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Progress Toward the Unification of Europe
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September, 2000
 This paper discusses the challenges faced by the transition countries in joining the European Union (EU), as well as those faced by the EU in order to facilitate a successful integration.
Ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia - the CEECs ), together with Cyprus and Malta, have been invited to begin accession negotiations with the European Union.
The enlargement will bring unique opportunities as well as present great challenges to both the candidate countries and the EU.
For the CEECs, enlargement should improve their long-term growth prospects by providing them with unimpeded access to a large single market and eventual free movement of goods, services, capital and people within the market.
At the same time, the CEECs face the challenge of completing the transition agenda, implementing the acquis communautaire, and addressing some of the major challenges outside of the acquis, which will be important for a successful integration.
For the EU, the enlargement will enhance its weight and influence in the international arena, while presenting it with the challenge of accommodating a large number of new members.
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