Europe After Enlargement: Economic Challenges for Eu and India

Europe is changing and reinventing itself. The enlargement of the European Union to 25 members in May 2004, and even more in the future, will not change so much the global weight of Europe in the world economy as its economic geography. The entry of the Central and Eastern European countries marks in particular the culmination of an intense process of economic integration which widens the production cost matrix within which European firms are operating, while also expanding the EU market. This constitutes a formidable new order not only for all the European companies, but also for those that wish to establish themselves in Europe or those that have to face competition from firms operating within a Greater Europe. This is in particular the case of India for which Europe remains her largest trading partner and a major technology supplier. Hence a special chapter on this case study.