Coming to Terms With Accesssion Forum Report of the Economic Policy Initiative No. 2 - Economic Policy Initiative

This report presents three different perspectives on the contentious issue of how the EU and the Central and East European countries (CEECs), should come to terms with accession. It suggests enlargement should be a gradual process, while CEECs build the credibility of their commitments to establishing market economies and reduce this uncertainty. Regional cooperation within CEECs is one way in which the credibility of the CEECs can be enhanced and the accession process facilitated. Andrej Kumar argues that the key question for the CEECs is how the enlargement of the EU would contribute to their ultimate goal of catching up with the most developed economies in the world. The EU faces a similar challenge - it cannot afford to enter into the next phase of global competition without integrating the CEECs, and creating a larger common market is clearly beneficial both for the current members of the EU and for the CEECs. At the same time, there are overwhelming political and security reasons for the incorporation of the Eastern countries as well; only this can assure a stable and safe European Union in the future.