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 paper states that Poland appears determined to maintain its uncompromising position following the failure of the Brussels Summit to reach agreement on the draft constitution. Both the government and opposition are declaring that no compromise is possible other than to wait until at least...

The study analyses the characteristics of maritime transport in the 10 countries that will join the EU in 2004. The Baltic ports are regrouping in order to become a corridor for East-West transit. The result of their location is a service dominated by feeder lines, i.e. low volumes and...

The paper calls for an immediate start on the Polish national development plan for the period beyond 2006. The plan must be fundamentally different from the current National development plan for 2004-2006. First of all, it must cover a longer time span and focus on domestic development...

The paper analyses the costs and benefits of Poland's membership in the European Union. It also analyses an alternative scenario, which assumes that Poland fails to join the European Union. The report presents two scenarios of the consequences (costs and benefits) of membership, taking into...

Today, just as Europe is about to expand through the accession of new members such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and six other countries, it is clearer than ever that the Visegrad Four's mission has not come to an end but is gaining new dimensions. The Visegrad Group has fulfilled...

Although the Visegrád Four countries often defended the same or similar positions in the European Convention, their views differed on many important issues. This situation is likely to be repeated at the upcoming Intergovernmental Conference. This basically confirms the tendency that can be...

Basic assumptions of the EU's new cohesion policy for the years 2007-2013 will be probably worked out by the end of 2003. Based on the current debate, one may assume that they will not contain any breakthrough changes. Corrections to the existing system might include introduction of transition...