ACCESSION OF TRANSITION ECONOMIES TO THE EUROPEAN UNION: PROSPECTS AND PRESSURES

摘要

The first decade of transition for the countries of central and eastern Europe and the Baltics (CEECs) was marked by a substantial reorientation of their economic and institutional focus toward western Europe. A significant milestone during the second decade of transition is likely to be the formal accession, of at least the countries more advanced in the transition process, into the European Union (EU). The EU has accepted as full candidates for accession ten of the transition economies—Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia—together with Cyprus, Malta, and Turkey.