Initially the new EU Member States were thought to have been hit harder by the crisis than the old ones. In fact, there is considerable variation within both groups, agreed experts at a workshop on the impact of the crisis on the new Member States held on Monday by Parliament’s Special Committee on the Economic, Financial and Social Crisis (CRIS). An important role in the crisis was played by foreign banks, which contributed to growth in the region but also increased the vulnerability of these economies. European cohesion policy, as a major element of the crisis exit strategy, has helped the states in question to mitigate the repercussions of the crisis. But now the time has come to look to the long-term challenges.
New vs. old Member States?
“The crisis had...
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