National and regional development in Central and Eastern Europe: implications for EU structural assistance. Economic Papers No. 120, March 1997

摘要

Eastern enlargement is generally assumed not to take place before the year 2000, with afirst accession of at least some of the 10 Central and Eastern European Countries(CEECs) that have association agreements with the European Union (EU). In spite ofuncertainties about the time and scope of enlargement, it is not premature to startreflecting on EU structural assistance to CEECs. One reason is that all externalassistance has - wanted or not - a regional impact as it is allocated to certain locationsand therefore requires some decisions on priority regions and activities. Second, preaccessionaid to CEECs should be designed in a way that allows a smooth switch-overfrom existing funds (such as PHARE) to the Structural Funds in order to facilitateaccession. This means not only to adjust pre-accession aid to the Structural Funds, butmay also require - in the opposite direction - to prepare the Structural Funds for theCEECs. Whatever the modalities of transition will be, it is clear that sooner or laterthere will have to be an equal treatment of old and new Member States after a certainperiod.This paper will proceed as follows. After summarising briefly the national developmentgap of the CEECs relative to the EU (section 2), a more comprehensive view will betaken on the CEECs’ regions (section 3). Section 4 presents some theoretical considerationson whether priority should be given to national or to regional development policy.Section 5 discusses several implications for EU structural assistance. Section 6 summarisesand concludes.