Enlarging Europe: the industrial foundations of a new political reality

This book is a product of the BRIEKreisky Forum Project on Unifying the European Economy. The project began with two observations and a question. The first observation was that the Asian third-tier development was intertangled with regionwide cross-national production networks orchestrated by multinational corporations. Those networks were rooted in the economic heterogeneity of the Asian region and contributed to the regions competitive position in global production. The second observation was that with the collapse of the political wall between East and West, with the beginning of integration of the central and east European countries and the former Soviet Union with Western Europe, the relatively homogeneous west European region was suddenly a very heterogeneous European region. The question was therefore whether the production networks that characterised and facilitated growth in Asia would become a feature of European growth. Answers to this question are argued out in this book.

The book challenges policy-makers to seize opportunities offered by emerging regional production networks to stimulate growth, create jobs and strengthen political support for enlarging the European Union. Careful quantitative analyses and detailed case studies demonstrate how European multinationals are forming international production networks that enhance their positions in global markets.

Following the introductory essay by the editors, Zysman and Shwartz, the book has three parts: Part I, Europe adapting to a world economy: the new dynamics'; Part II, 'Networks: experiments and experimentation'; Part III, 'Policies and choices, East and West'.

'Enlarging Europe' is intended for policy-makers, business leaders and scholars concerned with the future of the European Union, the competitiveness of the European economy, and the political and social development of Central and Eastern Europe.