Macroeconomic Developments in Slovakia and the EU Accession Process
Abstract
This paper evaluates the macroeconomic performance of Slovakia since the start of economic reforms and discusses the implications of its accession to the European Union. It argues that the above-standard nature of Czech-Slovak economic relations makes Slovakia's position in the accession process rather specific. In particular, because of the high degree of economic interdependence between the Czech and Slovak Republics, the implications of EU membership will crucially depend on (i) whether the Czech and Slovak Republics enter simultaneously the union and (ii) whether the Czech-Slovak customs union can be sustained if Slovakia is excluded from the first round of the EU enlargement. The second part of the paper then discusses the patterns of growth in the transition and post-transition periods and forecasts potential growth prospects of Slovakia, with or without entry to the European Union.