The Regional Challenge in Central and Eastern Europe

Central and eastern European countries are undergoing internal transformations, to liberal democracy and the market economy. At the same time, they must meet the criteria for European integration. This book examines the territorial dimension of these challenges. Central and eastern Europe has its own distinct histories of territorial politics and state structures, which continue to influence the present. Like their western neighbours the countries of the region must confront a world in which politics and policy making are changing in scale, with the emergence of new local and intermediate levels. The market economy and free trade can lead to increasing economic disparities. National and ethnic minorities create a demand for local and regional devolution. The European Commission and other external agents have posed requirements for new administrative structures to manage European funding. All this creates a complex set of pressures to which the transition countries must respond. This book, by an international group of scholars, examines these challenges from a diversity of angles, historical, economic, political and institutional.