With the gradual accession of some Central Eastern European Countries (CEECs) to the EU, international trade between EU and CEECs and the related environmental problems will definitely change because of the free trade and the mobility of production factors (labour and capital) within the EU....

This paper analyses the environmental dimensions the past accession of Greece, Portugal and Spain to the EU in order to draw lessons for the current accession of countries of Central and Eastern Europe. A distinction is made between scale, composition and technique effects. Two major conclusions...