Europeanisaton and ECE region Workshop

The Europeanisation of Central and Eastern Europe: how has it gone?
Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University
16th-18th October 2009

Regime changes in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989 constituted a springboard for elaborate, costly, and difficult processes of democratization, which ran in parallel with processes of Europeanisation, understood as the domestic impact of the EU. This impact is most comprehensive and conspicuous in the case of the post-communist countries, where systemic transformation was accompanied by the process of ‘adjustments’ that led to EU membership. The adjustment requirements were legal, economic, and societal, including adaptation to so-called EU values and norms. The processes, of course, are far from complete.

This workshop set out to tackle the following questions: What has been the interplay between the processes of Europeanisation and democratic transformation in CEE countries? What is the role of national characteristics and national culture? Just what was the impact of Europeanisation? How did concurrent phenomena of exclusion and/or inclusion work? How are different groups - including national, ethnic, regional, migrant, religious and sexual minorities affected?

This three day workshop analysed the processes of Europeanisation from different perspectives, including theoretical approaches and various case studies. The participation of graduates from different Europaeum universities allowed for the exchange of experiences and encounters of Europeanisation across the EU, with a special emphasis on the new ECE member states.

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