The chapter compares the implementation of non-discrimination and minority rights legislation in Romania, Hungary and Poland in the context of scrutinizing the impact of EU conditionality on domestic change in applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe. These cases vary both with regard to the legitimacy of the rules and the strength of EU conditionality. It argues that the rationalist external incentives model gives a good prima facie account of rule adoption in applicant states, but that for a comprehensive explanation the resonance of EU rules or conditions with domestic institutions and legacies as well as their role in the discursive norm construction within the domestic arena has to be considered, especially in cases where conditionality is weak or EU rules are unclear and contested.
