New Europe is a rhetorical term used by some analysts to describe European post-communist transition success stories. The term implies their recent return to European, or more precisely Western civilization, but suggests - given their (forced) communist detour - that there is no single Pan-European identity in the EU. This book examines the nations that make up the so-called New-Europe (those that joined the European Union in 2004) to look at the economic competitiveness in comparison with each other and the rest of Europe.

The editor - a leading scholar on transition economics - draws together contributions from a wide range of contributors to look at this important issue. These essays stress the interaction between successful transition measures creating an encouraging, more transparent, liberal (i.e. free market) environment on the one hand and the inflow of foreign investors encouraged by that environment on the other.

Jan Winiecki is Professor and Chair of International Economics and European Studies at the University of Information Technology and Management, Rzeszow, and Tischner School of European Studies, Cracow, Poland.