Coming to Terms With Accession

This report presents three perspectives on the contentious issue of the accession of the central and east European (CEE) countries to the European Union. The first chapter considers accession from the perspective of the EU and focuses on the political economy considerations. The second chapter places the issue in a larger context, arguing that the primary aspiration of the CEE countries should not be accession, but catching up with the most developed economies in the world. The final chapter maintains that the enlargement of the EU, by creating a larger common market, is beneficial both for the EU and the CEE countries.The authors are Jurgen von Hagen, UniversitÄt Bonn and CEPR; Andrej Kumar, University of Ljubljana; Elzbieta Kawecka-Wyrzykowska, Warsaw School of Economics and Foreign Trade Research Institute.The editors are Lorand Ambrus-Lakatos, Central European University, Budapest, and CEPR, and Mark E. Schaffer, Heriot-Watt University.