This paper is the final report of a research project whose aim was to analyse the methodology of calculating the costs and benefits for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia of the envisaged accession to the European Union. The research focused particularly on the impact of the...

The paper provides a review of the background, components, indicators and revealed effects of Hungary's trade competitiveness at the macroeconomic and sectoral levels, in particular in the manufacturing industry. These features are described and interpreted in two respects first, in terms of...

This paper discusses the economic effects of EU enlargement for the group of Central and East European accession countries (ACs). It consists of three parts In Part A the financial aspects of accession to the EU are explained. It deals firstly with the outcome of the negotiations at the December...

In December 1999 the European Union did away with the division of the candidate countries into two different groups; in early 2000 accession negotiations began with the former second-wave countries as well. In the first part of this paper the background of this development and its possible...

The Hungarian economy will slide into recession this year due to the austerity measures required to reduce the fiscal deficit to below 3% of the GDP. Further, but smaller consolidation measures will be necessary in 2013 as well. An agreement with the IMF and the EU may help partially restore...

The outlook for the world economy has improved in the course of 2010 and the recovery has gained strength in the EU as well. The Central, East and Southeast European countries (CESEE) have also recovered from the crisis; the majority of them recorded positive GDP growth. On average, the recent...

For 2011 the wiiw central scenario envisages further improvements in the economic performance of those countries that were still stagnating or contracting in 2010 (Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro). However, in those countries that performed reasonably well in 2010...

External determinants Two key factors currently affect the economic prospects of CESEE the crisis in the euro area and movements in the commodity prices. For Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine declining world market prices of energy carriers, steel and other basic commodities are vital. For most of...

After the EU accession of the Visegrad countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) in 2004 one of the most remarkable developments was a sudden upturn in mutual trade of this region’s countries. In 2007 the value of aggregate intra-Visegrad trade was two and a half times...

This paper discusses the transition agenda and provides the key economic characteristics of selected Middle East and North Africa countries (MENA) in comparison with selected Central, East and Southeast European countries (CESEE). We intend to identify some regularities in transition processes...