ABSTRACT
In December 1999 the European Council resolved to take up membership negotiations with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, and Turkey after already having taken them up with Estonia, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Cyprus in 1998. As a result, the EU is to be expanded by thirteen countries. If one proceeds from the premise that the difficulties of integration are proportionate to the differences between EU countries on the one hand and candidates for accession on the other, then one can expect that eastward enlargement of the EU will not be an easy task. Not only is there a smoldering foreign policy and military conflict between Greece and Turkey, not only are the democratic traditions quite different in these countries, above all there are great economical differences between some candidates (e.g. Romania and Bulgaria) and the present EU countries with consequences in terms of, among others, possible migration movements and transfer payments.
