The Eastern enlargement of the European Union : efforts and obstacles on the way to membership / edited by Anselm Skuhra.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Skuhra, Anselm, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

European Union--Europe, Eastern.

European Union.

Europe--Economic integration.

Europe.

Eastern Europe.

Physical Description:

279 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Innsbruck : StudienVerlag : distributed in North and South America by Transaction Publishers, 2005.

Summary:

The Eastern Enlargement of the European Union is one of the key developments in the history of European integration due to the large number of accession countries, the variety of their cultures, and the challenges resulting from their recent - and ongoing - system transformation. And with Turkey and the Western Balkan states, enlargement will continue to be one of the major issues on the political agenda.

The contributors focus on a variety of perspectives and comparisons, highlighting institutions, actor constellations, interests, rational choice approaches, common identities and perceptions of history, and the influence of basic values and norms. The constraints and intricacies of the accession negotiations are reflected as well as the strategy of the Commission and the national interests and sometimes protectionist stance of some EU Member States.

An appendix contains basic data on the countries of the former Eastern Bloc, the results of the European Parliament's vote on accession, and the outcome of the referenda in the accession countries on joining the European Union.

Contents:

The Process of the fifth Enlargement of the European Union / Leopold Maurer 9

EU Eastern Enlargement and Poland / Andrzej Podraza 31

EU Accession and Hungarian Politics / Jozsef Bayer 53

The View from Brussels: Hungary's Accession to the EU between Identity Politics and Asymmetrical Bargaining / Michael Merlingen 75

Slovenia - Political Transformation and European Integration / Bojko Bucar, Irena Brinar 93

The EU Integration Discourse in the Czech Republic / Dieter Pesendorfer 134

The Czech Republic's Accession to the EU / Zbynek Dubsky 158

Slovakia's Bumpy Road to EU Accession: from Exclusion to Membership / Vladimir Bilcik 186

The Baltic States and EU-Accession / Stefan Fritsch, Henn-Juri Uibopuu 209

European Integration and the Politics of Commitment: The Case of Romania / Corneliu Bjola 234

Putting Eastern Enlargement in Context: Development, Theory, and the Challenges of Accession / Michael Merlingen, Anselm Skuhra 246

Annex 1 Real GDP/NMP in Eastern Europe, the Baltic States and the CIS, 1980, 1988-2003 275

Annex 2 Accession and Candidate Countries: Main Statistical Indicators (2002) 276

Annex 3 Results of the Voting of the European Parliament on the ten Accession Countries and of Referenda on EU Accession in the Candidate Countries 277

Annex 4 Map of the European Union, the Candidate and Neighbouring States 278.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

3706517531

OCLC:

61191784