Chapter 9 Central and Eastern Europe

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Chapter 9Central and Eastern Europe

• Tim Haughton

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Central and Eastern Europe

• The Post-Communist Challenge
• The Institutional Framework
• Salient Issues
• EU Conditionality
• EU Membership
• Continued Commonality or Increasing Diversity?

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Introduction

• Eastern enlargement has had big impact on
  European politics
• Tendency to prefer Central to Eastern
  European label
• Diversity as hallmark of Central and Eastern
  Europe (CEE)

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The Post-Communist Challenge

• Challenges facing post-1989 CEECs
• Create democracies
• Create market economies
• Build new states (except Poland, Hungary)
• How to manage privatization?
• How to move towards pluralism?

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The Institutional Framework

• Decisions made in 1989-91 are key
• Prevailing model
• Parliamentary democracy
• Proportional representation electoral system
• Multiparty systems
• Coalition governments

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Salient issues

• Attitudes to communist past
• Speed, direction and extent of economic reform
• EU integration
• Ethnic politics and minority policies
• Morality and values
• Competence, corruption and valence

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The Role of EU Conditionality

• Initial response to end of communism PHARE
  bilateral Europe Agreements
• Copenhagen Criteria
• Copenhagen, 2002 CEE 8 invited to join EU
• 1 May 2004 CEE 8 join EU

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Impact of EU Conditionality

• Incorporation of acquis communautaire into
  domestic law
• Includes bypassing of domestic legislative
  processes
• More opportunity for CEE autonomy in policy areas
  with weak EU powers
• EU promotes ethnic minority rights
• Continued role for domestic politics

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The Impact of EU Membership

• 8 CEECs are now EU subjects, rather than objects
• National civil servants must have strong grasp of
  EU law/policymaking
• New CEECs have sought to re-direct EU external
  relations towards Eastern borders
• New CEECs not yet members of Schengen or EMU

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Continued Commonality or Increasing Diversity?

• Common response to globalization?
• Broad patterns, with significant variations, more
  likely
• Common history amongst CEECs, but that history is
  becoming decreasingly relevant