Introduction

In enlarging the European Union (EU) to include thirteen new states,1 the EU and its member states have agreed to undertake the largest and most challenging process of regulatory and legal convergence to date in the history of the EU. While the average economic size of the enlargement countries in terms of GDP and population is not as great as the current EU average, the nature of the political economies that will form part of the enlarged EU are unique for several reasons. First, with the exception of Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, all these political economies have undergone significant transition and transformation since 1989 when the state socialist economies collapsed. The reasons for the collapse are now well-documented. Indeed our study does not seek to reanalyse these events. Second, the new states applying will be faced with the most sophisticated and detailed set of supranational rules formulated to date in the EU. It is interesting to note that the level of EU legislation currently required to be implemented by the new states dwarfs the level faced by Spain and Portugal in 1986 and the 1995 states (Sweden, Finland and Austria). Moreover, in the latter case, the regulatory capacity of these states was considerably higher than the transforming economies of East and Central Europe (ECE) who are currently seeking membership.