Between Playing Hardball and Accommodating Generously? The Terms of Enlargement for the Integration of the German Democratic Republic Into the European Community
Journal: JCMS Journal of Common Market Studies
Year: 2025

Abstract Do norms impact state action, or are they purely instrumental and subordinate to material interests? I approach this long‐standing debate by analysing the European Union's (EU) enlargement terms. When the prospect of enlargement arises, the EU faces the dilemma of minimising resulting financial implications while fulfilling normative obligations to support new members. Historically, the EU responded both by discriminating new members from benefits or by exempting them from obligations.