ABSTRACT
The German reunification process marks a very special case in the context of integration experiences, as it encompasses the many facets of the integration of former socialist countries into the Western world at a smaller scale within one country. Since this integration process is already going on for some while, it may provide useful insights for the current process of Eastern enlargement that has just started. This chapter analyses the experience of the incumbent country West Germany with various EU integration steps since the 1980s, and the experience of both West and East Germany after the reunification in 1990 regarding the specialization of the regions concerned.
