Under favourable external conditions, the economies of the New EU Member States (NMS) fared even better in the first quarter of 2006 than in 2005. Investment accelerated sharply and industry is proving buoyant. Labour productivity has registered strong gains, unit labour costs declined. This is...

In its new special issue on the economies of Central, East and Southeast Europe, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) analyses the current economic situation in the region as well as development prospects for 2005 and 2006, presenting revised forecasts based on results...

In 2005 most of the new EU member states (NMS) performed even better than in 2004. They have successfully managed the accession to the EU and gained the ability to grow fast despite the anaemic performance of the old EU. FDI inflows reached a record high. In the coming two years, economic...

This study presents a concise analysis of the macroeconomic developments in four cohesion countries (CCs) Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, from 1960 to 2000. Special attention is being paid to the economic performance of these countries after their accession to the European Union (EU). The...

The external conditions facing the transition economies slightly improved on balance during the year 2004. The eight new EU member states of Central and Eastern Europe (NMS-8) recorded higher GDP growth (5% on average) than in the previous year, largely thanks to expanding domestic demand - in...

Sustainable growth in catching-up countries requires the widening of the foreign trade bottleneck. It is however not clear whether two prescriptions aiming at solving this problem greater exchange rate flexibility and the liberalization of the capital market, are in reality not contradictory....

Fast economic growth - in excess of 5% per year - continues in most New EU Member States (NMS). Growth in Bulgaria and Romania (which joined the EU on 1 January 2007) was also accelerating throughout 2006. Everywhere, except Hungary, GDP growth has been driven predominantly by domestic demand....

The 1st of May 2007 marked the third anniversary of the accession of the new member states (NMS) to the European Union the economic balance of the first three years is a clear success for the whole EU. Over the period 2001-2003 GDP in the NMS had increased by 3.1% per year on average; over the...