Vulnerabilities, Accession Hangovers and the Presidency Role

What shapes a European Union member state’s preferences and why dosome states seem much more enthusiastic about further integration insome policy areas than others? This article examines the factors whichshape the preferences of three of the 2004 entrants: Slovakia, Slovenia andthe Czech Republic. Based on a detailed study of government and partydocuments complemented by a series of 40 semi-structured interviews, Iargue that whilst there is merit in many of the explanations used to explainnational preference formation in the longer-established member states, thekey to preference formation lies in vulnerabilities and perceived weakness.