2091 9 September 2000 PROGRESS TOWARD THE UNIFICATION 0F EUROPE A W O R L D F R EE OF P OV E R T Y Progress Toward the Unification of Europe Copyright C 2000 THE WORLD BANK 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First printing September 2000 The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank or its member governments. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any consequence of their use. The material in this publication is copyrighted. Requests for permission to reproduce portions of it should be sent to the Office of the Publisher at the address shown in the copyright notice above. The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally give permission promptly and, when the reproduction is for noncommercial purposes, without asking a fee. Permission to copy portions for classroom use is granted through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., Suite 910, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, Massachusetts 01923, U.S.A. ISBN 0-8213-4803-5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for. ii Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 I. Introduction 11 II. The Transition of Central Europe and the Baltics (CEECs) and the Role of EU Accession 12 A. Economic Performance since Transition 13 (i) The Transition Recession 13 (ii) The Transition Recovery 14 (iii) Emergence of Groups at Risk and Rise in Income Inequality 18 B. Role of EU Accession in Economic Performance 20 (i) Opening Export Markets 20 (ii) Attracting Foreign Direct Investment 22 (iii) Spurring Trade Liberalization 24 (iv) Conclusions 25 C. Other Key Factors Explaining Economic Performance 25 (i) Initial Conditions 25 (ii) Political Regime Changes 26 (iii) Macroeconomic Stabilization and Structural Reforms 27 (iv) Other Institutional Factors 36 D. Conclusions 39 III. Income Convergence 39 A. Experience of Income Convergence of Previous EU Members 40 B. Income Convergence for the CEECs 41 IV. Agenda for the CEECs for a Successful Integration 42 A. Addressing the Fiscal Challenge 43 B. Addressing the Challenge of Global Financial Integration 46 C. Strengthening Administrative Capacity 48 (i) Building Institutional Infrastructure for Policy Formulation and Coordination 49 (ii) Strengthening Institutional Arrangements and Administrative Processes for Policy and Program Implementation 50 (iii) Professionalizing the Civil Service 51 (iv) Creating Effective Feedback Mechanisms on Policy Implementation and Impacts 53 (v) Building Capacity to Efficiently Use Structural Funds 53 D. Raising Living Standards of the Groups at Risk 54 (i) Reducing Unemployment 54 (ii) Social Protection Programs 56 (iii) Social Inclusion Policies 59 V. Challenges for the EU to Facilitate a Successful Integration 59 A. The "Pan-European Framework" for Commercial Integration 60 VI. Partners in the EU Accession Process 61 Bibliography 63 1 Acknowledgments This paper is written by Helena Tang, with contributions from Bartek Kaminski, Franz Kaps, Pedro Alba, Gary Reid, Rossana Polastri, Tina Miakar, Irina Klytchnikova and Bjom Brandtzaeg. Irina Klytchnikova and Bjom Brandtzaeg provided outstanding research assistance. The paper benefited from comments from Pradeep Mitra, Basil Kavalsky, Kyle Peters, Michelle Riboud, Ardo Hansson, Constantine Michalopoulos, Stanislas Pottier, Carlos Silva-Jauregui, Giedre Tarbuniene, Jos Verbeek, Leila Zlaoui, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund. 2 Executive Summary The upcoming enlargement of the European Union (EU) by ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics (CEECs) is a development of great historical importance.' The ten countries are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. While it is not expected that all ten countries will join the EU at the same time, by the time they have all done so, it would have been the largest enlargement in the history of the EU. Enlargement will bring unique opportunities as well as present great challenges to both the EU and the candidate countries. For the EU, enlargement will enhance its weight and influence in the international arena, while imposing on it new international responsibilities. For the candidate countries, enlargement should improve their long-term growth prospects by providing them with unimpeded access to a large single market and eventual free movement of goods, services, capital and people within the market. Most of the EU membership requirements (market liberalization and increased competition) are also necessary for long-term growth of these countries with or without EU membership. The accession process therefore provides important impetus for the acceleration of much needed reforms in some of the CEECs. Achieving sustained, high long-term growth is the key for the CEECs to meet their ultimate objective of accession, which is to reach a standard of living for their people equivalent to those living in the EU. This will be a major challenge for the CEECs. In 1998, only two CEECs had per capita incomes (on a purchasing power parity basis) that exceeded 50 percent of the EU average. These are Slovenia and the Czech Republic, which had per capita incomes of around two-thirds and around 60 percent of the EU average, respectively. Hungary's per capita income in 1998 was about half that of the EU average, while the rest of the CEECs were lower. Closing the income gap with the EU will require that almost all the CEECs accelerate their real GDP growth rates substantially. For instance, for the CEECs to achieve real convergence in 20 years (assuming the EU average grows at 2 percent per annum in per capita terms, which is the growth rate of the oldest members of the EU), all the CEECs except for Slovenia and the Czech Republic will have to grow at an average of over 5 percent per capita per annum in real terms for the next 20 years. In fact, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania will need to grow at an average of 8 percent per annum in real terms, or even higher. These required growth rates are significantly higher than what most of these countries have attained so far. Accession to the EU could contribute significantly to improving the long-term growth prospects of the CEECs, and raise their incomes to EU levels. The benefits from EU accession could already be accrued with the signing of the European Association Agreements in the first part of the 1990s, prior to the invitation to initiate accession negotiations, and prior to actual accession itself. However, the experience over the last decade has illustrated that the CEECs could only benefit from the accession process by undertaking parallel