After more than a decade of transformation and catching-up to the present members of the EU the applicant countries now comply with many of the political and economic requirements laid down at the Copenhagen summit in 1993. Because of such a clear direction it is necessary and advisable to take a close look at the chances and the risks of the enlargement for the old member countries as well as for the new ones. This is the background of a collection of articles published in this book. The papers cover a wide range of important aspects of the EU eastern enlargement, for instance trade effects, country-specific as well as EU politics, regional transborder co-operation and monetary issues concerning a country’s currency regime.
