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The Compass: Europe's Challenges: Europe's Challenges: Expanding the Union

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Flags of EU Member States

26/05/2016 GMT

Europe's Challenges: Expanding the Union

Europe's Challenges

BBC World Service - The Compass, Europe's Challenges, Europe's Challenges: Expanding the Union

How the European Union grew from a small club of six to a 28-state superpower

As Britain prepares to vote on whether to leave the European Union, Allan Little explains how a club that started with just six members became a 28-state superpower.

The European Union is at critical moment in its history, with Britain preparing to vote on whether to leave. In the second of a three-part series, the BBC’s former Europe Correspondent Allan Little tells the story of how a club that started with just six members opened its doors until the six became 28. We hear how the European Union helped countries to make the transition from dictatorship to democracy – from Spain and Portugal in the South to Poland and Lithuania in the East. The sacred goal of the European Union’s founding fathers was “ever closer union”, but as it has expanded to welcome countries with very different values and histories, is that goal still desirable or even possible?

Some of the interviews for this series were recorded ten years ago.

(Photo: Flags of the European Union member states stand inside the Council of the EU's Lex building. Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The Compass: Europe's Challenges

Allan Little examines the history and future of the European Union at a critical moment.

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