It was the EU’s largest round of enlargement to date. On May 1, 2004, ten states joined: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. On Wednesday, the penultimate sitting day before the European elections in June, the European Parliament is celebrating this event with guests who played a role at the time: Pat Cox, then President of the European Parliament, Romano Prodi, then President of the Commission, and his Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen are invited. There will be one high-ranking politician, head of state or government, foreign minister or chief negotiator from each accession country. There are also citizens from each EU country who were born on the day of accession or a little later. The small ceremony ends with the anthem „Ode to Joy“ by Beethoven, performed by the a cappella choir „Voix de Stras“. mgr