Historical Evolution of Conditionality Criteria in External Relations of the EU with CEEC from the Cold War to the Accession: an Insider’s Perspective

Conditionality is a concept frequently linked to funds received from international financial institutions by countries in trouble. Most cases depend on the financial support to developing countries of the IMF, but also of other institutions like the World Bank, ADB, IBD, EIB or the EBRD that are targeting the Central and Eastern European countries. Besides the financial framework there is another application of conditionality often used by organizations like the EU for applicant countries that are in the European integration process. Although no reference was made to any specific conditionality criteria in the Treaty of Rome, the EEC first and the EU afterwards applied a process of conditionality criteria during the commercial negotiations with Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) in the 80’s. While general principles were developed in international forum, from the Helsinki Final Act signed in 1975, until the Copenhagen criteria for membership adopted during the June 1993 European Council, a great evolution has happened and even stricter conditions were established in the future when Bulgaria and Romania became applicant countries. All these topics will be the purpose of the present article from an introspective point of view, providing relevant information of very little known bureaucratic procedures.