Eastern Partnership: Advocating for Economic Growth and Competitiveness

Abstract

During past years, the debate on the topic of Eastern European Union frontier has been high on the international agenda. The policy reaction envisaged by the European Union following the enlargement process generated various feelings: from appreciation to doubt or sometimes even disappointment. The most recent initiative is represented by the Eastern Partnership. This study tries to inquire if the Eastern Partnership project responds to a certain extent to the needs of the addressees in terms of supporting their economic growth and promoting greater international competitiveness. The different approach represented by this study resides in a comparison between two separated tools, both either dealing with or including references to same objects of interest: namely, economic performances of Eastern European countries. The main contribution is given by the clarity and the transparency of the method; it also furnishes simple and unambiguous suggestions for further actions.
Keywords: Competitive economies, Eastern partnership, Global competitiveness factors.