East-West Trade

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the development and future of economic relations between the ‘old’ Europe, i.e. the European Union (EU) and the ‘new’ Europe, i.e. the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Unless otherwise stated, CEE or the CEECs (Central and East European countries) should be understood to include the Visegrad countries (the Czech and Slovak Republics [henceforth referred to as ex-CSFR], Hungary and Poland), Bulgaria and Romania. Trade links between ‘European’ member countries of the former Soviet Union such as, for example, the Baltic States, will not be covered here; nor will we include Albania and the successor states of the (former) Yugoslavia. And although the remaining EFTA (European Free Trade Area) countries (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein) are part of Western Europe, this study is limited to the EU. At the outset, it should also be stressed that we do not seek to treat all aspects of East-West economic relations. A comprehensive discussion of the many facets of the economic interpenetration between the EU and CEE (trade, aid, foreign investment, labour movements, etc.) would clearly be beyond the scope of this chapter.KeywordsEuropean UnionTrade LiberalisationTrade FlowCMEA CountryEuropean Union MarketThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.