Graph of the month Europe Brent Spot Price, fob per barrel, in current USD and euro and real year 2005 euro (p. 1) Opinion corner Russia-Ukraine conflict do Western sanctions have any effect? (by Vasily Astrov, Vladimir Gligorov, Peter Havlik, Michael Landesmann and Olga Pindyuk; pp. 2-6)...

Economic outcomes before and after the break-up of Yugoslavia What are the costs of nationalistic policies? The expectations may be more optimistic than is warranted as the example of the breakup of Yugoslavia suggests. Assuming that nationalists expected that economic results would be better...

Policy frameworks of the IMF, the World Bank, and the EU are discussed in order to come up with criteria of macroeconomic and financial stability and sustainability for Future Member States of the EU (candidate and potential candidate countries). The key deficiency of the EU policy framework is...

Graph of the month Dependence of selected European countries on gas imports from Russia, 2012, in % (p. 1) Some lesser known facts about Ukraine’s foreign trade (by Peter Havlik; pp. 2-5) Opinion corner Russia and Ukraine – three questions, nine answers (by Vasily Astrov, Vladimir Gligorov...

MENA in transition any lessons from CESEE? (by Peter Havlik and Sándor Richter; pp. 1-7) Keywords MENA, transition Countries covered MENA, CESEE Topics Other The EU and Russia both important for Ukraine (by Vasily Astrov; pp. 8-9) Keywords Ukraine, trade association, Russia, EU Countries...

Skills and the competitiveness of EU manufacturing industries (by M. Landesmann and R. Stehrer, pp. 1-11) Keywords skills, competitiveness, manufacturing, EU Countries covered European Union Topics Industry; International Trade and Competitiveness Selected economic impacts of higher oil prices...

Interim Romanian government sworn in any room for manoeuvring? (by Gábor Hunya; pp. 1-4) Keywords Elections, Fiscal policy Countries covered Romania Topics Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Croatia's EU membership lessons from earlier accessions (by Hermine Vidovic; pp. 5 7) Keywords Integration,...

The cross-country relationship between the relative price level and the relative GDP level is found to be significant and stable for EU member states over the period 1997-2006. The joint dynamics of price and GDP levels tend to gravitate towards the regression line but there is no shorter-term...

Euro or not? Early lessons from the crisis (by Ch. Wyplosz, pp. 1-4) Keywords euro, EU, crisis Countries covered European Union Topics Macroeconomic Analysis, Forecasts and Policy Migration from the New to the Old EU Member States country experiences (by H. Vidovic; pp. 5-14) Keywords migration,...

Converging/diverging European regions (by R. Römisch, pp. 1-4) Keywords Regions, EU, Convergence Countries covered European Union, New EU Member States Topics Regional Development The new EU members' potential for trade in services (by J. Wörz, pp. 8-12) Keywords Trade, Services Countries...