ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 discussed how the principles of conditionality and differentiation formed the two basic pillars of the EC's Association strategy in Eastern Europe. In April 1990, the Commission fleshed out the conditionality principle by linking the calendar of the Association negotiations to the respect, on behalf of the Association applicants, of the rule of law; human rights; free multi-party elections and economic liberalisation with a view to introducing market economies. Conditionality was seen by the EC as a means of developing an effective 'carrot and stick' strategy aimed at ensuring the irreversibility of economic and political reforms in Eastern Europe. Its anticipated benefits would, therefore, be twofold. On the one hand, entry into the Association game would be the 'reward' for those CEECs committed to democratic values and the market economy. On the other, exclusion from the Association game would provide the worse performing CEECs with an incentive to engage in serious economic and political reforms.
