Prague Economic Papers 1998, 7(4) | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.157

Convergence of real economy in central and eastern european countries on european union

Růžena Vintrová

This paper compares the principal macroeconomic characteristics of the Central European Five (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia), which make up the CEFTA countries without the new member Romania and are referred to as the CEEC-5. Their macroeconomic characteristics can now be compared to the existing European Union members, referred to as the EU-15, thanks to the European Comparison Programmes and the harmonization of statistical methodology with EU countries. This helps to reveal the risks that may be expected when these countries join the EU, in terms of possible undesirable price shocks and weakened competitiveness. The conclusion is that harmonization of familiar macroeconomic criteria (type of the Maastricht's) cannot be separated from harmonization of real economic levels end therefore should not be seen as a rapid process that will follow the same course in every country. This is very clear even in one of the most familiar of all macroeconomic policy issues, the possible trade-off between inflation end growth.

Published: January 1, 1998  Show citation