THE QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORMS IN POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRIES

In this article we describe the adoption and execution of public administration reforms in Central and Eastern Europe between 2008 and 2013, as well as examine whether post-communist countries differ from other groups of European countries in terms of the substance of reforms and their implementation process. Instead of following popular Western administrative theoretical frames, we adopt the policy process approach. We focus on the role of policy actors during reform policymaking and implementation at the level of policy subsystems. More specifically, we employ the rational-comprehensive and garbage can perspectives to understand the reform processes in the post-communist region. Our research is based on the statistical analysis of survey data and two case studies of reforms initiated by the 2008-2012 Lithuanian government. The article concludes that countries in Central and Eastern Europe share some common characteristics: they focused on the issues of civil service and public or administrative services, their reform policy was often formulated on a top-down basis, and its execution often lacked adequate capacities. Despite a rational reform façade in these countries, the implementation of governance change appears to be quite erratic, as anticipated in the garbage can perspective. This can have negative consequences on the effectiveness of public policy, continuing to generate public distrust in post-communist state institutions.

PurposeThis paper aims to assess how a hotel geographical location in different parts of Central and Eastern Europe influences the complexity of perception of pro-environmental behavior.Design/methodology/approachTo find out, whether hotel location in a specific country influences the complexity of environmental practices, this study used two closely connected multivariate statistical techniques analyzing gradients: principal components analysis and partial redundancy analysis. The research comprises data collection from seven countries in Central and Eastern Europe. In all, 25 randomly selected hotels (based on star rating) from various countries were approached to complete a questionnaire. Environmental practices were studied based on motivations, perception of barriers, perception of support from different levels of public sector, will of managers to promote pro-environmental measures based on sufficient funding, perception of legislation and perception of various other important factors.FindingsThe study reveals significant differences between hotels in Central Europe and Eastern Europe in the perception of the complexity in implementation of the environmental practices by hotel managers. The character of the present study, however, needs to address the identification of particular aspects that are relevant to the geographical differences among the studied countries.Research limitations/implicationsResearch was limited to a selection of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. There is still probability that managers in hotels from Poland and Croatia could possess different preferences. Other limitation of this study is that only special part of hotels were asked – hotels certified by star grading, out of our scope remained other hotels. It is also known that important factor is precise location of hotel within country – hotels in established tourism destination behave other way that those outside recreational areas. These factors deserve further study within this topic. There are many aspects of sustainability and environmental protection regarding hotel industry. As we have found in our principal correspondence analysis, different environmental measures were different location in biplot – some were affected by country, the other by star grading and affiliation to hotel chain. The complexity deserves to be studied in depth.Practical implicationsThe importance lies first in the identification of the aspects that are governed by geographical differences among the countries studied. These aspects are the initiatives and support from the government and the local governments, which counteract the perception that there is a lack of financial resources and the return on investments is slow. So, based on the data, which included information from various types of hotels from seven CEE countries, the activities of national and local authorities were identified to be the main differentiating variable. The support of the environment-friendly conduct of business in the hotel industry is appreciated by hotel managers from Central Europe. On the other hand, hotel managers from Eastern Europe do not feel any significant support from either national or other public institutions. The second factor of differentiation is represented by the perception of the lack of funds. Hotel managers from Eastern Europe feel strongly about funds limitation. The coherence of both those factors is obvious in the results, as they show the same direction but opposite orientation. It has already been discussed above. When looking at the results, the authors find the perception of availability of funds to be a fundamental difference between hotel management in Central Europe and in Eastern Europe. The lack of funds is perceived more intensively in Eastern Europe than in Central Europe, particularly because of a stronger awareness of direct or indirect support for such activities by national and other public institutions in Central Europe.Social implicationsThe differentiation of the aspects mentioned above comes from the social and culture policies, company policies and business cultures between these two sub-realms. Pro-environmental actions are apparently promoted less publicly in Eastern European countries than in Central European countries. The reaction to the trend for demand of greener hotels is stronger in the West, and its hotels are more likely to have legislation requirements and public support as an incentive to adopt pro-environmental measures in their business operations.Originality/valueThe study is based on data obtained from seven countries. The results revealed a problem of the macro-environmental influence on hotels’ potential to implement environmentally sustainable approaches and procedures throughout the industry.

FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT AND THE FORMATION OF THE FISH PRODUCTS MARKET IN UKRAINE AND IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Aim. The work aimed to assess the impact of industrial production in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) on the dynamics of trade in mechanical engineering products between these countries and the Russian Federation (RF) in the context of the latest geopolitical conditions.Objectives. The work seeks to analyze statistical data on the dynamics of trade relations between Russia and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the field of mechanical engineering at the current stage; to construct econometric models for regression analysis of the impact of industrial production on the dynamics of trade in mechanical engineering products; to determine the main trends in trade interaction between Russia and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the mechanical engineering sector in 2022–2024.Methods. The study employed research methods, namely statistical and econometric analysis, syntax, description, graphical modeling.Results. The econometric analysis provided reliable coefficients of regression models; however their values were small. This indicates that the impact of industrial production in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe on the key indicators of trade in engineering products between these countries and Russia was ambiguous and unclear.Conclusions. Current geopolitical realities have determined unfavorable medium-term trends in the trade interaction between Russia and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the engineering sector. The regression models coefficients obtained as a result of econometric analysis showed a small correlation between industrial production in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the export of engineering products to Russia. It implies that the decline in industrial production in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe had little effect on the volume of engineering products exported by them to Russia.

Introduction: The clinical research market of the European Union (EU) countries of Central and Eastern Europe has been experiencing a dynamic growth of clinical trials in the last 10 years. Oncology and cardiology are the areas where the most clinical trials are conducted. Aim: This study aims to analyze the clinical research market including countries, medical fields and trial phases in the EU countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The comparative analysis of countries is divided into 5-year periods. Material and methods: Clinical research market analysis was carried out in 11 EU countries of Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. In searching for the number of clinical trials, the ClinicalTrials.gov database was used. Results and discussion: From 2000 to 2019, 6497 clinical trials were conducted in the EU countries of Central and Eastern Europe. There were 1840 clinical trials registered in Poland, 1188 in Czechia, and 1005 in Hungary. The most clinical trials were registered in the field of oncology (22%), followed by cardiology (16%) and neurology (12%). Phase III trials representing as much as 60% (n = 2854) of all conducted medical experiments. The highest increase in the number of clinical trials in the last two 5-year periods (2010–2014 and 2015–2019) was recorded in Estonia, at 471%. Conclusions: There has been a significant increase in the number of clinical phase III trials in the EU countries of Central and Eastern Europe, mainly in Poland, Czechia, and Hungary.

The relevance of the study lies in the fact that in modern conditions, the food security of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe is under threat due to the influence of negative factors associated with both global destructive events and the vulnerabilities of food systems at the EU level. The purpose of the article is to study the state and problems of food security in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and to identify strategic directions for ensuring food security in the studied countries. Research methods became general scientific and special methods of cognition: comparative analysis, statistical, induction and deduction, abstract-logical, generalization, and abstraction. The peculiarities of the formation of food security in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are shown. The level of prices for food products was studied, and it was proved that the cost of food in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe is lower compared to other EU member states. It is claimed that the economic availability of food is a problem for the population of the analysed group of countries due to the low level of income and the growing share of food expenses in the structure of household expenses. The main measures adopted at the level of the European Commission, aimed at ensuring food security by transitioning to a sustainable food system based on reducing the energy dependence of the agricultural sector and increasing its innovativeness and environmental friendliness, are considered. The practical significance of the study is that the formulated recommendations will help reduce food insecurity in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe by ensuring the stable functioning of agri-foodmarkets, implementing strategic directions for supporting the agricultural sector and reducing import dependence on production resources, supporting Ukraine as a key global food exporter, forming a sustainable food system in EU countries

