Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Czech Republic and Slovakia), Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania
and Slovenia. Cyprus, Malta, and Turkey were
also regarded as viable candidates that had
submitted applications. In 1997 the Council
decided to treat the ten candidate countries of
CEE in two groups. The so-called 'first wave' or
'fast-track' countries consisted of the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, and
Estonia plus Cyprus; while the 'second wave'
group included the other five CEECs plus Malta.
In late 1999 at its Helsinki meeting, however,
and as an indication of the fluid nature of acces-
sion negotiations, the Council reversed its earlier
position and elevated Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia,
Bulgaria, Romania, and Malta to fast track status,
while Turkey was made a candidate country.
Subsequently, Bulgaria and Romania were con-
sidered not to have made sufficient progress
towards fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria, and
their accession was deferred. The position of
Turkey was less advanced and more complicated.
Each of the accession countries varies
widely with respect to size, population, eco-
nomic performance, political institutions, and
environmental health (Table 1.1). At the time of
accession they were generally much poorer
than their West European counterparts, had less
recent experience with democratic and adminis-
trative
in 13th place. Surprisingly, the next highest
ranked country was Slovenia, followed by the
Czech Republic, Poland, Cyprus, and then EU
founding member Italy. These were followed by
Hungary, Malta, Latvia, Estonia, 1981 entrant
Greece, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania, and
Turkey, with Bulgaria finishing in the position of
least suitability. These findings pointed to the
notable disparities that existed not only with
and between the candidate countries, but also
amongst the existing EU15 members. They
raised questions that most in the EU appeared
to prefer not to acknowledge.
Further considerations in the enlargement
process that are as relevant today as they were
prior to the 2004 enlargement concern the
internal reforms required for EU structures and
processes:
remedial and equitable action is required
in relation to the drain on EU resources,
and in particular on the European Central
Bank (ECB), that enlargement generates;
●
continuing issues of political re-definition,
especially in terms of voting regulations in
the Council need to be resolved; and
●
there has been general concern that the EU
may grow so large that it collapses under
its own weight, thus heralding a return to
nationalism, tariffs, and trade wars (Danta
and Hall, 2000). This expresses itself in
terms of arguments over budget contri-
butions and rebates, CAP reform and the
cultural construction of Europe, not least
in relation to the implications of Turkey's
potential accession.
●
institutions,
and
their
environmental
quality was generally lower.
In addition to having to contend with diffi-
cult economic and political conditions, public
attitudes toward the EU in most of the accession
countries became less positive. In surveys car-
ried out over the period 1900-1996 by the
European Commission in the applicant coun-
tries of CEE, only four countries - Bulgaria and
Romania (ironically), Poland and Hungary -
exceeded a 50% rating for any of the years.
Levels of popular support clearly declined
during the decade (Grabbe and Hughes, 1999).
At the end of the 1990s, the development
of an index of EU suitability based solely on
economic criteria produced some interesting
results (Anon, 1999). Using this index, all then
current and applicant countries were ranked in
terms of their suitability to be an EU member
state. Belgium was found to be the most suitable,
followed by Luxembourg, The Netherlands,
Denmark, Portugal, Austria, Ireland, Sweden,
France, Spain, Britain, Finland, and Germany
Development Background
The former Czechoslovakia had emerged from
state socialism in 1989 with a relatively strong
industrial sector, although in common with the
rest of CEE, in terms of living standards,
services and consumer choice - not least the
ability to travel - it had lagged behind Western
Europe since the 1960s. The country had been
ruled by a rigid regime that remained hostile to
economic and political reform to the end. The
former East Germany (GDR) had a similar
industrial character, and relatively high living
standards. Its hardline government also had
