Once part of the European Union no "opt-out" means, for CEE applicant countries, that they will have to become members of the Eurozone as soon as they fulfil the Maastricht criteria. However, compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact and aiming at nominal and real convergence imply efforts...

Capital markets have undergone massive changes in the past decade; in Western Europe but of course more fundamentally in the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). The euro has fostered the transformation of financial systems toward a more market based approach. Its impact in Eastern Europe...

Eastward enlargement is one of the hot topics in European economics. The accession of central and eastern European Countries (CEEC) into the European Union (EU) is accompanied by an extension of the eurozone to this region. This paper surveys likely outcomes and challenges of this specific...

This paper has been prepared as a part of a broader Ezoneplus project that evaluates European Monetary Union (EMU) and its enlargement to prospective members in central and eastern Europe. The project is financially supported by European Commission (HPSE-CT-2001-00084). It contains the following...

This paper analyses the economic effects of the eastern enlargement of the EU both on the existing Member States and the candidate countries using simulation results of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model. In addition to conventional trade policy impacts such as custom union formation...

Exchange-rate policies of Central Eastern European Countries (CEEC) have often been a subject matter. Yet, some new insights in terms of political economy considerations upon exchange-rate policy are provided. It is pointed out that it is more appropriate to analyse exchange-rate policy in...

The eastward enlargement of the European Union and the requirements of the European Monetary Union increase pressure for flexibility of labour markets. This paper analyses main changes in the Baltic States ̕labour market over the period 1990 2001 giving emphasis on the problems of labour market...

The main topic of the paper is optimal dynamics, i.e., timing of entry of the accession countries in the ERM 2 and EMU. Some of the crucial questions addressed in the paper are as follows: a) Should accession countries aim at an early or a delayed entry into the EMU? b) What are economic and...

The enlargement of the European Union will bring many political, economical and structural changes on the Continent, which require careful and deep analysis to be made. This paper will grasp the enlargement of the European Union from the aspect of the trade pattern and trade specialization of...

The objective of this study is to examine recent developments in trade and FDI flows between the EU and the CEEC, trying to anticipate future consequences from the economic integration of the two blocks. Economic theory suggests that integration conveys positive effects upon welfare, due to the...