The presented study analyzes the specific features of economic cooperation of Russia and China with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). In recent years, China has begun to actively cooperate with the former socialist republics of Central and Eastern Europe, offering them new institutional projects, such as the Belt and Road and 16+1 initiatives. At the same time, the CEE region has been distancing itself from Russia — it's once main economic partner — for a number of political reasons. Russia needs to maintain its standing in the region of its traditional external interests. This makes the analysis of the specific features of China and Russia's strategies for cooperation with the CEE countries relevant and practical. Aim . The study aims to analyze the specific features of economic cooperation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Russia with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, assess the efficiency of their cooperation, and examine the existing problems. Tasks . The authors determine historical and strategic prerequisites for the development of Russia and China's cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe; examine the institutional framework of interaction between the countries under study; assess the dynamics of changes in the volume and structure of Russia and China's trade with the CEE countries; analyze the dynamics, priority sectors, and regional structure of direct Chinese investment in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe; assess the problems in Russia and China's cooperation with the CEE countries and prospects for further development of their interaction. Methods . This study uses such research methods as verbal and statistical analysis, observation, synthesis, generalization, description, graphical modeling, and data classification. Results . Central and Eastern Europe currently occupies one of the leading positions in China's foreign policy. After a long period of stagnating economic cooperation, relations between China and the CEE countries have entered a new stage within the framework of established institutional formats. The 16+1 strategy has been proposed, and the CEE countries have been included in China's Belt and Road Initiative. The pattern of economic interaction between Russia and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in 2005-2018 is cyclical. Political factors have a significant impact on Russia's cooperation with the CEE. Conclusions . The lack of diverse tools for economic cooperation between Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, combined with Russia's low investment opportunities, prevents this cooperation from fulfilling its potential. Russia needs new institutional formats of interaction with the countries in this region, similar to those introduced by China.

Purpose – The main objective of the article is to assess the impact of the macroeconomic environment on the innovativeness of enterprises of the TSL sector in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in 2010-2016 with the forecast for 2017-2018. Research method – The paper has been divided into the theoretical and practical part. The first part is based on the subject literature and refers to the theoretical aspect of innovation and innovativeness of enterprises. The second part is empirical. Two synthetic indicators were created – a synthetic index of innovativeness of enterprises operating in the TSL sector and conducting their activities in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and a synthetic macroeconomic indicator of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Next, a forecast based on the extrapolation of the trend was made and the relationships between the analyzed synthetic indicators were examined using the Ordinary Least Squares Method. Results – Based on the research, it can be concluded that in Central and Eastern Europe there is a statistically significant relationship between the synthetic macroeconomic indicator and the synthetic indicator of the innovativeness of enterprises in the TSL sector. Originality – Evaluation of the impact of macroeconomic factors on the innovativeness of enterprises of the TSL sector in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Economic sustainability plays an important role in shaping conditions for economic growth and social development. The importance of answering the question about the level of sustainability of family farms results from the fact that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, apart from exceptions (e.g., the Czech Republic and Slovakia), are characterized by a fragmented agrarian structure. Hence, the main goal of this article was to answer two questions: (1) whether the countries of Central and Eastern Europe differ in the level of economic sustainability of small family farms; and (2) whether the same socioeconomic factors impact similarly on the level of economic sustainability of small family farms from countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The study was based on surveys conducted in small family farms: in 2018 from Poland (672 farms) and in 2019 in four other countries (Lithuania; 999 farms, Romania; 834 farms, Serbia; 523 farms, Moldova; 530 farms). The publication includes a critical analysis of the literature, structure analysis and correlation analysis. The results show the occurrence of large differences between the economic sustainability of small family farms from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The research indicates that the larger the area of a small-scale family farm, the greater its economic sustainability. The productivity of these farms increases with their economic sustainability. The results also prove a negative relationship between the age of the farmer and the economic sustainability of their farm in all analysed countries. These trends were found in all analysed countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The results of the analyses support the conclusion that agricultural policy instruments aimed at increasing the economic sustainability of small family farms should lead to: land consolidation, a decrease in the age of farm owners through generational changes, and a decrease in employment in agriculture, which would lead to a reduction in labour input in the agricultural sector.

