In this volume, well-known scholars examine the challenges facing the EU at the start of the Eastern enlargement, whose first wave should be decided at the end of 2002 and implementation in 2004-2006. This enlargement is not to be underestimated as it involves in the region of about 100 million inhabitants. Populations deeply involved in European history will again be part of the continental polis, but ten years ago, these same populations emerged for about half a century of Soviet dominated and planned economy. A complex net of similarities and differences makes the Eastern enlargement something different from previous episodes of EU expansion. INDICE Introduction; S.Manzocchi Evolving Competitiveness of CEEC's in an Enlarged Europe; M.A.Landesmann & R.Stehrer Central Europe on the Way to EMU; D.Gros Accession to the European Union: Real Exchange Rate Dynamics for Candidate Countries; F.Coricelli & B.Jazbec Varieties, Jobs and EU Enlargement; T.Boeri & J.O.Martins On the Welfare Costs of Exclusion: The Case of Central Eastern Europe; C.Alcidi, S.Manzocchi & G.I.P.Ottaviano Moving to Central-Eastern Europe: Fragmentation of Production and Competitiveness of the European Textile and Apparel Industry; S.Baldone, F.Sdogati & L.Tajoli Not Only EU Enlargement: The Need of Changing the Community Regional Policy; G.Mele The Eastward Enlargement of the European Union and the Common Agricultural Policy: The Direct Payments Issue; F.De Filippis & L.Salvatici The Political Economy of Eastern Enlargement; F.Heinemann