链男母经降贸多大量 高级商务英语阅读 In order to be ready to join in 2004,the new members had to adopt the so-called acquis communautaire which means applying 80,000 pages of EU law,making their bureaucratic and administrative structures more efficient,strengthening judicial systems and tightening security at their eastern borders.These now become the external borders of the 25-nation Union.Secure external frontiers are a necessary precondition for maintaining open internal frontiers within the EU. The Union has provided considerable assistance,both material and in terms of technical support and advice to bring border controls up to EU standards. Even before the entry negotiations begun in 1998,the Union had been helping the candidates prepare for membership.These efforts began in 1989 with the so-called Phare program aimed at helping them switch to market-based economies and introduce the institutional structure of pluralist democracies.Over time,these efforts focused more and more on the specific preconditions of Union membership. By the end of 2002,less than 13 years after the break-up of the Soviet empire and the end of the Cold War,the eight central and eastern European countries had completed their negotiations and were ready to join,together with the two Mediterranean islands.Two other candidate countries, Bulgaria and Romania,were unable to conclude their negotiations on time,and their membership has been rescheduled for 2007. Smoothing the integration process The experience of previous EU enlargements has shown how well the EU integration process works.But major change is often a cause for concern and this enlargement is no exception.Its sheer size has raised questions among citizens in the current and new member states about its impact on their lives and jobs. There have been fears in the existing EU countries about more immigration,an influx of cheap labour and the impact of lower environmental standards.People in the new members have worried as to whether their economies can compete with those in the rest of the EU or whether their farmers can stand up to those who have benefited for years from EU subsidies. 第8页共9页高级商务英语阅读 In order to be ready to join in 2004, the new members had to adopt the so-called acquis communautaire which means applying 80,000 pages of EU law, making their bureaucratic and administrative structures more efficient, strengthening judicial systems and tightening security at their eastern borders. These now become the external borders of the 25-nation Union. Secure external frontiers are a necessary precondition for maintaining open internal frontiers within the EU. The Union has provided considerable assistance, both material and in terms of technical support and advice to bring border controls up to EU standards. Even before the entry negotiations begun in 1998, the Union had been helping the candidates prepare for membership. These efforts began in 1989 with the so-called Phare program aimed at helping them switch to market-based economies and introduce the institutional structure of pluralist democracies. Over time, these efforts focused more and more on the specific preconditions of Union membership. By the end of 2002, less than 13 years after the break-up of the Soviet empire and the end of the Cold War, the eight central and eastern European countries had completed their negotiations and were ready to join, together with the two Mediterranean islands. Two other candidate countries, Bulgaria and Romania, were unable to conclude their negotiations on time, and their membership has been rescheduled for 2007. Smoothing the integration process The experience of previous EU enlargements has shown how well the EU integration process works. But major change is often a cause for concern and this enlargement is no exception. Its sheer size has raised questions among citizens in the current and new member states about its impact on their lives and jobs. There have been fears in the existing EU countries about more immigration, an influx of cheap labour and the impact of lower environmental standards. People in the new members have worried as to whether their economies can compete with those in the rest of the EU or whether their farmers can stand up to those who have benefited for years from EU subsidies. 第 8 页 共 9 页