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How do traditional state interests fit into a new Europe in which globalization may seem to render them irrelevant? Globalization is often thought of as undermining the sovereignty of states. States are forced to work through multilateral institutions in a globalizing world, which may seem to render states largely irrelevant. As this chapter will show, though, some countries are able to use multilateral institutions (such as the European Union, EU) as a new arena to advance their national goals. Germany is a classic example of such a state. Since its history of aggression has left the country distrusted by its neighbors, Germany has found that it can best advance its national goals by embedding them in multilateral processes – such as European integration.

The following chapter will examine this process by focusing on one case: the role of German–Polish relations in the 2004 expansion of the EU. After an introductory section, the chapter will first focus on Germany's goals, showing how it hoped that expansion would further German national interests, including its economic and security needs and the historical necessity of atoning for the Second World War. Yet Berlin also was careful to avoid overt unilateral actions, working carefully through the EU to advance its agenda. Next, the chapter will trace Germany's actions, showing how it worked to support the 2004 expansion and Poland's inclusion in it, often over the objections of some of its EU partners. Finally, the chapter will detail the outcome of the process, showing that the results were positive for both Germany and Poland, as well as for the overall cause of European integration. Thus, for the Germans at least, the seeming dichotomy between “doing good and doing well” can be reconciled. This may offer a model for other countries to follow, showing that a careful use of state power can advance national goals even in a globalizing world.

In its recommendation on the 2004 update of the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs), the European Commission (2004) issued country-specific recommendations for fiscal policy in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries that have recently joined the European Union (EU) (henceforth the EU-10 countries). All countries except Estonia and Slovenia were urged to reduce their general government deficits, or to pursue low budget deficits in a credible and sustainable way within the multi-annual framework of EU budgetary surveillance. Some countries have received additional recommendations (the Czech Republic to reform its health care and pension systems, Estonia and Lithuania to avoid pro-cyclical policies, and Poland to reform its pension system). Most new Member States will consequently have to reduce their fiscal deficits and/or will have to avoid pro-cyclical fiscal policies to comply with the BEPGs, but also because of the required convergence within the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Bearing in mind that the government balance for the new Member States was –5.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003, the required reduction of fiscal deficits will not be easy. This has been acknowledged by the Commission, which has argued that the need to reach and maintain sound budgetary positions will require an appropriate time path between the necessary consolidation and the appropriate fiscal stance supporting the transition. Particular attention will also need to be given to country-specific circumstances, in particular to initial budgetary positions, to ongoing structural shifts in the new Member State economies, and to the possible risks resulting from current account imbalances and strong credit growth.

The last financial crisis opens the question of the level of debt sustainability in the developed countries. The majority of the EU member states faced the growing trend of public debt (while some countries are unable to service it on time, i.e. Greece) and some of the new members face the problem of external debt. Regarding there is no standard tool for measurement of public debt sustainability this analysis provides the statistical and econometric approach to find out bi-directional impact of public debt on GDP growth rate, unemployment, current account and interest rate spread. The research is performed on the five different groups of EU member states: EU28, Eurozone, new member states, GIIPS and EU-10-core countries. Results indicate the necessity to keep the public debt stable regarding the very slow post crisis recovery and low growth rates to avoid unintended consequences of debt burden on the EU economies.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of the enlargement process of the European Union as a factor fostering international competitiveness of EU Member States. The paper argues that the economic integration process has reduced the technological gap between old and new EU Member States, and this pattern of technological innovation can partially explain the strong impulse on the export dynamics of European countries.

The paper builds an augmented gravity model by including the role of technological innovation, proxied by the stock of knowledge at the sector level. The authors gather together information on patents applied to international offices and bilateral export flows available from COMTRADE dataset.

By using a dynamic panel data estimator the authors find three main empirical evidences. First, the enlargement process has produced an overall larger positive impact on export flows for new Members than for old ones, and more importantly that sectors with the higher technological content have received the strongest impulse. Second, the augmented gravity model allows shaping the crucial role of technological innovation in fostering export competitiveness. Third, this impact seems to be stronger for old EU Member States than for new ones.

The major limitation concerns time span adopted in this work. By expanding the dataset to further years it could be possible to better disentangle the effects also related to the new wave of the EU enlargement.

The policy implication derived is that the more the new EU Members catch up technologically as a result of the integration process, the more they will benefit in terms of economic development.

The major originality of this paper is the construction of an augmented gravity model by including the role of technological innovation, applied to distinguished manufacturing sectors in a dynamic panel setting.

This chapter provides an overview of five modes of intellectual property (IP) protection – patents, designs, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets – available in the United States, the European Union, and Japan. After describing the purposes of and principal differences among the five types of IP protection and outlining the advantages of each form, the chapter provides country- and region-specific information. The authors highlight the aspects of IP law in which international harmonization has, or has not yet, occurred, and offer insights into the relative advantages of various national and regional IP protection systems.

