ABSTRACT
The European Parliament's involvement in Eastern Europe, on the other hand, was secured through its influence over the EC budget (which partially financed the Phare programme) as well as through its constitutional right to ratify the EC's Association agreements before these could enter into force. In this respect, the 'selling' of their democratic and free market credentials to the Commission and the European Parliament as a means of securing a sympathetic hearing for their Association bids within these institutions, was a crucial part of the pre-Association strategy that none of the CEECs could afford to miss.
