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...

The main objectives of this study are the assessment of activation policies in the Western Balkan countries in the light of the EU policy frameworks and the capacity and effectiveness of the Public Employment Services (PES) to implement modern labour market services. The general strategy of the...

Summary German (PDF) Summary French (PDF) The objective of this study is to analyse employment developments in the gas and electricity sectors in seven Western Balkan Contracting Parties of the Energy Community. These are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of...

To mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, this paper aims to assess developments in Central, East and Southeast Europe (CESEE) over the past three decades, and to look forward to what the next 30 years might bring. First, we measure the convergence of per capita income, wages...

The protracted recession in the euro area will continue to be a drag on the economic growth of most CESEE countries in 2013. By and large, those countries are small open economies held hostage to the excessive fiscal austerity pursued in the euro area and the sluggish progress on the part of its...

Countries belonging to the European neighbourhood are highly diverse. Their diversity is multidimensional (geographical, socio-economic, political, cultural, religious, etc.) and the individual dimensions all have important implications for EU policies towards the region(s), for EU institutional...

Introduction Reflecting the diversity of countries in its neighbourhood, the European Union (EU) has established different cooperation processes, institutional arrangements and forums for its discussions with these countries. Each form of cooperation is characterized by its own dynamics,...