In the years after the breakthrough events of 1989, the concept of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) came to be widely used as a synonym for the group of ten countries from the former Eastern Bloc aspiring to EU membership. This book is an attempt to demonstrate and assess the changes resulting from the EU enlargements of 2004 and 2007 and European integration processes, identifying both the similarities and the differences in the countries of the region.

This volume is addressed to those interested in Central and Eastern Europe. It has two main aims: first, to present the recent alterations in the region resulting from the processes of European integration; second, to offer an account of the process of Europeanisation in the countries occurring after accession to the EU that goes beyond just conditionality mechanisms. The collection also attempts to reflect on and contribute to the discussion on how the changes taking place in CEE influence theorisation on Europeanisation – a concept initially constructed in order to tackle the changes taking place in response to the processes of European integration in the old member states.

The book is divided into four parts, each concentrating on an area where the changes seem to be most profound and most interesting from the point of view of theorising on the impact of the European integration processes: democratic consolidation in the region, collective identity construction, functioning of civil society and studies on foreign policy and international relations.

Magdalena Góra is Assistant Professor at the Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Kraków. Her academic interests include processes of collective identity formation in the context of EU enlargement, the European Union as an actor in international relations, contemporary Polish foreign policy, and Polish-Jewish and Polish-Israeli relations.

Katarzyna Zielińska is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Sociology and International Programmes Coordinator at the Centre for European Studies of the Jagiellonian University, Kraków. Her academic interests include gender issues in the EU as well as religion and politics in modern societies