The Return to Europe examines the ability of the Central and South-east European economies to withstand competitive pressures on entry to the EU. These economies are still experiencing major structural problems inherited from communism. A major gap still exists between the income levels and economic structures of the accession states and the existing members of the EU. Trade relations largely involve the exchange of labour-intensive goods produced in Eastern Europe for technology-intensive goods produced in the EU. The export structures of some Central European economies which have attracted...

Economic failure, including the unprecedented collapse of a major economy in peacetime, played a significant part in the collapse of the communist system in Russia, and the break-up of the Soviet Union itself. Despite its status as a major world power, the Soviet Union had a trade structure which resembled that of a relatively backward Third World country dependent upon exports of fuels, raw materials, precious metals, wood and lumber for 95 per cent of its exports to the industrial West. Its major industrial exports consisted of armaments, frequently delivered on credit to Third World...