Online Round Table • Budapest
Roundtable “From CEFTA to the EU single market: lessons learned from V4 to WB6”
Online Roundtable “From CEFTA to the EU single market: lessons learned from V4 to WB6”. Round table is scheduled for May 2022 for one day in Hungary, for 30 persons.
CEFTA as regional free trade area of the Central Eastern European countries was established in 1992 by V4, and it became a successful economic integration story, as all of the Eastern European countries that once were part of CEFTA, are now members of the EU and its single market. Countries of the Visegrad group, especially used economic integration that came with CEFTA and EU membership to boost their trade and gradually strengthen their economies. Many indicators support this trend. Average real growth rates for the period 1992-2019 for Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic were 4.2%, 3.8%, 3.7%, and 2.4% respectively. This development dynamic goes in hand with the increased trade of the V4 countries that came with the integration process. For instance, joint indicator of average level of openness of economy (total trade in goods and services/GDP) for these countries steadily increased: from 75% in 1992, the period of establishment of CEFTA, to 118% in 2004, in the year of fifth enlargement cycle, to the level of openness of the economy for V4 in 2019 at 158%. If we use indicator GDP per capita in PPS, as overall indicator of economic progress and living standard, the trend is also positive. This indicator increased from 73, 48, 52, 54 to 78, 51, 57, 63 for Czech Republic, Poland, Slovak Republic and Hungary respectively, for the period 1992-2004. After joining the European Union in 2004, GDP per capita in PPS has gradually raised, and achieved level of 93, 73, 70, 73 GDP/pc in PPS for Czech Republic, Poland, Slovak Republic and Hungary respectively (EU=100). V4 countries achieved significant level of economic integration into the EU single market which strongly contributed to their overall economic development.
Based on all above mentioned, the focus of the roundtable is presentation of different experiences of V4 on their path from CEFTA to the EU single market and development of set of recommendations for Western Balkans region and actual phase of regional economic integration through the CRM 2024 agenda implementation.
Roundtable shall provide open and cooperative space for dialogue between project team, researchers, business representatives, line ministries and other attendees from V4 and WB6 countries. Roundtable shall be important source of data and analysis in favor of creating e-book and recommendations for improving and directing regional economic cooperating inside two regions and between them. Additionally, it shall serve as base for creation of storytelling video.
The roundtable strongly support the main objective of the project: improve ecosystem for business and social business development at the regional level.
https://panevropa.me/en/visegrad-fund-project/
