This paper presents evidence for structural differences in economic growth dynamics between the current EU and the central- and eastern European accession countries. Two important results emerge from the analysis. First, accession countries have posted higher average growth and wider output...

The 2004 EU enlargement will most likely yield major benefits to the new member countries in the long run. The new members will be able to capture gains from trade in goods and services and will moreover benefit from a continued inflow of financial and real capital. Without doubt, these...

Over the past decades, cross-border financial flows have increased in importance and have in many occasions exceeded the underlying current account positions. This phenomenon has been accompanied by an increase in the volume of international equity transactions that accentuate the role of...

Central and East European countries (CEEC) differ significantly with regards to their economic performance despite the fact that external policy prescriptions are very similar in all these countries. Extreme diversity and fragility in the performance of the main economic variables such as GDP...

The coming enlargement of the European Union is an opportunity and a challenge for taking decisions on a substantial reform of its institutional framework. After the negative experience of the past Intergovernmental Conferences leading to the Treaties of Amsterdam and Nice, the preparation of...