Book Reviews van den Bempt, Paul, and Greet Theelen. From Europe Agreements to Accession: The Integration of the Central and Eastern European Countries into the European Union . Brussels: European Interuniversity Press, Brussels 1996. This book by van den Bempt and Theelen is the result of a series of conferences organized by the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) between 1991 and 1995. Relying on the conference papers, the authors have created a synthesis of the expertise of the participants. The contributors and the subject of their papers are reported in a separate bibliography at the end of the book. This synergetic approach helps to avoid the risk of redundancies and the authors manage to present a singularly concise overall view of the developing relations between the EU and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC) as of 1996. Starting with an overview of the Europe Agreements and their subsequent implementation, in particular via the Structured Relationship, the authors analyse to what extent the CEECs already enjoy access to the Community's Intemal Market. Van den Bempt and Theelen analyse the conditions for accession formulated by the EU and its Member States regarding democracy, rule of law, institutional and economic stability. They set out the efforts made by the CEECs to gradually adapt to the acquis communautaire by approximating their legislation as well as their attempts to create a framework for a functioning market system through privatization and the creation of a financial infrastructure. The authors report the differing experiences and successes of the various CEECs between economic and social shock therapies and gradualism. In addition to an account of the financial and technical assistance given by the EU and others, the reader also finds a - necessarily speculative - perspective on budgetary developments after accession. Of particular interest is a critical evaluation of the progress concerning democracy, protection of minorities and respect of human rights in the candidate countries, which highlights possible sources of tension among potential EU Member States, as well as first steps towards equitable and permanent solutions. Last but not least, the authors analyse the impact of an Eastern enlargement on the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy and the security interests of the CEECs. The final chapter, devoted to the reform of the institutions necessitated by further enlargement, remains largely unaffected by the Treaty of Amsterdam which has postponed the solution of these institutional problems. The text of the book is supplemented by ample statistics contained in Annexes. However, the excellent impression conveyed by van den Bempt and Theelen's work is slightly diminished by the fact that it does not facilitate further independent research by the reader. Apart from the Presidency Conclusions of the European Council of Copenhagen and the statistics, virtually no official sources for original documents are given. The authors offer to provide copies of the non-published papers from the bibliography mentioned above to the interested public. This service, however, cannot guarantee that the reader will eventually find the documents he or she is looking for. Dr. Hans-Peter Folz University of Augsburg
	© 1990-2004 European Journal of International Law All comments and suggestions should be sent to webmaster This site is part of the Academy of European Law online, a joint partnership of the Jean Monnet Center at NYU School of Law and the Academy of European Law at the European University Institute. This file was last modified: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 01:00PM