The European Union's (EU) membership conditionality has been perceived as a highly effective means of influence on non-member states in the run-up to the 2004 and 2007 enlargements. According to the incentive-based explanation that dominates the literature, conditionality has been particularly effective when the EU offered a credible membership incentive and when governments did not consider the domestic costs of compliance threatening to their hold on power. This volume challenges much of the existing work on EU enlargement and postcommunist transition, however, by testing the conditionality thesis in the post-accession setting. Whereas a conditionality hypothesis would predict deteriorating compliance among the newest member states, several contributions here actually find the opposite. Enduring compliance among postcommunist states with the acquis, as well as with less formally institutionalized EU preferences for economic liberalization and minority protection, calls into question the role that conditionality plays in eliciting conformity. Simultaneously, support for the conditionality hypothesis in areas such as political party development and EU relations with Turkey and the western Balkans suggests conditionality's effects vary across countries and issues. As the first study to systematically examine the relationship between international institutions and postcommunist states after enlargement, this volume provides new insights into how external actors exercise their power in domestic politics. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

This is a key reference text presenting the latest first-rate approaches to the study of European enlargement.

Developed and significantly expanded from a special issue of the leading Journal of European Public Policy, this new volume draws on the insights from the recently emerging theoretically-informed literature on the EU's eastern enlargement and complements these studies with original articles that combine a theoretical approach with comparative analyses.

These expert contributors focus on the broader theoretical debates and their implications for the enlargement of the EU, as well as placing the enlargement of the EU within the broader context of the expansion of international organisations and the study of institutions in international relations.

Developed and significantly expanded from a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy, this volume draws on the insights from the recently emerging theoretically-informed literature on the EU's eastern enlargement and complements these studies with original articles that combine a theoretical approach with comparative analyses. The expert contributors focus on the broader theoretical debates and their implications for the enlargement of the EU, as well as placing the enlargement of the EU within the broader context of the expansion of international organizations and the study of institutions in international relations.
This volume is a key reference text presenting the 'state of the art' of theoretical approaches to the study of European enlargement.

In May 2004, eight former Eastern Bloc countries joined the European Union: the three Baltic republics, Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak republics, and Slovenia. What is involved in "accession"? How have accession dynamics affected and been affected by the domestic politics of candidate countries and their adoption of EU rules?

In this carefully designed volume of original essays, the editors have brought together a group of scholars with firsthand research experience in the new member-states of Central and Eastern Europe. Framed by opening and concluding chapters by Frank Schimmelfennig and Ulrich Sedelmeier that outline several aspects of preparation for accession, the empirical case studies discuss a variety of topics, including democracy and human rights, the reform of state administrations and economic, social, and environmental policies. This book demonstrates the importance of the credibility and the costs of accession conditionality for the adoption of EU rules in Central and Eastern Europe.

Contributors: Liliana B. Andonova, Colby College; Antoaneta L. Dimitrova, Leiden University; Stefan Engert, Darmstadt University of Technology; Rachel Epstein, University of Denver; Heather Grabbe, Centre for European Reform and Oxford University; Adrienne Heritier, European University Institute; Wade Jacoby, Brigham Young University; Heiko Knobel, Darmstadt University of Technology; Frank Schimmelfennig, Mannheim Center for European Social Research; Guido Schwellnus, Queen's University of Belfast; Ulrich Sedelmeier, Central European University; Beate Sissenich, Indiana University"

In May 2004, eight former Eastern Bloc countries joined the European Union: the three Baltic republics, Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak republics, and Slovenia. What is involved in accession? How have accession dynamics affected and been affected by the domestic politics of candidate countries and their adoption of EU rules? In this carefully designed volume of original essays, the editors have brought together a group of scholars with firsthand research experience in the new member-states of Central and Eastern Europe. Framed by opening and concluding chapters by Frank Schimmelfennig and Ulrich Sedelmeier that outline several aspects of preparation for accession, the empirical case studies discuss a variety of topics, including democracy and human rights, the reform of state administrations and economic, social, and environmental policies. This book demonstrates the importance of the credibility and the costs of accession conditionality for the adoption of EU rules in Central and Eastern Europe.

The European Union s (EU) membership conditionality has been perceived as a highly effective means of influence on non-member states in the run-up to the 2004 and 2007 enlargements. According to the incentive-based explanation that dominates the literature, conditionality has been particularly effective when the EU offered a credible membership incentive and when governments did not consider the domestic costs of compliance threatening to their hold on power.

This volume challenges much of the existing work on EU enlargement and postcommunist transition, however, by testing the conditionality thesis in the post-accession setting. Whereas a conditionality hypothesis would predict deteriorating compliance among the newest member states, several contributions here actually find the opposite. Enduring compliance among postcommunist states with the acquis, as well as with less formally institutionalized EU preferences for economic liberalization and minority protection, calls into question the role that conditionality plays in eliciting conformity. Simultaneously, support for the conditionality hypothesis in areas such as political party development and EU relations with Turkey and the western Balkans suggests conditionality s effects vary across countries and issues. As the first study to systematically examine the relationship between international institutions and postcommunist states after enlargement, this volume provides new insights into how external actors exercise their power in domestic politics.

This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.