In the last decade, substantial differences in the epidemiology of, antiretroviral therapy (ART) for, cascade of care in and support to people with HIV in vulnerable populations have been observed between countries in Western Europe, Central Europe (CE) and Eastern Europe (EE). The aim of this study was to use a survey to explore whether ART availability and therapies have evolved in CE and EE according to European guidelines. The Euroguidelines in Central and Eastern Europe (ECEE) Network Group conducted two identical multicentre cross-sectional online surveys in 2019 and 2021 concerning the availability and use of antiretroviral drugs (boosted protease inhibitors [bPIs], integrase inhibitors [INSTIs] and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors [NRTIs]), the introduction of a rapid ART start strategy and the use of two-drug regimens (2DRs) for starting or switching ART. We also investigated barriers to the implementation of these strategies in each region. In total, 18 centres participated in the study: four from CE, six from EE and eight from Southeastern Europe (SEE). Between those 2 years, older PIs were less frequently used and darunavir-based regimens were the main PIs (83%); bictegravir-based and tenofovir alafenamide-based regimens were introduced in CE and SEE but not in EE. The COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly interrupt delivery of ART in most centres. Two-thirds of centres adopted a rapid ART start strategy, mainly in pregnant women and to improve linkage of care in vulnerable populations. The main obstacle to rapid ART start was that national guidelines in several countries from all three regions did not support such as strategy or required laboratory tests first; an INSTI/NRTI combination was the most commonly prescribed regimen (75%) and was exclusively prescribed in SEE. 2DRs are increasingly used for starting or switching ART (58%), and an INSTI/NRTI was the preferred regimen (75%) in all regions and exclusively prescribed in SEE, whereas the use of bPIs declined. Metabolic disorders and adverse drug reactions were the main reasons for starting a 2DR; in the second survey, HIV RNA <500 000 c/ml and high cluster of differentiation (CD)-4 count emerged as additional important reasons. In just 2 years and in spite of the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, significant achievements concerning ART availability and strategies have occurred in CE, EE and SEE that facilitate the harmonization of those strategies with the European AIDS Clinical Society guidelines. Few exceptions exist, especially in EE. Continuous effort is needed to overcome various obstacles (administrative, financial, national guideline restrictions) in some countries.

This chapter characterizes the contemporary role of the Eastern and Central European countries in the international tourism and as the source of the tourist movement and the income and expenditure balance in the foreign tourism. Among the Central and Eastern European countries, there are 20 former socialist countries. Some of them came into existence as a result of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia disintegration. Their total surface adds up to 64% of the Europe area. Tourist potential of the Central and Eastern European countries is significant, expressed by, among the others, a high number of national parks, natural and cultural UNESCO heritage objects and by the capacity of the accommodation units (2014, 2.7 million of beds). The size of the international incoming tourism is illustrated with data for 2005 and 2013 concerning the number of foreign visitors (280 million and 308 million), foreign tourists (280 million and 99 million of people) with overnight stays (95 million and 103 million) and financial income arising from attending them (34 billion euro and 85 billion dollars). Outbound tourism of Central and Eastern Europe inhabitants in 2005 and 2013 amounted to 129 billion and 124 billion of departures and expenditures of 31 billion euro and 99 billion euro. The financial balance taking into account the income from attending international tourism as well as the inhabitants’ own expenditures spent for outbound departures amounted to +3 billion euro in 2003 and –14 billion dollars in 2013.

