Europeanization and Regionalization in the EU's Enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe: The Myth of Conditionality (One Europe or Several?)

This book is a study of EU conditionality and compliance during the enlargement to the Central and Eastern European candidate countries. EU conditionality for membership is widely understood as having been a driving force for Europeanization, providing incentives and sanctions for compliance or non-compliance with EU norms, such as the 'Copenhagen Criteria' and the adoption of the acquis communautaire . By taking regional policy and regionalization as a case study, this book provides a comparative analysis of the effects of conditionality on the Central and East European countries and explores the many paradoxes and weaknesses in the use of EU conditionality over time. EU Enlargement to the Central and Eastern European candidate countries is widely understood as having been an important mechanism for Europeanization. The conditionality for EU membership is seen as providing incentives and sanctions for compliance or non-compliance with EU norms and rules, such as the 'Copenhagen Criteria' and the transposition of the acquis communautaire into domestic law. Critically engaging with the concepts of 'Europeanization' and conditionality within which enlargement is generally addressed, this book takes a broader comparative approach. It is the first systematic theoretical and empirical analysis of the key linkages between the simultaneous processes of enlargement, Europeanization and post-communist transition. Drawing from an unprecedented number of interviews with elites in the Central and Eastern European Candidate Countries (CEECs) and officials in Brussels, together with a thorough examination of the official documentation, the authors identify and assess the dynamic interactions between the Commission and the CEECs over regional policy - one of the most important policy areas for enlargement and the future of the EU. The nebulous nature of enlargement conditionality, how the Commission shifted the parameters over time, and the many paradoxes and weaknesses in its use made conditionality more of a myth than a coherent instrument for Europeanization Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 List of Tables......Page 7 List of Figures......Page 8 List of Boxes......Page 9 List of Maps......Page 10 Preface......Page 11 List of Abbreviations......Page 14 Introduction......Page 16 1 The Logic of Enlargement Conditionality and Europeanization......Page 25 2 Communist Legacies and Regionalization......Page 45 3 The Commission, Conditionality and Regional Policy......Page 76 4 Monitoring Conditionality and Compliance......Page 100 5 Transition, Enlargement and Regionalization: a Comparison of Hungary and Poland......Page 133 6 Elites and the Normative Capacity for Europeanization......Page 156 Conclusion......Page 179 Notes......Page 190 Bibliography......Page 217 Statistical Appendix......Page 233 E......Page 243 L......Page 244 S......Page 245 W......Page 246

EU conditionality for membership is widely understood as having been a driving force for Europeanization, providing incentives and sanctions for compliance or noncompliance with EU norms, such as the Copenhagen Criteria and the adoption of the acquis communautaire. By taking regional policy and regionalization as a case study, this book provides a comparative analysis of the effects of conditionality on the Central and East European countries and explores the many paradoxes and weaknesses in the use of EU conditionality over time.

"Drawing from an unprecedented number of interviews with elites in the Central and Eastern European Candidate Countries (CEECs) and officials in Brussels, together with a thorough examination of official documentation, the authors identify and assess the dynamic interactions between the Commission and the CEECs over regional policy - one of the most important policy areas for enlargement and the future of the EU."--Jacket