In 2004 eight Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), which 15 years ago were still under tight Communist rule, joined the EU. At least two more CEECs are expected to join before the end of the decade. Agricultural issues have played a prominent role in the enlargement debate. Crucial issues were whether a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was needed to avoid conflicts with budgetary and WTO constraints when the CAP would be extended to CEECs and whether CEEC farmers would get access to the same subsidies as farmers in the EU-15 (Hartell and Swinnen; Tangermann and Banse). In fact, the final days before this historic event were spent mostly on intense negotiations on agricultural subsidies and production quotas.