner, Rehn has been involved with the enlargement to the western Balkans and Turkey, encouraging reform on those countries. 2006 saw the independence of Montenegro and separate accession talks starting with them.

In 2007 he welcomed the UN proposal on Kosovo by Martti Ahtisaari which advocated near-independence to the region and would have seen separate accession negotiations with the Union.

The Commissioner has also been involved in the reunification of Cyprus, bringing Northern Cyprus into the European Union. Rehn's head of cabinet is Timo Pesone and his deputy head is Maria Åsenius.

List of commissioners

ee also

*Directorate-General for Enlargement
*Enlargement of the European Union
*Commissioner for External Relations
*Foreign relations of the European Union
*European Union Association Agreement

External links

* [http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/rehn/index_en.htm Commissioner Commissioners website]
* [http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/index_en.htm Enlargement website]
* [http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/rehn-warns-chaos-kosovo-un-plan-fails/article-162678 Rehn warns of 'chaos' in Kosovo if UN plan fails]