ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2, we noted the interrelationship between policy and production integration. Here we look more closely at the dynamics of policy integration and in particular how the process of enlargement has affected ‘state strategies’ of the candidate Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). Given the nature of the European Union (EU) integration and enlargement process one might have expected a relatively clear-cut shift in state strategy – in terms of both the orientation of policies that states can adopt and their capacity to pursue such policies. Alignment with EU rules would tend to narrow the scope of policy orientation, pushing CEECs towards a predominantly ‘regulatory’ rather than a ‘developmental’ mode of governance, and reinforce administrative capacity. In fact, the picture is more ambiguous, with incumbent as well as candidate states not always able or willing to adapt to the apparent logic of integration.
