The new hurdle: The prospects for Polish and Estonian accession to ‘pillar III’ in the post‐Tampere European Union

Abstract

During the current enlargement process, the issues surrounding the Third Pillar of the European Union, with the exception of elements of the asylum and immigration acquis (which were subsequently transferred to the European Community pillar at Amsterdam), have been relatively marginalised. At one stage, it was even suggested that a partial accession could take place, with entrance to Pillars Two and Three considered of little difficulty to the applicant states from central and eastern Europe, while the more complex elements of the Community acquis would be postponed to a later date. This paper, by critically examining the likely solutions offered by two of the original ‘first wave’ candidates, Poland and Estonia, will suggest that accession to the internal security agenda of the European Union will be a far greater obstacle than originally imagined. Through a detailed empirical assessment of the administrative and logistic capacities required for full implementation of the ‘Tampere agenda’ ‐ the latest development to the internal security acquis, agreed at the Tampere European Council of October 1999 ‐ it will be demonstrated that neither of them is within reach of successfully completing the Justice and Home Affairs acquis within the timetable currently being suggested.