Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

On the Periphery: The Uneven Development of the European Union and the Effects of the Economic Crisis on Central-Eastern Europe

On the Periphery: The Uneven Development of the European Union and the Effects of the Economic... This paper analyses the issue of European Union (EU) enlargement in light of the present global economic crisis. It asserts that the eastern expansion of the EU occurred within the context of the historically uneven development between Eastern and Western Europe. This was temporarily disguised by the positive socio-economic performance of the new EU states, following their entry into the EU. This gave credence to the rationalist assertion that EU expansion was in the interests of all the EU countries and in particular benefited the new member states from Central-Eastern Europe (CEE). Growing imbalances within the CEE economies have been exposed by the global economic crisis, with the new eastern economies suffering the most during the downturn. A contradiction of this situation is that EU membership provides the CEE economies some form of protection in the world economy. Also, these countries have often been at the forefront of supporting further European integration in recent years. It is therefore likely that the CEE states will be most supportive of deepening Europe's policies of integration and convergence, with some of the richer Western European countries seeking their restriction. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Global Society Taylor & Francis

On the Periphery: The Uneven Development of the European Union and the Effects of the Economic Crisis on Central-Eastern Europe

Rae, Gavin
Global Society , Volume 25 (2): 18 – Apr 1, 2011
Download PDF
18 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/taylor-francis/on-the-periphery-the-uneven-development-of-the-european-union-and-the-NdtmT0cLyu

References (4)

Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright University of Kent
ISSN
1469-798X
eISSN
1360-0826
DOI
10.1080/13600826.2010.548057
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper analyses the issue of European Union (EU) enlargement in light of the present global economic crisis. It asserts that the eastern expansion of the EU occurred within the context of the historically uneven development between Eastern and Western Europe. This was temporarily disguised by the positive socio-economic performance of the new EU states, following their entry into the EU. This gave credence to the rationalist assertion that EU expansion was in the interests of all the EU countries and in particular benefited the new member states from Central-Eastern Europe (CEE). Growing imbalances within the CEE economies have been exposed by the global economic crisis, with the new eastern economies suffering the most during the downturn. A contradiction of this situation is that EU membership provides the CEE economies some form of protection in the world economy. Also, these countries have often been at the forefront of supporting further European integration in recent years. It is therefore likely that the CEE states will be most supportive of deepening Europe's policies of integration and convergence, with some of the richer Western European countries seeking their restriction.

Journal

Global Society – Taylor & Francis

Published: Apr 1, 2011

There are no references for this article.