Economic impact of EU membership on entrants: New methods and issues

Book abstract:

Enlargement of the European Union by potentially twenty or more new entrants is already impacting upon EU policies and practices. This book focuses on the probable impact that EU membership will have on the new entrants. It uses the work arising from the several research projects commissioned by the Swiss government covering the most important aspects of economic integration. The title is taken from the conference held in Lausanne, Switzerland in October 1999 and the volume is comprised of the many eminent contributions made and discussions held at that conference.

The volume is organised in 3 parts - CGE (Computable general equilibrium) Studies - Macro Studies - and Labour Market Issues. Membership of the European Monetary Union and the contingent issues of interest rate convergence, exchange rate stability and the loss of sovereignty over monetary policy are all covered. The consequent issues of export performance, capital formation and foreign direct investment (FDI), migration and unemployment represent significant challenges for prospective entrants: all are covered in papers from more than 20 contributors with many of the contributions carrying their own separate and independent commentary.

The book will be of particular interest to academics, policy researchers and decision makers in both existing and prospective member countries.

Richard E. Baldwin works with the Graduate Institute of International Affairs (GIIS) Geneva and Centre for Economic Policy Research Switzerland. Aymo Brunetti is Head of Economic Analysis, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Berne and Professor of Economics, University of Basel, Switzerland.