Within the space of a decade, in its stance towards the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, the European Union (EU) has managed to emerge from its 'reacting period' without a clear strategy, and enter a period of differentiated strategy, and most recently, slip back into its 'strategy of no differentiation'. This development has various consequences for the enlargement process, although it has to be added that none of them are alien to the basic features that accompany the longer historical process of European integration.

Various views have been expressed on the timing of accession, among scholars and observers, in politics and before the public. Some of these views derive from promises made in various, mainly propagandistic circumstances. The others rest on a more careful consideration of the timing issue. In the meantime the EU has clearly defined the conditions that have to be met by the Union itself before the first wave of enlargement. The time frames for these tasks differ.

It is understandable arguments for not setting dates have been put forward mainly by existing member-states, or more precisely, by some institutions, organizations and interest groups in the EU. This stance is generally rooted in a surviving hope that the status quo created between 1945 and 1989, and extremely pleasant for Western Europe, can be maintained, even though more than ten years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Eastern enlargement is considered a threat to this situation. At the same time, those arguing against dates do not recognize that unavoidable changes result less from the enlargement as such than from globalization, intra-EU reform needs, the non-sustainability of the welfare state created decades ago, and of course, the rapidly growing CEE competition, irrespective of EU accession. Since much of Western European society, a clear winner by the economic opening of Central and Eastern Europe, finds it difficult to carry out this change in institutions, economic activities and mentality, it seizes every chance to produce arguments against enlargement, in general and within a reasonable time in particular.

Candidate countries are pressing for a target date or dates for accession. So at the first glance, one may believe that it would be just their exclusive interest. However, it is easy to formulate a number of arguments justifying such an approach from the standpoint of the EU as well...