Canadian Journal of European and Russian Studies

The Economic Successes and Sources of Discontent in East Central Europe

Rachel A Epstein — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

By some measures, the European Union’s Eastern enlargement, and the attendant securitization of East Central Europe through membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, have brought significant economic and welfare benefits to the former Soviet satellites or republics that have joined these organizations. All of their economies are considerably larger than in 1989. Foreign investment has helped fuel significant growth in the region, and financial linkages between East and West had a stabilizing influence during and after the US financial crisis of 2008-09. But economic success in absolute terms has not prevented a sense of disappointment from settling over the region, nor has it forestalled an illiberal backlash in a number of countries, which has had economic, political, and in some cases ethno-populist dimensions. This article examines some of the main economic trajectories around growth, consumption, investment, and finance. It explains why, despite numerous positive measures, both economic and political liberalism are under intensifying scrutiny. Growing inequality within countries, as well as continuing inequality – including power disparities between East and West Europe – have fueled discontent with the terms on which many East Central European states have integrated into the EU.

Economic and Social Balance of 15 Years of Eastern Enlargement

Béla Galgóczi — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 13:53:23 +0000

The Eastern EU enlargement (2004, 2007, 2013) is still one of the success stories of the EU (and unprecedented in the world), but at the same time it is controversial and is perceived as controversial. One of the core problems has been its unbalanced character: the whole process had a clear `Single Market` focus and the values of a `Social Europe` were of secondary importance. Based on a neofunctionalist approach the paper discusses the integration of the new member states from the point of view of economic and income convergence. Along with a literature review, data on wages, productivity and output will be analysed to demonstrate that upward convergence of the poorer new member states towards the EU average had been stalled in wake of the 2009 crisis. The resulting cleavages put the core hypothesis of the neofunctionalist approach - that EU integration has a `direction` in terms of an upwards convergence - into question.

The Baltic States: Keeping the Faith in Turbulent Times

Vello Pettai — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 16:27:16 +0000

As the Baltic states commemorated the centenary of their first appearance as independent states in 2018, their celebrations were mixed with feelings of ambiguity about the road travelled since then. Although today we often see Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as 'post-communist' countries, their experience with communism was actually much harsher than in Central Europe, since, for nearly fifty years, the three countries were forcibly a part of the Soviet Union. This has made their journey back into the European community all that more remarkable, and it has also served to keep these countries somewhat more resistant to the dangers of democratic backsliding. After all, their continued independence and well-being are intricately dependent on keeping the European liberal order intact. Nevertheless, the winds of populism have also begun to buffet these three countries, meaning that they have been struggling to keep their balancing act going. This article reviews the development of the Baltic states over the last 20 years, both in terms of domestic politics and EU accession and membership. It profiles the way in which the three countries have been trying to keep their faith in democracy and liberalism alive amidst ever more turbulent political and economic times.

Europeans but outside of the EU - the EU Soft Power of Attractiveness in Ukraine Between the Orange Revolution and Euromaidan

Viktoriya Thomson — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The role of the EU in the promotion of Europeanization and the EU political identity in potential member states of Eastern Europe prior to the 2004 enlargement was important for these states’ future acceptation in the EU community. However, most research and literature have discounted the role of the EU and its attractiveness in the countries neighbouring with the EU that did not have a prospect of joining the EU in 2004. This article studies the process of formal and informal Europeanization in Ukraine before and after the Orange revolution, which occurred five months after the bloc’s 2004 enlargement, and Euromaidan of 2013. Despite the EU’s passive leverage in Ukraine between 2004 and 2013, and the country’s weak prospects for potential membership, the EU’s soft power of attractiveness was still an effective tool that was used by Ukrainian political elite and media in promoting informal Europeanization after the 2004 enlargement. Furthermore, confidence in the EU was associated with support for such liberal values as human rights, tolerance of minorities, and political efficacy. This article posits that notwithstanding weak incentives and support offered from the EU to implement formal Europeanization in Ukraine, the EU attractiveness was successfully applied by local elite and media to promote the informal Europeanization.