The EU-27 Integration and Economic Relationships with the East: An Introductory Analysis

In the first part of the volume all the economic and institutional themes on the enlargement leading to EU-25/27 are dealt with, along with the feedback both on EU-15 and on the 10 and then 12 accession countries. Also, the possibilities of further extensions across a pan-European scope – not a further EU enlargement, but rather its external completion – are considered. These current and prospective circumstances are echoed in the economic and foreign trade dynamics of/with the Eastern European countries, impacting significantly on Italy, because of the longstanding and expanding economic relationships. Finally, the situation of the countries of Southeastern Europe – now emerging from heavy war conditions and aiming at normalization, which inevitably makes them gravitate towards the EUis looked at. What eventually comes to light is that the categories of enlargement, integration, and cooperation can positively coexist and that integration can develop across variable scales between enlargement and cooperation.