Some Aspects of Medium-term Development in Central and Eastern Europe

This paper intends to outline some of the factors (both international and domestic) that could influence the economic development of the Central and Eastern European countries in the coming 3-4 years. In the first section we present a brief summary of economic performance of (some groups of) Central and Eastern European countries during the decade of transition. Next, some recent developments (in 1999-2000) will be presented. The third section deals with the factors, which could help or impede economic growth in the future. The most important differences among groups of countries or regions - such as Russia, Central Europe, South-Eastern Europe and the Baltic states - will be indicated. The last section concentrates on the prospects of the EU membership of the candidate countries - one of the most important factors that will shape the economic and political fates of Central and Eastern Europe.