Remaking Europe

The 1996D1997 Intergovernmental Conference and a clearer road to monetary union have paved the way for the start of negotiations for accession to the European Union (EU) of up to ten transition economies. A major watershed in efforts to integrate 'Europe,' the plans to widen the EU will inevitably conflict with forces for deepening integration. Accession negotiations will be complex, acrimonious, and protracted; their outcome, in terms of the 'quality' of accession, are currently unforeseeable. Focusing especially on economic factors, this timely volume explores the key questions of widening: why the negotiations are likely to be cumbersome and contentious for all concerned, why the evolving relationship between the EU and its eastern neighbors has been less than smooth, and why considerable asymmetries exist among countries and over time in the distribution of the gains and losses for existing and new members alike.

A major watershed in efforts to integrate OEurope,O the negotiations for adding as many as ten transition economies to the European Union promise to be complex, acrimonious, and protracted. Clarifying why the debate will be so contentious, this timely volume focuses especially on core economic issues. The contributors explore the difficulties facing candidate countries, present members, and outside groups; the uneasy relationship between the EU and its eastern neighbors; and the losses and gains each side can expect over the short and long term as the EU widens to include new members while trying to preserve the integrity of the single market.

Jozef M. van Brabant is Principal Economics Affairs Officer, UN Secretariat. He is the author or editor of many books and articles on centrally planned and transition economies.