Official poverty methodologies differ from other poverty measurement methods in the sense that the official ones are more often used as a benchmark to develop new policies as well as to evaluate the performance of existing programs. Europe has the tradition and the practice to use relative...

US poverty is much higher than poverty in Europe when a relative poverty measure is used. Using an absolute poverty measurement method, the picture looks different: poverty in some European countries is higher. This paper estimates poverty rates for all the countries of the (old) EU and the USA...

As the Soviet Union broke up, Kaliningrad suddenly found itself separated from mainland Russia by new frontiers. Hardly any other Russian region has been hit as hard by the economic disruption as Kaliningrad. The geographical situation of the region meant that it was more highly exposed to the...

In 2004, Frits Bolkenstein, former European Commissioner for the Internal Market, brought in the attention of the European Commission “The Services Directive in the Internal Market”. The purpose of this directive was to liberalize the services’ market in the EU, a major regulated field,...

The energy security is a growing concern both of the EU governments, and of Brussels. The European officials have been working on a strategy that should ensure the energy security of the Union. Some of the main courses of action are as follows: increasing the energy output from regenerative...

As the Soviet Union broke up, Kaliningrad suddenly found itself separated from mainland Russia by new frontiers. Since then, a dramatic trade opening has occurred, and regional trade and production have undergone profound changes. Kaliningrad has experienced a major shift in its economic...

Today even raising the question of an economic integration agreement between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union seems a non-starter. Recent economic sanctions have severely hurt economic cooperation between the two political entities. Yet the foundations of any new institution...

Within a single generation, the post-Soviet political, economic, and social landscape has changed immensely. The new structures — ranging from national power structures to a completely new economic reality based on the market instead of centralized planning — have come into existence. As 20...

The System of Indicators of Eurasian Integration” (SIEI) has a long-term status. It presents the results of regular monitoring and assessment of the pattern and key vectors of Eurasian integration and cooperation in the CIS region. SIEI is acknowledged as one of top-3 systems of regional...

Despite current political headwinds, there is need for a timely expert assessment of the comprehensive economic integration between the European Union (EU) and the emerging Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). This report constitutes a preliminary methodological study. It starts off by offering a...