ABSTRACT
With each wave of expansion, the European Union (EU) does not simply get bigger, it also changes. The EU enlarged significantly in 2004 when countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) joined the EU. This expansion required tremendous efforts on the part of the new accession states. Following the fall of the communist regimes in 1989, the goal of EU membership often served to guide these countries as they developed new agencies and adopted widespread environmental policy reforms. Citizens and officials alike grappled with adjustments in their relationships with each other, with state authority, and with market dynamics. Although the goal of accession was generally accepted in countries in CEE, it met with mixed reactions within the rest of the EU, which is now struggling to adapt to various changes wrought by enlargement. Supporters argued that enlargement would help stabilize the region’s new political and economic systems, reinforce Europe’s ability to compete in a globalizing economy, and foster improvements in environmental protection and quality throughout CEE and continental Europe. Although proponents maintained that EU enlargement would have numerous benefits, environmental critics believed that it would hinder environmental policy development, reduce environmental quality, and lower environmental standards and their implementation right across Europe (Homeyer, 2004; Holzinger and Knoepfel, 2000).
