Path Dependence and External Shocks: The Dynamics of the EU Enlargement Eastwards

Not so long after the sudden collapse of state socialism in Central and Eastern Europe, the Eastern Enlargement project of the European Union was initiated with the declared ambition to assist the countries of the region with the difficult transformations they were undergoing, to promote peace, democracy and prosperity in the eastern part of the continent and to advance the European integration process further. Despite considerable enthusiasm about the successful realization of these goals and the assertion made by some Western politicians and Brussels officials that new member states from Eastern Europe would be admitted in the EU with a minimal possible delay, the initially optimistic scenario of this initiative has not seemed to be realized so far. A large number of political, social and economic factors as well as some other permanent constraints of a purely technical character, have prevented the EU and its institutions from acting more decisively on this score and, as a result, the promotion of the Union’s policies eastwards has been significantly slowed down.