In the EU, the economy is once again, creakingly, on the road to expansion, powered chiefly by the growth of domestic demand in the USA. Within Europe, internal demand has so far been lacklustre. Unemployment will rise throughout this year, but should move down again next year, in response to...

In the OECD countries, the recovery from the slump of 2001 was slow and painful. According to preliminary figures, these countries managed a growth in GDP of 1.3 percent in 2002, compared to 0.8 percent in 2001. In view of the geopolitical vagaries of the second half of 2002, demand for...

Due to their geographic proximity, traditional economic ties and a policy of rapprochement with the EU, the Western Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia–Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) has been accorded particular importance by Austria. By international standards,...