This paper documents the EU integration process using the uneven and combined development framework. Because capitalist social relations are territorially defined and politically built, unevenness between countries is not unconnected with that within countries and both involve antagonism between capital and labor. This is manifest in the ‘state form’ of the EU and its anti-democratic tendencies: public institutions at the community level play a major role in reinforcing unevenness in favour of leading countries, in both the productive and financial spheres.

The purpose of this paper is to summarise corporate social responsibility (CSR) development issues by organising critical CSR promoting and hindering factors, and to evaluate CSR development problems in Lithuania according to organised factors, legal context and previously implemented empirical investigations in new EU member states and Lithuania.

Analysis and generalisation of various literature sources were applied to organise critical CSR promoting and hindering factors. In order to evaluate the CSR development problems in Lithuania, legal documents and collateral analysis of empirical CSR research in new EU member states and Lithuania methods were applied.

The antithesis between economic and social firms' objectives has existed for a long time, but the current modern world's construct refuted this concept in economic terms and has highlighted social, ethical and environmental values, taking into account definite quality options for everyone – the public sector, NGOs and society – with great expectations to act in a socially responsible way. The priorities of CSR, as emphasised by the European Union (EU), are relevant not only to old EU member states, but also to new ones. The research results show that despite the Lithuanian CSR development vision and goals, the main problems relate to the lack of understanding of CSR and a systematic CSR implementation approach.

The study is based on previously implemented empirical investigations in new EU member states with particular attention to CSR promoting and hindering factors and deeper insight into Lithuanian CSR development issues, which provide a starting point for further CSR research in the area of transitional economies.

The paper summarises empirical investigations implemented in new EU member states during the last few years and brings a broader understanding of CSR development problems in transitional economies.

The paper attempts to stimulate discussion about CSR promoting and hindering factors in new EU member states with particular insight into Lithuanian problems.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the recent social welfare performance of old and new members of the European Union, and to establish whether a specific East‐European social model (ESM) is emerging.

The concept of social model is explored in the context of the historical development of economic and social policy integration in the European Union, with emphasis on reform measures and the EU enlargement process post‐1990. Guided by Sapir's typology of ESMs, the performance of 15 West‐European countries is analysed and compared with that of ten East‐European countries, relative to key economic and social indicators. The results are then used to determine whether a typology of East‐ESMs could be produced.

Social welfare performance in the new EU members indicates two different patterns and levels of development, which at this stage separate East‐European countries into two distinct groups. While two divergent trends may be emerging, it is perhaps too soon to conclude that any specific East‐ESM is taking shape. Results so far suggest that, in Eastern Europe, the influence of a welfarist social model appears more beneficial than that of market liberalism.

This paper is limited to the comparative analysis of social welfare performance in six country groups. To obtain a full picture of the current development of social models in the European Union, it should be complemented by a separate examination of deliberate efforts by national governments towards in integrating economic and social policies in normative social models. The analysis itself could be expanded to include other significant social indicators, such as the level of employment protection or the Human Development Index.

While deliberate policy efforts are not always necessary for a social model to emerge, public awareness of cultural and regional trends in social welfare performance, analysed through the filter of social model typology, can significantly inform future social and cultural practices, as well as national government policies, directed towards improving national welfare.

This analysis can provide a theoretical basis for the integration of national economic and social policies in a coherent philosophy of multi‐dimensional development in Eastern Europe.

The paper selects historically relevant indicators of economic and social performance, undertakes a comparative analysis of six European country groups, draws conclusions on the current state of social welfare in East‐European countries relative to their Western counterparts and makes recommendations regarding the development of social model conceptions in Eastern Europe.

The purpose of the paper is twofold. The first purpose is to provide a synthesis of the dominant cross-cultural models and to present the more recent tri-axial model as a promising alternative that responds well to the limitation of prevailing models. Consequently, the second purpose is to employ the model to explore key differences in the culture and values of public service organisations in old and new EU member states.

The paper surveyed public sector employees in four different countries, two old EU (OEU) states (Germany, The Netherlands) and two new EU (NEU) states (Estonia, Lithuania). The employees were asked to classify 60 values on the three axes of the tri-axial model and to select the five most important values in their organization. The survey replies were analyzed and mapped to facilitate comparison of the tri-axial cultural profile of the two EU clusters.

The results show differences in value orientation between the two groups of countries: the public sector in the OEU member states appears to be more ethically and less pragmatically oriented than in the NEU member states. Findings show that in the new member states, value congruence is very high across demographic groups, in contrast to the situation encountered in the OEU member states.

Further research should include more countries before generalising the conclusions of this study to the rest of the OEU and NEU countries. Furthermore, although collecting data from a homogeneous unit (e.g. public sector) suggests more valid comparison, in the future, research should strive to also examine additional units, for example private companies.

The conclusions derived from this exploratory cultural mapping provide useful knowledge for improving international collaboration across public sector organizations.

This study is the first study that maps the values in the public sector using the tri-axial model.