Central eastern Europe five years after enlargement: in full grip of the crisis
Central eastern Europe five years after enlargement: in full grip of the crisis

Summary/Abstract: Central east European new member states have been shaken by the financial crisis and some of them, in the most turbulent periods, have even been haunted by the spectre of state bankruptcy. Any such developments would pose a real threat to the whole of Europe and would undermine the foundations of the European idea. The crisis in central and eastern Europe highlights the one-sidedness of European integration, with deep economic and trade integration amplifying the negative effects from western Europe while political and social integration to fend off the consequences is lacking. Policy responses from Europe have been neither timely nor adequate, and initiative has been left, to a large extent, to the International Monetary Fund. This is itself evidence of political weakness, revealing the naked reality of a Europe lacking efficient Union-wide institutions. The conditionalities of the IMF bailouts, entailing severe and rigidly-applied spending cuts, undermine fragile welfare systems and threaten an escalation of the crisis as well as political and social stability in the entire region. Europe needs to do more and a crisis intervention fund needs to be established to avoid the potential failure of any of its member states.

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