The Eastern Enlargement of the EU saw a proliferation of association agreements with countries in the Ônear abroadÕ under EUÕs European Neighbourhood Policy framework. Although such agreements are considered to be strictly welfare-enhancing, there is very little evidence to show their...

The process of approximation between the EU and its ‘eastern neighbourhood’ has created conditions for deepening economic interactions and market integration, giving to the EU –and to EU businesses– an elevated role in the process of economic modernisation and transition in the...

This paper examines the regional growth process of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe since the start of their transition to market economies. It relates this to three distinctive explanations of regional growth and examines empirically their relevance in explaining the patterns of...

There is a widespread perception among the public and policy-makers that EMU carries one-way pressures for enhanced flexibility in the labour market. We discuss the theoretical basis of this by examining four mechanisms through which the establishment of the common currency and the functioning...

Peripheral European economies are often characterized by unfavorable structural regularities and geographical coordinates, making the process of economic integration an experience possibly associated with welfare losses at the regional level. Such types of arguments are at variance with the...

The paper assesses on empirical grounds the level and the evolution of regional inequalities in each European Union new member-state (EU NMS) and examines the possibility for the emergence of regional convergence clubs. The experience of the EU NMS is a unique situation, where relatively closed...

This research analyses the effects of international trade, relative specialization and regional industrial structure on Greek regional employment growth over the 1995-2003 period. For this purpose, it employs trade-adjusted shift-share analysis, along with linear model extensions. The results...

The process of Central and Eastern European Countries’ (CEEC) transition from central planning to market economy has resulted in industrial restructuring and labor reallocation across branches and regions. The paper identifies patterns of industrial activity in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia,...

The European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), launched in 2004, is a unified EU policy framework towards the EU neighboring countries (ENP countries). The objective of the ENP is to strengthen the prosperity, stability and security of the (enlarged) EU and the ENP countries, creating a "ring of...