Implications for EU and candidate countries: General

The Eastern enlargement brings about several changes on the economies of current and future EU members. In the literature not only specific topics like trade and investment are discussed, also other, more general issues are reviewed. The issues include general assessment of economic implications, regulatory and budgetary aspects and time schemes.

This section reviews some of the publications which give an broad overview of the implications of the enlargement of the EU.

Relevant publications

The timetable for enlargement, H. Grabbe, 2002, Briefing Note, Centre for European Reform, London

The paper examines the main factors which are influencing the enlargement process. Special attention is given to the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), budgetary problems and the issue of monitoring. Decisions in these fields will be crucial for the enlargement negotiations. The paper also points at an important obstacle in the candidate countries: the accession countries need to ratify the agreements once they are invited to access the European Union.

For the paper click here.

The Economic Impact of Enlargement on the European Economy: Problems and Perspectives, P. Brenton, 2002, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels

The paper describes the difficulties of the enlargement process resulting from the accession into the Single Market. The author discusses that the regulatory harmonisation will become a major obstacle in the integration of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe into the European Union. According to the document this is the most crucial issue in the enlargement process. From this point of the view the author considers the problems of a lower state of development in the candidate countries, budgetary costs and migration as minor difficulties.

The paper is downloadable here.

EU enlargement: Economic implications for countries and industries, A.M. Lejour, R.A. de Mooij, R. Nahuis, 2001, Document No. 011, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, The Hague

This document discusses the economic effects of the accession to the internal market, the equalization of external tariffs and free movement of labour for the candidate countries and the EU15. For the analysis 16 industries are reviewed. The publication concludes that there are large gains for the Central and Eastern European Countries, where as in the case of the current EU Member States there are smaller gains. These conclusions are in line with other studies on the economic impacts of EU enlargement. The authors mention that across certain countries and industrial sectors there are possibly partial negative impacts.

For the document click here.

The costs and benefits of eastern enlargement: the impact on the EU and central Europe, R.E. Baldwin, J.F. Francois, R. Portes, 1997, CEPR, CES, MSH, Great Britain

This research is one of the pioneering studies to calculate the economic effects of EU enlargement. The study focuses on the benefits and costs in both the candidate countries and the EU15. The authors conclude that the enlargement is beneficial for the current Member State (10 billion Euro) and certainly for the candidate countries (23 billion Euro). 

For the document click here.