The European Union will expand by more than four million citizens on July 1 when Croatia joins the bloc and become the 28th member state.

It all started from what was a coal and steel community, later becoming an economic community, formed by just six European countries. Twenty two member states later, the new EU faces new challenges. Not only are these challenges economic and political in nature, but the greatest challenge of them all is: what next?

The project never had a finish line, but does this mean it will never end? Is there an end to EU enlargement?

One thing is for sure: the EU must sort itself out before accepting any more candidate states and it must learn from the Croatian experience. Seven other states loom on the horizon and are raring to join. Iceland looks the most likely to join soon, a country hard hit by its banking system and economic crisis.

Why is it that Iceland only showed an interest in joining the Union after it witnessed economic contraction? Isn’t the EU attractive to thriving countries anymore?

The next in line include countries like Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Their development index is in comparison much lower than the EU-wide average. Even if the EU does in fact decide to accept these countries, would this mean the EU will then accept countries as far reaching as Armenia, located over 4,000 km away from central Europe?