C/P/30. EU Enlargement: what's in it for Central and Eastern Europe?

The author discusses the benefits and disadvantages of EU enlargement for candidate member states in Central and Eastern Europe. In political terms, benefits are understood in terms of strengthening of democratic institutions in the acceding countries (the so-called "democratic dividend"), which have to be weighed against concerns about erosion of national identities of candidate states. The author finds such concerns unfounded and claims that EU enlargement is politically beneficial to the acceding countries. In economic terms, the essay considers the benefits of the expanded Single Market and increased investment in the CEE countries, while also addressing possible economic drawbacks of enlargement, seen in terms of burden of EU regulations, which could slow down economic growth in the acceding countries. The author concludes that the benefits of enlargement, both political and economic, outweigh its disadvantages.