ABSTRACT
The process of integrating ten new Member States into the European Union has finally succeeded. The new members are a highly diverse group of states, with different sizes, historical backgrounds and political cultures. They are also set in different geographical contexts, bordering different countries of the contemporary Union. Looked upon this way, the process of integration could be seen as consisting of a number of sub-processes in different parts of Europe, it can not just be seen as one process. One of these sub-processes concerns integration in the Baltic Sea Area. The idea of integration in the Baltic Sea Area has been on political agendas since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
