ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the evolution of relations between the EC and Eastern Europe leading to the negotiation and conclusion of the first wave of Association agreements with Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia in December 1991. Particular attention will be paid to three main themes: (i) the EC's early strategy in the region, beginning with the 1988 EC/CMEA Joint Declaration and ending in late 1989 with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the overthrow of most of the communist leaders in Eastern Europe; (ii) the reasons leading to the introduction of Association as the main instrument of the EC's policy in Eastern Europe and the main principles on which the new Europe agreements were to be based; and (iii) the most contentious issues during the negotiations between the EC and the first wave of Association applicants and the way in which these issues were finally resolved.
