THE FINANCIAL SETTLEMENT IN THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION: LESSONS FOR ROMANIA?

At the end of every European Union accession negotiation, there is a fight about finance. Yet finance is by no means the most important element of the negotiations. Matters affecting the vital interests of new and old members like the free movement of labour or the representation of the new member state in the institutions of the Union are usually far more important in the longer term. But it is easier for politicians to talk to voters about money than about policy. The budgetary negotiations in this first enlargement to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe were perhaps more important i... Mehr ...