Integrating Europe: The Transition Economies at Stake

Bringing the eastern European economies in transition (defined more precisely in the Introduction) under the economic, political, and secu­ rity umbrella of the European Union (ED) has been an ambition of many of these countries from the very start of the so-called annus mirabilis in 1989. The road to gratification of this aspiration since then has been rather bumpy, however one wants to look at recent events. Indeed, since 1989 the relationship between the EU and the economies in transitio...