10th Anniversary of EU Enlargement: Are there any Measurable Effects of Integrating the Central and Eastern European Member Countries Regarding Growth and Social and Regional Cohesion?

The first round of EU Eastern enlargement took place 10 years ago. Negotiations on association agreements and finally EU accession negotiations had already begun 10 years earlier. An essential component of these negotiations was the implementation of the acquis communautaire, which in turn includes in particular the internal market regulations. The actors involved expected the implementation of the acquis to provide an impetus for growth, development and macroeconomic stability. The presentation critically examines this assumption with regard to economic freedoms. Statistical analyses can show that alignment with the internal market acquis has in fact hardly stimulated economic growth. Although these findings may be disappointing from the point of view of those in favour of rapid alignment, it can at least be assumed that the EU pre-accession strategy has not had a negative impact on social and regional cohesion in the eastern member countries.