The Eastward Enlargement Of The Eurozone

In May 2004, eight former communist states in Central and Eastern Europe acceded to the European Union. This new book examines the Eastern expansion of the EU through a tripartite structure, developing an empirical, conceptual and institutional analysis to provide a rounded and substantive account of EU enlargement, with new theoretical insights. The foreword is by written by Pat Cox, former president of the European Parliament. John O'Brennan also explores: why the EU decided to expand its membership what factors drove this process forward? how did the institutional environment of the EU influence enlargement outcomes? In this context he comprehensively covers the role of the European Council, Commission and Parliament. This important volume will of great interest to students and scholars of European politics and European Union studies.

Owing to the global financial crisis of 2007-2009 and subsequently the Eurozone crisis, the accession of Central and Eastern European countries to the European Union and the Eurozone has not been an easy one. The EU's Eastward Enlargement analyses challenges that these countries currently face in their pursuit of economic self-reliance. Covering a period from the second half of the 1980s to the present, Yoji Koyama provides unique and objective analyses of the European Union and the Euro system from a non-European's perspective. He offers a detailed reexamination of the fundamental problems of the European Union, which in turn have affected the autonomous development of countries such as Poland, the former Yugoslavia, Albania, and the Baltic States. This book is a useful addition to the scholarship available on the Euro system and Central and Eastern European countries. It will help readers gain a more holistic understanding of the ongoing Eurozone crisis and the future of the Eurozone project.

What will happen to the EU in the wake of enlargement? What are the institutional and policy-making changes in light of enlargement? This text deals with the theoretical, conceptual and historical processes that led to European Union enlargement.

In May 2004, eight former communist states in Central and Eastern Europe acceded to the European Union. This new book examines the Eastern expansion of the EU through a tripartite structure, developing an empirical, conceptual and institutional analysis to provide a rounded and substantive account of EU enlargement, with new theoretical insights. The foreword is by written by Pat Cox, former president of the European Parliament. John O'Brennan also explores: why the EU decided to expand its membership what factors drove this process forward? how did the institutional environment of the EU influence enlargement outcomes? In this context he comprehensively covers the role of the European Council, Commission and Parliament. This important volume will of great interest to students and scholars of European politics and European Union studies.

This Summary Report reflects outcomes of the research project "The Eastward Enlargement of the Eurozone (Ezoneplus)" that has analysed these challenges with particular emphasis on monetary and fiscal policies, on exchange-rate regimes and on the social dimension of the EMU enlargement process. It will be shown that structural asymmetries in an enlarged currency union will only slowly proceed towards a convergence of welfare states across EU-25. The pace of this process depends largely on the willingness and capability of political decision-makers at all levels to coordinate the policies in question.

The development of EU enlargement has raised many thorny issues unanticipated by the framers of the EC Treaty. A significant upshot of these issues is that the concept of European identity - defined in terms of such factors as culture, history and economics - has supplanted the long-dominant theme of 'widening and deepening, ' particularly since the Union's expansion has become primarily eastward. The major contribution of this important book lies in its analysis of the conceptualization and perception of enlargement from various points of view, focusing on the concerns of stakeholders and the 'identity' conflicts and uncertainties incurred by enlargement initiatives. In the course of its presentation, it details the actual pre-accession Europeanization process and its complex history. Among the key elements discussed are the following: the conflict between 'widening' and 'deepening' and the effect on EU institutional reform; institutional requirements on candidate countries; pre-accession criteria and negotiations; administrative capacity, judicial capacity, and legal approximation in accession states; capacity of the EU to absorb new Member States; and EC law as part of European identity. Also covered are specific historical details of particular pre-accession negotiations (e.g., Greece, Spain, Portugal, Malta, and Cyprus), the still inconclusive negotiations with Turkey and the Western Balkan states, and political factors involved in the non-accession of Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Assembling powerful evidence and applying incisive analysis, the author's conclusion shows that, absent further (and major) EU institutional reform, it will be difficult for an enlarging Union to continue to 'deliver the goods.' A watershed in the continuing great debate on the fulfilment of the EC Treaty's determination to foster and promote 'an ever closer union of the peoples of Europe, ' this book will prove invaluable to anybody interested in the European integration project, particularly lawyers, academics, officials and policymakers in the EU Member States.

This book seeks to offer the first in-depth and systematic analysis of the challenges of the Euro Area and the eastward enlargement of the European Union. It focuses in particular on how the prolonged process of accession to the Euro Area is affecting domestic economic policies in the accession states of east central Europe. It contributes to Europeanization studies, comparative political economy and to studies of Economic and Monetary Union. It also provides a picture of processes of domestic transformation in such countries as the three Baltic States, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. The book brings together a range of recognized experts from across Europe and combines country and sectoral case studies with a thematic treatment. It begins by offering an 'outside-in' perspective, which situates the effects of EMU on the accession states in the wider context of the development of global economic norms. The second part focuses on an 'inside-out' analysis of how Euro Area accession affects the states of east central Europe - their policies, politics and public institutions. The final part assesses how Euro Area accession is affecting key policy sectors in east central Europe: financial market regulation, fiscal policies and welfare states and labour markets.

Successful eastward enlargement of the EU will be critical to ensuring stability and prosperity for post-Cold War Europe. But enlargement raises difficult issues for the EU and the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe. Is the EU capable of reforming its institutions and policies to cope with 25 or more members? Which central and east Europeans will join, and when? How can we ensure that enlargement brings the economic and security benefits expected of it?This comprehensive study examines in detail the political, economic and security implications of eastward enlargement for both East and West. The authors present new analyses of the policy issues including the EU budget and pre-accession strategy and of the economic integration likely before and after accession.Based on an extensive series of interviews with key ministers, diplomats, policy-makers, academics and journalists across Europe, this study also provides an informed overview of expectations and attitudes towards enlargement within the EU and in the applicant countries.

This collection of essays by a multinational group of authors examines the political, social and economic consequences of the most recent enlargement of the European Union. It does not confine itself to a discussion of the impact on the new member states but also considers the likely effects of this enlargement on the EU itself. These effects include not only the familiar need for new modes of governance but also involve other changes resulting from a process of what has been called mutual learning. These essays analyse various aspects of this process starting with the Constitutional Convention. Sometimes the focus is on the impact on the new members, sometimes on the changes likely to occur in the EU and its older members as a result of this enlargement. The emphasis on change is encapsulated in the book's title, 'Europe on the Move'.

Will joining the European Union help achieve prosperity, stability and democracy in Central and Eastern Europe? This book addresses this question by analysing how the European Union has approached this enlargement. Specifically, the book shows how, in its enlargement to the East, the European Union has tried to guide the post- communist states of Central and Eastern Europe towards new institutions and changing rules. In addressing the little explored link between post-communist transformations and enlargement, the book presents the effects of enlargement governance extended by the EU on domestic processes of reform and transformation. With its rich empirical overview of the reform challenges to various sectors, the author presents various scenarios of the interaction of EU rules with post communist reform. In contrast to other books on enlargement, this one relies on the perspective of scholars from Eastern Europe to illustrate the importance of the accession process to reform.