ABSTRACT
The adaptation of the Baltic states to the European Union exemplifies the profound economic and societal transformations that can occur over a short time in many areas of society. Meanwhile, the international community has used a great many resources to report on and evaluate the transformation process in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) states. In particular, the adaptation process was closely followed by European Commission monitoring, which is an empirical example of the mechanism of inquisition in Chapter 1. The reports and data produced by organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and EU are commonly viewed as objectively describing or reflecting economic, administrative, and other developments. Yet, by scrutinizing (i.e. monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on) the transformation of societies, these organizations arguably help shape these transformations, just as any measurement helps define measurable objects (Power 2004). Indeed, auditing, accountability, and transparency are becoming buzzwords. Some even claim we live in an “Audit Society” (Power 1997). The European Commission’s monitoring of the Baltic states during their adaptation to the EU exemplifies how such scrutiny plays a central role in the process of state transformation (Dahl 2007). Scrutiny is thus also an activity and a concept that illustrates the mechanism of inquisition. In this chapter, we will analyze how the Commission monitored the adaptation process in the Baltic states. This monitoring will be analyzed using the concepts developed in the constructionist fields of societal accounting and auditing. First, we will discuss how the concepts of auditing and accounting can be understood and used to analyze the monitoring of the Baltic states’ process of adaptation to the EU. Second, we will empirically describe the characteristics of the Commission’s monitoring procedures.1 Third, we will analyze the characteristics of the monitoring procedures in light of the previously presented theoretical concepts.
