Overcoming ‘Economic Backwardness’ in the E uropean U nion

Abstract

Abstract Long before the cold war and theIronCurtain's construction, theEuropean continent was marked by a developmental divide in which the east suffered relative economic deprivation compared to the west. This article revisits the sources of ‘economic backwardness’ in easternEurope and asks whether post‐communist states' membership in theEuropeanUnion (EU) upends the earlier structural conditions that had traditionally prevented east–west economic convergence. The article finds that while there is more economic opportunity for post‐communist states in theEUthan outside it,EUmembership does not subvert the major drivers of the developmental divide.EUmembership does, however, limit economic volatility for theNewMemberStates (NMS), which, in historical perspective, is a boon for eastern populations and stabilizing for democratic politics.

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