he EU's enlargement as seen from the point of view of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia : perceptions, objectives, strategies and preferences

The post-1989 Central European Countries’ intention to connect to the process of European integration is the major concrete fact which enthused this study. The main purpose was to present and illustrate “the other perspective” of EU enlargement by offering a more exhaustive picture of the process, somehow a Hegelian “antithesis” (candidate’s view) to the EU “thesis”. Since the beginning the integration between the EU and the aspirants resembled a modem form of hegemonic power projection. These countries were spontaneously ready to buy into and to internalise values, norms and, guidelines (regime takers) embodied by the EU (regime shaper). The focus of the research is on both the ontological phase, namely, why did CEC want to be part of the West and enter the EU and on the post-ontological phase: how states acted in order to join the EU and be fully-integrated members. By deconstructing and reconstructing the meaning of the EU membership we wanted to capture its ontology (what is the EU?), its epistemology (what does the EU stand for?) and its teleology (where should it go?). In order to respond to these questions we looked at these countries perceptions of Europe and the EU and to the interests/objectives they intended to attain. We considered possible alternative pathways to the EU and we described the strategy they concocted to reach their goals. Finally, we attempted to forecast what the ideal Union would have been for them. In general, the identitive-affective motivations were progressively accompanied by the emergence of economic and strategic interests although the real benefits deriving from membership are still unclear. Nevertheless, CEC kept on adapting to the EU because they received concrete direct and indirect rewards and because the process produced a sort of path dependency. Because of the complexity of the phenomenon one single paradigm was not able to explicate it entirely. Different approaches in fact applied to the various phases of the process. CEC accession philosophy did not correspond to any theoretical mainstream but it rather blended various aspects from constructivism to realism. Only a chronological pattern emerged: CEC moved from a more idealistic vision of the EU to a rather realistic position in terms of maximisation of national interests and acquisition of power within and outside the EU.