ment with functioning authoritarian regimes and dictatorships of all sorts . For the EU , this enlargement , extending for the first time to new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe , was definitely a moment of political revolution , which called for new ideas . We did not know the response to the main question about what would give us a feeling of belonging together , not only at the level of states and peoples but also at the level of citizens . It was the biggest enlargement ever and it brought unprecedented economic disparities into the EU . The diversity within the Union grew fundamentally in all respects . Solidarity became a crucial political fact , decisive for the EU ’ s success . But the challenge of ensuring that a deeply diversified EU would remain viable and able to act as a political community based on shared principles could not be expected to be a walk in the park . New unifying forces and strengthened solidarity seemed to be obvious needs . An open question was ‘ what will be our shared identity ?’
My memory tells me that , when participating in debates in Brussels think tanks and then in Council meetings , we put emphasis on different issues . Meetings with Members of the European Parliament ( MEPs ), whether on an individual basis or within political families and official , enlargement-related structures , extended the time and space devoted to discussions on cooperation , mutual support and shared responsibility . The European Commission was overwhelmed by the epochal challenge of building a political community of 25 Member States and their peoples . Being responsible in my home country for preparing for the accession of Poland , I worried , on behalf of this candidate country and its people , future EU citizens , whether the EU was investing enough in identifying the forces that would keep us together as a community of values . Had the EU found the right balance between freedom , competition and solidarity with and for those who were weaker ? Were all of us prepared for the fundamental choices we had to face ?
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