This compelling volume, from the Centre for Economic Policy Research, examines the discussion surrounding expansion of the European Union (EU). The contributors address the key issues in the debate, including the implications of expansion for the global trading system, enlargement-related pressures to reform EU decision-making, and the economic consequences of membership for entrants. Using theoretical techniques to report results and insights, this book not only sheds light on the consequences of Austria, Finland and Sweden joining the EU, but also discusses and evaluates the possible membership of Central European ex-socialist countries. This is an important book for students and scholars interested in regional integration, and also for policy-makers in the new EU member countries and in applicant countries.

In May 2004, after bringing their legislation into accordance with EU regulations, ten more countries joined the European Union. The contributors to this volume assess the impact of this historical development on gender relations in the new and old EU member states. Instead of focusing on either western or eastern Europe, this book investigates the similarities and differences in diverse parts of Europe. Although initially limited, gender equality was part of the original framework of the European Union, an organization often more open than national governments to feminist demands, as this volume illustrates with case studies from eastern and western Europe. The enlargement process thus provides some important policy instruments for increasing equality between men and women.

The Expanding European Union examines the effects of successive increases in EU membership, drawing comparisons among the 1973, 1981, 1986 and 1995 enlargements, during which the Union grew from six to fifteen members. The authors also look ahead to the likelihood of a 20- or even a 24-member entity by the year 2000.

Despite all efforts to create a political union capable of improving European citizens’ quality of life, there are several barriers to the European Union’s (EU) expansion to the Balkan Region. The EU enlargement and expansion to the Balkan Region is one of the Union’s greatest challenges and political objectives in recent years. In the turmoil of economic, social, and sanitarian crises, where is the space to debate the enlargement of the EU? Challenges and Barriers to the European Union Expansion to the Balkan Region presents the EU’s structure, the process of enlargement, and the challenges related to the Balkan region. This book addresses critical issues and challenges in the EU and the emerging trends for the EU’s future. Covering topics such as enlargement policy, integration, NATO, and political challenges, this book is a valuable resource for post-grad students of political science and international affairs, faculty of higher education, researchers, academicians, politicians, world leaders, and policymakers.

This is the first study to examine the entire life cycle in the Middle Ages. Drawing on a wide range of secondary and primary material, the book explores the timing and experiences of infancy, childhood, adolescence and youth, adulthood, old age and, finally, death. It discusses attitudes towards ageing, rites of passage, age stereotypes in operation, and the means by which age was used as a form of social control, compelling individuals to work, govern, marry and pay taxes. The wide scope of the study allows contrasts and comparisons to be made across gender, social status and geographical location. It considers whether men and women experienced the ageing process in the same way, and examines the differences that can be discerned between northern and southern Europe. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries suffered famine, warfare, plague and population collapse. This fascinating consideration of the life cycle adds a new dimension to the debate over continuity and change in a period of social and demographic upheaval.

Following the disintegration of the Soviet bloc, many Central and Eastern European Countries launched a vigorous “return to Europe” campaign, which primarily focused on accession to NATO and the European Union. By 2007, ten countries became members of the Euro-Atlantic community, personifying the long-awaited reunification and reconciliation of Europe. The book argues that the EU and NATO eastern enlargements represent a settlement of historical-psychological accounts for countries affected by the “black trinity”: the Munich Agreement, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and the Yalta-Potsdam Conferences.

The primary focus of the chapters presented in this book is the European Union. The EU is a treaty-based, institutional framework that defines and manages economic and political co-operation among its 25 member states (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). The Union represents the latest stage in a process of European integration begun after World War II to promote peace and economic prosperity in Europe. This European integration project has evolved from encompassing primarily economic sectors to include developing a common foreign policy and closer police and judicial co-operation. With the end of the Cold War, the Union has also sought to extend the political and economic benefits of membership, especially to central and eastern Europe. This book examines the Union's expectations of the future, and the relationships that it has with countries in other parts of the world.

The problems caused by the proposed enlargement of the EU to include the associated Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) are discussed in this book. The two main agricultural issues raised by this are the relative competitiveness of CEEC agricultural policies.

For many observers, the European Union is mired in a deep crisis. Between sluggish growth; political turmoil following a decade of austerity politics; Brexit; and the rise of Asian influence, the EU is seen as a declining power on the world stage. Columbia Law professor Anu Bradford argues the opposite in her important new book The Brussels Effect: the EU remains an influential superpower that shapes the world in its image. By promulgating regulations that shape the international business environment, elevating standards worldwide, and leading to a notable Europeanization of many important aspects of global commerce, the EU has managed to shape policy in areas such as data privacy, consumer health and safety, environmental protection, antitrust, and online hate speech. And in contrast to how superpowers wield their global influence, the Brussels Effect - a phrase first coined by Bradford in 2012- absolves the EU from playing a direct role in imposing standards, as market forces alone are often sufficient as multinational companies voluntarily extend the EU rule to govern their global operations. The Brussels Effect shows how the EU has acquired such power, why multinational companies use EU standards as global standards, and why the EU's role as the world's regulator is likely to outlive its gradual economic decline, extending the EU's influence long into the future.