Central and
Eastern
Europe
European integration 10 years after the
Eastern enlargement of the EU
It has been 25 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the most important point in European integration
at the end of the 20th Century. The process of cohesion has been ongoing and was formalized by the
accession of eight countries from the former socialist bloc in 2004. The 10th anniversary of the Eastern
enlargement of the EU and 25th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain provides the opportunity to
consider the process of integration in the European territory. There has been a continuous abolition of
formal borders for citizens, labour force, enterprises, capital, and goods with the goal of economic, social
and territorial cohesion. EU integration has had an influence on economic and demographic structures,
influencing future paths of development, and has provided opportunities for cities and regions to
cooperate and to respond to future challenges.
EU integration affecting economic and demographic development
The European Union was enlarged in several
directions in 2004: three Baltic states, two island
states and five countries in Central and Eastern
Europe joined the EU in the largest round of
enlargement in the history of the Community.
This enlargement awoke expecations in several
fields. The free movement of labour, capital,
goods and services not only strengthened the
role of the EU in the World, but also contributed
to social, economic and territorial cohesion and
more territorial cooperation between the new
member states, and the EU15 as well as and
among new member states. After the initial years
of growth, the world-wide financial and economic
crisis undermined regional development, not only
in terms of economic output but also changed
migration trends. Although the crisis had an
influence on regional development in the first ten
years of the enlarged EU, there are some trends
which can be investigated further in relation to
this enlargement.
In terms of economic resilience, national
economies had a large influence on regions, so
there is no clear divide between the new and the
old member states in terms of effects of the
economic crisis. Cyprus and the Baltic States have
not recovered from the economic crisis yet, just
like Spain, Greece or Ireland. On the other hand,
some regions in Hungary and Poland have been
resilient or have recovered, just like in Austria,
West Germany or South Sweden.
Map 1. Resilience of regions in the economic crisis
(ECR2)
Economic changes influence migration as well.
The EU, due to its political stability and economic
wealth, is an important target of international
migration. However, there is a clear divide
between the old and the new member states.
English
Figure 1. Net migration in European countries 2007-12
(Evidence Brief No.6)
Most of the new member states have to face
outmigration, especially the Baltic states,
however Cyprus and Malta experience
immigration. Migration flows were affected by
the economic crisis. Some former target
countries turned into countries of outmigration,
like Ireland or Spain, but also many migrants
returned to their home countries due to the
unfolding crisis. In such circumstances, people are
more likely to change their living place by
choosing more prosperous regions. This is likely
to occur in the direction of rural areas to cities,
with a significant concentration in capital cities in
the new member states, but also from the South
and East of the EU to the Westen and Northern
territories.
The enlargement of the EU brought new
opportunities for co-operation as well. Cities,
regions and agents at all levels have the
possibility to co-operate with others in other EU
member states, and the European Regional
Development Fund supports this territorial cooperation. Territorial co-operation is possible on
the cross-border level, on transnational level or
even at the European level. Formal territorial cooperation in transnational and interregional
programmes is an instrument used mostly by
southern European regions and the Eastern new
member states, especially in the Baltic Sea
region. However, it can be clearly seen that
partners in the new member states take the
responsibility to lead projects of transnational cooperation to a far lesser extent than ones in the
old member states. East German regions
however have an outstanding role in leading
projects, just like north Italian regions.
Central and Eastern Europe still not catching up
Bringing the focus to Central and Eastern Europe
(CEE), we need to consider enlargement in a
more historical perspective. In fact, though the
new member states joined the EU in 2004, East
German regions did this earlier via German
reunification. In the past 25 years, there were in
fact several border changes in this region, with
the reunification of Germany and the split of the
former Czechoslovakia, new borders were
formed while others gradually disappeared.
Changes in boundaries are unique to the region
and cannot be neglected when looking at
territorial development trends.
a whole is considered to be realtiveley resistant
as well.
Map 2. Regional Economic Gap 2030 (ET2050)
Within the Central and Eastern European region,
divides in terms of the impacts of the economic
crisis exist not between old and new member
states, but rather between the two sides of the
former Iron Curtain. Within national economies,
these divides are between metropolitan capital
regions and the rest. A large part of Poland was
resistant to the economic crisis, and Germany as
English
However, the East German regions faced the
crisis similar to other regions in the new member
states. This implies that the economy in the
former socialist bloc still faces structural
problems related to transition.
