Financial Transfers of the European Union and Eastern Enlargement [antikvár]

Preface of the Editors The conference on the EU's financial transfers and its reform in the light of Eastem enlargement, held on 14-15 November in Budapest, was a milestone in the long history of IWE-TEPSA research cooperation. The conference aimed at bringing together experts from EU coimtries, the European Commission, and the most advanced candidate countries in order to present, confront, and - where possible - to reconcile their very divergent views on this particular issue. Beyond the scientific exchange of opinions our intention was to launch a pubUc debate on this question playing a decisive role in both the current revision of the EU budget and the future conditions of enlargement. We must be aware of the key relevance of this topic and in this sense the conference, and this book too, are forward looking and call attention to the importance of strategic thinking on the eve of enlargement. The conference was attended by civil servants, politicians, researchers and Ph.D. students as well. Thanks to this composition of audience a very lively and fruitful debate could develop during the discussion periods. The obvious success of this event made the publication of the speeches a necessity. With this book the editors would like to contribute to the preparatory work of decision makers and by the same token to inform the public about the current state of this exciting debate. Budapest, February 1998 András Inotai Krisztina Vida (Institute for World Economics)