The political economy of Baltic States’ accession into the EU: The impact on the role of the state. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 5 No. 21, July 2005

Vilpisauskas, Ramunas. (2005) The political economy of Baltic States’ accession into the EU: The impact on the role of the state. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 5 No. 21, July 2005.

Abstract

[From the introduction]. This paper aims at providing a broad analysis of the EU’s impact on the CEECs which is not sector or policy specific by focusing on the changing role of the state in these countries as a result of direct and indirect impact of the EU. It draws on the concepts developed by the Europeanization studies, debates on the regulation in EU and in particular studies of transition reforms. The studies of the two processes of transition and EU accession, in particular the character and outcomes of their interaction, have for a long time been fragmented and divided into two separate fields. Some analysts go as far as to claim that, “the two not only pass each other as ships in the night, but rarely even sail in the same sea.” (6) This paper starts with the premise that integrating the results of studies from the transition reforms and EU accession policies can provide new insights about the changing role of the state, boundaries between private and public, and potential implications for the success of public policies in the CEECs and growth of their economies. In addition, the paper also critically examines the prevailing arguments concerning the character of EU’s impact on CEECs and provides a different perspective on the issue. Although the literature on the impact of the EU on the redrawing of boundaries between market and the state so far has been rather limited, there have been several arguments which are made explicitly by the authors or are tacitly accepted as the conventional wisdom in policy specific analysis.