Institutional development in new and potential member countries determines the success of both the catching-up of developing European countries and the deepening of the European integration process. This paper argues that the timing of future enlargement should depend on institutional...

Auf der Tagung des Europäischen Rates in Kopenhagen wurde der Beschluss gefasst, die EU nach Osten hin zu öffnen und assoziierte Länder Mittel- und Osteuropas sowie Malta und Zypern in eine erweiterte Gemeinschaft aufzunehmen. Der Beitritt zur EU wurde dabei von der Erfüllung politischer,...

The paper takes into account both the concerns of the EU, arguing that convergence is incomplete, and the demands from accession countries, claiming that monetary integration is optimal. Indicators are developed which measure convergence and optimality in comparison with a reference group of the...

Kiev is not so far away from Brussels as one might expect. Ukraine already performs quite well when compared to the other countries in the queue for entry into the EU. Especially the fiscal and external debt figures are better than in other countries. On the negative side, there is a...