ok, warum nicht?

Also: "expansion of the EU (European Union)" AE

It is a sign of hope that the "expansion of the EU" to include new members to the East and South appears to be gathering momentum. The United States remains steadfast in its support of a more integrated Europe and stronger ties between the EU and its neighbors.


The United States has long believed that "E-U expansion" is a positive and constructive process. It broadens the zone of political stability and economic prosperity in Europe. That is why the U.S. also supports Turkey's aspirations to join the E-U. It is clearly in the strategic interest of the U.S. and the countries of Europe that Turkey and the E-U build the closest possible relationship.

http://www.ibb.gov/editorials/10208.htm

@me it might be that the U.S. government uses the term 'expansion', but since the EU uses the term 'enlargement' in all its official documents, it appears to me that this should be considered the correct term.

enlargement ist der offizielle Terminus in der EU für die Erweiterung.

@Ganymed: accession bezeichnet den Beitritt von Staaten, wodurch zwar die Erweiterung zustande kommt, aber das ist m.E. nicht dasselbe

BBC, Deutsche Welle, CNN (see below)

EU expansion, oder wie ihr sagt, enlargement. Enlargement erinnert mich an die e-mails , enlarge your P****
© a 2004
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This has just been bugging me. I have to agree with me and with a: 'enlargement' just sounds wrong (though amusing). To my ears also, any larger abstract context such as a political alliance or community would use only 'expansion'; in contrast, 'enlargement' does indeed imply an actual concrete object. A body part, absolutely; or, say, a print of a photograph.

And in fact, a web search suggests that in the EU context, 'expansion' is the term that's used around the world (by the major broadcast networks listed above, just for starters), whereas 'enlargement' is chiefly European. The EU can certainly use it itself if it wants to, but they can't legislate world usage. Like Peter <us>, I think it's still too early to predict how much Euro-English will catch on elsewhere (though I suspect it will be a lot). For the present, anyway, since 'enlargement' is so awkward as to sound incorrect for many native speakers, especially outside the EU, it surely should not be the only option listed in LEO.

The problem with "expansion", the reason it is not used in official documents, is that it is said to sound more aggressive than enlargement. I think the general idea may be not to upset the Russians (though I agree with anyone who thinks this is pretty petty fiddling with the language). However, note that aggressive, warmongering, Lebensraum types of policies are often called expansionistic.

But because of the popularity of expansion in the media, it would be wrong to exclude it from LEO, which is not a depository of official terms. Perhaps enlargement could be labelled "the preferred term in the EU and diplomatic circles" or sth. of the like.

Was ich nicht verstehen: Warum sollte man so einen zusammengesetzten Ausdruck aufnehmen?