<P> Turkey applied for membership in 1987 . The Western Balkans have been prioritised for membership since emerging from war during the breakup of Yugoslavia . Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey are all recognized as official candidates, and the latter three are undergoing membership talks . Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo * are recognized as potential candidates for membership by the EU . Bosnia has submitted an application for EU membership, while Bosnia and Kosovo have an SAA with the EU . </P> <P> In July 2014, President of the European Commission Jean - Claude Juncker announced that the EU has no plans to expand in the next five years . Junker has described Serbia and Montenegro as front - runner candidates, and projected that they would join by 2025 . </P> <P> Not all enlargement negotiations have ended with the accession of a new member state . Norway completed membership negotiations twice, in 1972 and 1994, but both times membership was rejected in a referendum . Switzerland applied for membership in May 1992 but subsequently froze its application, and formally withdrew it in 2016 . Iceland lodged its application following an economic collapse in 2008, but froze accession negotiations in 2013 . In 2017 however, Iceland's newly elected government announced that it may seek to begin talks with the EU on possible future membership once again . </P>

Most of the geographic expansion of the eu in the 21st century came from which nations