Accession

Abstract: In May 2004, eight former Eastern Bloc countries joined the European Union: the three Baltic republics, Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak republics, and Slovenia. What is involved in "accession"? How have accession dynamics affected and been affected by the domestic politics of candidate countries and their adoption of EU rules? In this carefully designed volume of original essays, the editors have brought together a group of scholars with firsthand research experience in the new member-states of Central and Eastern Europe. Framed by opening and concluding chapters by Frank Schimmelfennig and Ulrich Sedelmeier that outline several aspects of preparation for accession, the empirical case studies discuss a variety of topics, including democracy and human rights, the reform of state administrations and economic, social, and environmental policies. This book demonstrates the importance of the credibility and the costs of accession conditionality for the adoption of EU rules in Central and Eastern Europe.

Abstract: The EU influences the development of governance in central and eastern Europe through its accession process in ways that go well beyond its official competences in the current member states. However, the EU's impact is diffused by the complexity of actor constellations involved. Moreover, it lacks the comprehensive institutional templates that would be needed to shape political institutions into an identifiably 'EU' mould. Instead, EU influence interacts with other pressures, both external and internal, becoming woven into domestic debates about institutional change. Accession conditions and negotiations privilege a relatively small group of central government officials over other political actors. The lack of involvement of parliamentarians and wider society in the accession process could, in turn, exacerbate the EU's own democratic deficit after enlargement.

Abstract: China enters the World Trade Organization China's pre-WTO trade reforms China's accession to World Trade Organization Implications of China's entry China, the world economy, US policy

Abstract: This paper sets out a framework for extending the study of Europeanisation in the existing European Union to the effects of the EU in central and eastern Europe. It starts with the prima facie case that the effects on public policy are similar in nature to those observed in the current EU-15, but broader and deeper in scope. The applicants are taking on all the obligations of EU membership, so the domestic effects of transferring policies and institutions to them are likely to be comparable with the effects of the EU on its current member-states, even though the political relationship is different. Europeanisation mechanisms identified in the literature on the EU also operate in the applicant countries, given that they are subject to substantially the same pressures for adaptation. However, there are two major differences: the first is the wider scope of the EU’s agenda in the candidate countries, which goes far beyond the requirements of membership for the existing member states. The second is the political context of a power relationship between the EU and the candidates that is based on conditionality for accession. The asymmetry of power between the applicants and the Union gives the EU more coercive routes of influence in the applicants’ domestic policy-making processes than in the existing EU because the applicants face additional conditions that current members do not. But there are also constraints on how the EU uses its potential influence in the applicant countries, in particular the multiple dimensions of uncertainty built into the accession process. Heather Grabbe Centre for European Reform 29 Tufton Street London, SW1P 3QL United Kingdom Tel: 020-7233-1199 Fax: 020-7233-1117 heather@cer.org.uk

Abstract: The European Union's pre-accession conditionality was very effective in prompting the alignment of the post-communist candidate countries with EU law. As the conditional membership incentive was the main factor driving alignment, the changing incentive structure after accession suggests that – ceteris paribus – post-accession compliance with EU law will deteriorate. Data on infringements of EU law allow us a first insight into whether this negative scenario has materialized. The data suggest that, far from constituting an ‘eastern problem’, virtually all of the new member states outperformed virtually all of the old members during the first four years of membership. To explain this unexpectedly good performance, further research should focus on two factors, both related to the experience of pre-accession conditionality: a greater susceptibility of the new member states to shaming and an institutional investment in legislative capacity.