&lt;p&gt;Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper was to show connections between the instruments of cashless payments and economic growth. The goal was to find the answers to the following research questions: What is the current share of payments with the use of particular forms of cashless payments in total payments?; What forms of cashless payments are connected with economic growth measured by real GDP per capita in the group of countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe?; What is the relation between the value of cashless payments and economic growth measured by real GDP per capita in the group of countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Research methods: Spearman’s rank correlation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Research results: The authors have found that the highest share in terms of the number of payments in total payments in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe constituted payments with the use of payment cards, then, the payments with the use of a transfer order. Whereas, in the countries of Western Europe, apart from the fact that high percentage of payments in total constituted payments with the use of payment cards and transfer orders, more and more payments are made with the use of the instruments of e-money. Examining mutual relationships, information about correlational connections that occur between economic growth measured by GDP per capita and value of payments with the use of some instruments of cashless payments was obtained. The main conclusion that can be drawn after data analysis is positive relationships between the value of payments with the use of a transfer order, payment card and economic growth found both in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the countries of Western Europe. In the countries of Western Europe, the payments with the use of a direct debit turned out to be insignificant, whereas the payments with the use of instruments of e-money were signifiant. Taking into account the force of relationships, it can be said that higher positive correlation is shown by the value of payments with the use of a transfer order with reference to real GDP per capita in the countries of Western Europe (0.80). In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it is only 0.48. Mutual connections between the value of payments with the use of payment cards and economic growth are similar in both groups of countries. What is interesting, high impact on real GDP per capita – about 0.80 – is shown by the payments with the use of instruments of e-money. This study may represent a contribution to further research, that is, an analysis of cause-and-effect relationships in the field of cashless payments and economic growth, including division of countries in terms of, for example, the level of wealth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Added value: Analysis of current literature on the impact of cashless payments on economic growth and an empirical analysis.&lt;/p&gt;

PurposeThe authors’ aim is to establish the variance of youth welfare citizenship regimes in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and to revisit the applicability of the regime approach to the emerging welfare regimes (EWRs).Design/methodology/approachThe empirical analysis follows the descriptive case study strategy aiming to discover diversity of youth welfare citizenship patterns. The case selection is made within the CEE country group, which includes countries in Central Europe, the Baltics, Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe, all sharing the communist past. The subdivision of these countries in reference to the welfare states can be made via the European Union (EU) membership based on the assumption that EU social policy frameworks and recommendations have an important effect on domestic policies. We included countries which are in the EU, i.e., with a similar political and economic transition path. There were three waves of accession to the EU in CEE countries. In the first wave (2004), all the Baltic countries, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia joined. In the second wave (2007), Romania and Bulgaria joined. Finally, Croatia joined the EU in 2013. Altogether 11 CEE countries are the EU members today, the remaining CEE countries are non-EU members and thus are excluded from the current research. Those countries which are part of the EU share similarities in social and economic reforms during the pre-accession period and after in order to reach a comparatively similar system with other member states. So, in terms of casing strategy these six countries can be named as emerging welfare regimes (EWRs) evolving transformations across different public policy areas. Handpicking of six countries out of 11 relies on the assumption that the Anglo-Saxon welfare system characteristics are more evident in the Baltic countries (Aidukaite, 2019; Aidukaite et al., 2020; Ainsaar et al., 2020; Rajevska and Rajevska, 2020) and Slovenia, while in Bulgaria and Croatia certain outcomes reflect the Bismarckian principles of social security (Hrast and Rakar, 2020; Stoilova and Krasteva, 2020; Dobrotić, 2020). This brings important variety into our analysis logic. Last but not least, we juxtapose six CEE EWR countries under analysis with six mature welfare regime countries representing different welfare regime types. Those mature welfare regime countries (Finland, Sweden, France, Germany, Italy, UK) are not an explicit object of the study but help to put analysed CEE EWR cases into larger context and thus, reflect upon theoretical claims of the welfare regime literature.FindingsThe authors can confirm that the EWR countries can be rather well explained by the welfare citizenship typology and complement the existing knowledge on youth welfare regime typology clusters in the Western Europe. Estonia is clustered close to the Nordic countries, whereas Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia and Slovenia are close to the Bismarckian welfare model despite rather flexible, non-restricted educational path, universal child and student support. Bulgaria is an outlier; however, it is clustered together with mature Mediterranean welfare regimes. Former intact welfare regime clusters are becoming more diverse. The authors’ findings confirm that there is no any intact cluster of the “post-communist” welfare regime and Eastern European countries are today “on move”.Research limitations/implicationsAltogether 11 CEE countries are the EU members today. The remaining CEE countries are non-EU members and thus are excluded from the current research. Those countries which are part of the EU share similarities in social and economic reforms during the pre-accession period and after in order to reach a comparatively similar system with other member states. At least one CEE country was chosen based on existing theoretical knowledge on the welfare regime typology (Anglo Saxon, Beveridgean, Bismarckian) for the Post-communist country groups.Practical implicationsIn the social citizenship dimension we dropped social assistance schemes and tax-relief indices and included poverty risk and housing measures. Youth poverty together with housing showed rather clear distinction between familialized and individualised countries and thus, made the typology stronger. In the economic dimension the preliminary picture was much fuzzier, mainly due to the comprehensive education in the region and intervention of the EU in domestic ALMPs (and VET) reforms. The authors added a new indicator (pro-youth orientation of ALMP) in order better to capture youth-sensitivity of policy.Social implicationsThe authors included a working poverty measure (in-work poverty rate) in order to reflect labour market insecurity as an increasing concern. Yet, the analysis results were still mixed and new indicators did not help locating the regime types.Originality/valueIn order to improve the validity of the youth welfare citizenship regime economic dimension, Chevalier's (2020) model may also be worth revisiting. The authors argue that this dichotomy is not sufficient, because inclusive type can have orientation towards general skills or occupational skills (i.e. monitored or enabling citizenship clusters), which is currently ignored. Chevalier (2020) furthermore associates inclusive economic citizenship with “coordinated market economies” (referring to Hall and Soskice, 2001), which seems hardly hold validity in the Nordic and at least some CEE countries.

