ABSTRACT
The lack of an explicit financial commitment from the Community to assist the economic transformation processes in Central Eastern Europe had attracted considerable criticism during the negotiation of the association agreements in 1991. However, the Copenhagen European Council meeting gave a promise of membership to the associate countries in Central Eastern Europe. In Central Eastern Europe, the ethnic minorities' demands for autonomy tended to be seen as incompatible with the nation and state-building processes. The Community's plans to extend the association framework to the whole of Central Eastern Europe also had major implications for the possibilities and incentives for regional cooperation. In fact, the crisis over ratification of the Maastricht Treaty reinforced the member states' opposition to offering Central Eastern Europe any special arrangement which could mean partial or half-way membership. The limited trade liberalisation agreed in some sectors had the effect of turning Western investors in Central Eastern Europe into a protectionist lobby.