Central and Eastern European regions are highly
dependent on foreign capital, which plays an
important role in the transition and
modernization of these economies. On the other
hand, it increases the risk of segmentation of the
macroregional
economy,
between
more
developed and powerful areas and regions and
those less developed with a lack of investment
for modernization and at risk of losing
competitiveness in the context of growing
European competition. This process is likely to
continue. Even higher foreign direct investment
(FDI) does not necessarily lead to higher growth.
With a low growth rate of 2.2%, the existing gap
between the more developed Western regions
and the Eastern regions will hardly change.
Within Central and Eastern Europe, the catching
up of capital cities to the EU average has been
faster and there may be a risk of further
concentration and growing disparities.
Eastern Germany has long experienced negative
population trends, outmigration, depopulation
and population ageing. In other parts of Central
and Eastern Europe this process may not have
been so intense, but a negative population
change is likely to be a challenge for the CEE in
the future as well. Not only ageing and
outmigration from rural areas into cities, but also
intra-EU migration can have a negative effect on
the development of Central and Eastern Europe.
Map 3. Future population change according to a
baseline scenario (ET2050)
The largest migration stream within the EU is
between Germany and Poland, but also the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have to face the
outmigration of their high skilled labour force.
This may pose challenges in relation to ‘smart
growth’ and productivity, further jeopardizing the
competitiveness of these regions. There is a
gender component of migration as well. Many
rural areas face the outmigration of young
women, which may impact the national growth
rate in these areas. Regions mostly affected by
the outmigration of young women are in East
German regions and Slovenia.
Local and regional actors face concentrated challenges
The EU enlargement had a multidimensional
impact on regions and cities. Free movement of
citizens and labour has changed local markets
and functional relations. One of the well-known
European examples is the metropolitan region of
Vienna-Bratislava. Also smaller towns located
along borders can further develop functional
integration as the framework conditions are set
by EU regulations.
There has also been a strong impact of EU
integration for other regions and cities not in the
direct proximity to national borders. The
common market and changes in the economy
have had an impact on local-regional economic
structures. The competition for investments, and
thus for economic prosperity and jobs, has
intensified. The competition between cities for
investors may be even harder in Central and
Eastern Europe, dependent as they are on
external capital. There is also the risk of retaining
obsolete local economic structures and thus
preserving economic disadvantages in the future
as well. Free movement of labour affects also
English
local economies. Rural regions and small and
medium sized towns may face the selective
outmigration of the young, skilled and active
population, leading to an ageing population,
changing needs and rising costs for public
services.
Map 4. Twinning city agreements per 100,000
population (TERCO)
European trends influence localities in a
concentrated
manner,
as
economic,
demographic, social or environmental trends
have combine in individual cities and regions. In
an integrated European territory these impacts
are also more intense on a local level.
Though cities and regions alone can hardly have
an influence on European trends, they can try to
tailor fit their local policies and actions to answer
the challenges brought by these trends.
EU enlargement has also brought an important
opportunity to help regions and cities in facing
their challenges. Structural Funds can support the
transformation process and with the help of the
Territorial Co-operation Programmes, local and
regional authorities can join forces to find
common solutions to common challenges not
only directly at borders but also in a wider
context.
These co-operations could be also exploited in
identifying common issues and coping with them
jointly with the support of the Territorial Cooperation Programmes. It may not have a direct
effect on GDP growth, but may help in the local
and regional adaptation to European trends.
Intensity of co-operation in the form of twinning
cities is realtively high in Central and Eastern
Europe, especially along the German-Polish
border, in East Slovakia and Hungary.
The information published in this material is taken from the following ESPON projects and publications: ET2050, ECR2,
TERCO, METROBORDER, Evidence Brief No. 6.
The ESPONontheRoad project
The ESPON on the Road Project is a Transnational Networking Activity of nineteen ESPON Contact Points,
financed by the ESPON 2013 Programme with the aim to bring the results of applied research on European
territorial development closer to decision making.
The ESPON 2013 Programme is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, the EU Member
States and the Partner States Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. It shall support policy
development in relation to the aim of territorial cohesion and a harmonious development of the European
territory.
For more information visit the project website or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
http://esponontheroad.eu
English