Europeanization of labor policy-making in the Baltic States (original) (raw)

in: Bengt Jacobsson (ed) The European Union and the Baltic States: Changing Forms of Governance, London: Routledge, 98-120.

Of the eight new members from Central and Eastern Europe that entered the EU in 2004, only Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were former Soviet republics. In addition to the transition experienced by all former communist bloc countries, these states were faced with the further challenge of having to heavily transform their state apparatus or even create a whole new apparatus, including governmental, legislative, and administrative bodies and structures. While this made meeting the Copenhagen criteria even more demanding, it also implied an openness to influences from external actors regarding policy, structures, and practices.