ABSTRACT
On September 29, 1989, the European Commission presented its first proposals for a support program for Poland and Hungary, which were at that time in the process of bidding good-bye to four decades of "eternal friendship" with the Union of the Socialist Soviet Republics. In 1997, the Commission proposed in its Opinions to start entry negotiations with five Central and Eastern European Countries, two of which, Estonia and Slovenia, were enjoying not more than just six years of national statehood. The European Union (EU) supported the transforming states in their reform processes and helped them financially, but also beyond that it helped with ideas and suggestions and in moving them closer to EU-Europe. At the beginning of the process of preparing the Central and Eastern European Countries for EU membership, both Germany and Austria were completely preoccupied with their own problems. The chapter also presents an overview of this book.
