ABSTRACT
Until relatively German elites supported European Union (EU) integration and expansion and accepted the consequences, imprecise as they were, without serious challenge to basic policy directions or the provision of financial support. Enlargements in 1981 and 1986 increased demands on the national budget without significant adverse political reaction or excessive financial strain and the 1995 inclusion of Austria, Sweden and Finland was clearly favourable for Germany. Political elites and academic commentators have consistently emphasized that enlargement of the EU will lead to greater stability in Europe. Germans in particular stressed, contending that the integration of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) states into western structures will engender an increase in 'hard' security for the continent. Wages have risen in the most advanced candidates and gaps in income levels with Germany are gradually reducing, encouraging prognostications, like that of Roland Freudenstein and Henning Tewes, that fears of job losses are exaggerated.
