> www.jamestown.org
> Russia and Eurasia Review
> Volume 2, Issue 6 March 18, 2003
>
> JOINING IN BUT NOT SIGNING UP? RUSSIA'S ECONOMIC 'INTEGRATION' INTO
> EUROPE by Philip Hanson
> Joining the EU is like joining a secret
> society--complete with hazing (being beaten over the head with all the
> chapters of the acquis).
Um. What has this man been smoking? The acquis is negotiated between applicant countries and the EU, and is full of useful things, like environmental protections, human rights safeguards, etc. In exchange for relatively minor limitations on national sovereignty -- they're not required to join the eurozone or restrained by the Maastricht budget limits -- applicants get bucketfuls of money, access to cheap loans, elected seats in the European Parliament and membership in other EU bodies, etc.
-- DRR