The envisaged European Union (EU) enlargement will widen the spread of economic structures and wealth levels across the EU. However, experience with previous rounds of accessions has shown that the transition to stable growth matters more for the acceptance and development of the Union than does...

Using a ‘three-phase model’ of transformation, this paper analyses and compares the initial situations of the science and technology (S&T) systems of 17 Central and East European countries and the changes they then underwent during the 1990s. Three groups emerged when the differences between...