EU Accession and Domestic Politics: Policy Consensus and Interactive Dynamics in Central and Eastern Europe

ISSN： 1568-0258

Source： Perspectives on European Politics and Society, Vol.1, Iss.1, 2000-12, pp. : 49-74

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Abstract

The study of EU enlargement has not paid sufficient attention to domestic impacts in accession countries and how these might complicate the process. The arguments for looking at this problem are greater than ever before given the EU is more demanding of such countries over prior conditions and the scope and degree of European policy implementation before membership may take place, compared with previous enlargements. Furthermore, countries in central and eastern Europe (CEE) are undergoing multiple transformations with economic change, and in some cases, state- and nation-building alongside political democratisation. On the other hand, political consensus over EU membership is distinctly broader in CEE countries compared with previous cases of accession. The article therefore concentrates on the strength of this consensus and how far it should withstand the increased pressures that will come as accession negotiations advance. To this end, a four-part analytical framework is developed and then applied in more detail to CEE. It looks successively at: (a) historical, motivational and cultural factors; (b) governance; (c) the political arena; and, (d) the socio-economic arena. It concludes that while Europeanisation pressures on domestic politics have been significant and fairly extensive, interactions between different levels within domestic politics have so far been restrained. On the other hand, risks may come from a growing gap between political elites and mass opinion in what are still fragile new democracies and from any serious delay in accession dates.