Driven to Change : The European Union's Enlargement Viewed from the East

Will joining the European Union help achieve prosperity, stability and democracy in Central and Eastern Europe? This book addresses this question by analyzing, from the perspective of new members and current candidates, how the European Union has approached this enlargement, what conditions and criteria have been set and how these have influenced post communist transformations in a number of areas from constitutional changes to economic and financial reforms and public administrations. More 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 theme of the 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 in various stages of advancement.