Introduction: Ischemic stroke accounts for approximately 80% of all stroke cases and remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among adults. At the beginning of the 21st century, the age-standardized incidence of stroke in Europe ranged from 95 to 290 cases per 100,000 population. Objective: Our aim was to examine trends in the incidence of ischemic stroke in Europe between 1991 and 2021, by country group, gender, and age group. Method: In our retrospective, quantitative study, we analyzed data from 44 countries in three European country groups (Eastern, Central, and Western Europe) per 100 000 people based on the Global Burden of Disease 2021 database. Descriptive statistics, time series analysis and Kruskal–Wallis test were performed. Results: Between 1991 and 2021, the age-standardized incidence per 100 000 population in men decreased from 206.7 to 147.1 (−28.8%) in Eastern Europe, from 172.1 to 123.8 (−28.1%) in Central Europe, and from 120.7 to 62.3 (−48.4%) (p<0.05) in Western Europe. In women, during the same period, it decreased from 169.8 to 113.9 (−32.9%) in Eastern Europe, from 142.4 to 106.0 (−25.6%) in Central Europe, and from 89.5 to 47.2 (−47.3%) in Western Europe (p<0.05). Significant differences were found between Eastern and Western European countries and between Central and Western European countries for both sexes (1991, 2001, 2011, 2021: p<0.05). The incidence was higher in men than in women every year, especially in the age groups over 55. The largest decrease for both sexes was observed in the 65–69 age group. Based on the analysis by country, the largest decrease was in Portugal (men: –71.1%; women: –69.9%), while in Montenegro, increases of +4.1% for men and +6.3% for women were observed. Conclusion: During the study period, the incidence of ischemic stroke decreased in all three country groups, but the improvement was greater in the Western European country group, which had lower (more favorable) baseline values, than in Central or Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, in 2021, the incidence in Eastern and Central Europe still exceeded the level measured in Western European countries in 1991. Orv Hetil. 2025; 166(42): 1642–1652.

The process of transformation in the former East Germany has in many ways been fundamentally different from the developments experienced by the other countries of eastern and central Europe after the dissolution of the Soviet bloc. The following article takes a look at the special character of the East German transformation process in the context of German unification, focusing on the role of institutional transfer in the field of labour relations. Of importance are the questions of how union membership has developed and what kind of relationship has evolved between the unions and enterprise-level representation of workers (works councils). On this basis, some thoughts are presented on the lessons to be learned from this exogenous transformation which may be generalised to apply to the transformation process in the countries of central and eastern Europe as well.