The Baltic States on their way to Europe: lessons from the southern enlargement of the EC (in German)

The authors examine what integration options the Baltic States will have in Europe in the 1990s. As a reference system for a possible route of the Baltic States to the European Union, the southern enlargement of the Community in the 1980s by Greece, Portugal and Spain was applied. For both the three Baltic States and the three southern European countries, the regulatory and structural conditions were examined and compared in order to assess the Baltic States’ ability to join the European Community. The analysis of the market economy regulatory framework was carried out on the basis of a list of criteria, which is aligned to the essential structural elements of a market economy.