political, economic and institutional reforms. The role of EU accession, and the other key factors behind the CEEC economic performance since transition, will be discussed next. Role of EU accession in the transition recovery of the CEECs. The EU accession process began with the signing of the Europe Association Agreements (EAs) in the first part of the 1990s. The EAs recognized the associated countries' ultimate objective of joining the EU, and went beyond the narrowly conceived issues of market access to include also the alignment of the CEEC economic system with that of the EU's. This EU integration factor has played an important role in the transition recovery of the CEECs. First, it dampened the transition recession by opening EU export markets to the CEECs after the 1 In addition to the ten CEECs, Cyprus and Malta have also been invited to start accession negotiations, and Turkey has also been given an opening for eventual EU membership. This paper focuses on the challenges that transition countries face in joining the EU; for this reason it does not include a discussion on Turkey. 3 collapse of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) trading arrangement. Exports have turned out to be the engine of growth in the CEECs, and the EU has become their major trading partner. Second, the EAs have helped attract foreign direct investment to the CEECs. This in turn has promoted exports and the technological upgrading of exports, and contributed to industrial restructuring as well as the growth of the de novo private sector. Through these channels, FDI has contributed significantly to the transition recovery. Third, the EAs have helped spur trade liberalization in the CEECs, as a result of which they can enjoy the growth benefits that come from opening their economies. Other key factors explaining the CEEC economic performance since transition. The benefits brought by the EU accession process, as elucidated above, are not sufficient to explain the CEEC economic performance since transition, given how different they have turned out to be. Other key factors that have affected CEEC economic performance since transition are initial conditions, political factors, and progress in macroeconomic stabilization, structural reforms and institutional development. These factors, in turn, also affect how much the CEECs could gain from the accession process, in particular through the channel of foreign direct investment (FDI). Initial conditions played a role in determining the degree and speed of reform policies at the beginning of transition. In this regard, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia enjoyed important advantages, since they were already exposed to market activities prior to transition. Bulgaria and Romania, on the other hand, suffered from tighter control of the economy and the bureaucracy prior to transition, while the Baltic states did not introduce market reforns until after they became independent in 1991. Czechoslovakia was an intermediate case where strong opposition to the socialist regime led to the Prague Spring of 1968, followed by purges of dissident elites. These initial political conditions had an impact on political elite regime changes (or lack thereof) at the onset of transition. The countries which experienced the greatest extent of political elite changes also undertook bolder and more rapid economic and institutional reforms. In this regard, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic led the group of countries in Central Europe, while the Slovak Republic, Romania and Bulgaria lagged behind. The differential performance of the Baltic countries, with Estonia being the leader in reforms and performance, also underlines the importance of political regime change. Upon independence, Estonia experienced the highest renewal of political elites, with the percentage of young elites in the core institutions of government being much higher than in the other two Baltic states. The advantages or disadvantages conferred by initial conditions could, however, be offset by macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms. Estonia provides a good example, showing that despite negative initial conditions (such as high trade dependency on the CMEA and overindustrialization), once it started reforming, it quickly caught up with some of the more advanced candidate countries. The CEECs differed in the speed and scope of implementing economic reforms, and experienced different economic performances as a result. Those countries which pursued the boldest economic reforms have benefited the most from the process of EU accession. Those countries that have lagged behind in economic reforms could benefit from the lessons of experience of the CEECs that have advanced more in the transition agenda. These lessons of experience will be highlighted in the next section on completing the transition agenda. Completing the transition agenda. To achieve high, sustainable growth, the CEECs first need to complete the transition agenda. The objective of transition is to establish a democratic market economy, which is also one of the prerequisites of accession, since the latter requires that countries meet the so- called Copenhagen criteria of - among other elements - establishing a "functioning market economy." 4 The transition experience of the CEECs clearly shows that growth recovered only after the economies had been stabilized and inflation had been brought down substantially. Therefore, the first priority for the CEECs is to establish, and maintain, macroeconomic stability. Almost all the CEECs have made progress in reducing fiscal deficits since 1992, although further progress was still needed in some of them in 1999. The CEEC experience also shows that macroeconomic stabilization facilitated structural reforms. Those countries which did not manage to stabilize their economies early on, such as Bulgaria and Romania, also lagged behind in structural reforms. Furthermore, the experiences of these two countries also illustrate that macroeconomic stabilization can only be sustained if there is sufficient progress in structural reforms. The weak progress in Bulgaria (until recently) and Romania in imposing hard budget constraints on enterprises has undermined their ability to achieve macroeconomic stability. The experience of the transition countries also shows that once macroeconomic stabilization is underway, structural reforms have been found to make a greater quantitative contribution to growth. The experience of the CEECs shows a positive relationship between cumulative reform effort and growth. In fact, the CEEC experience shows that a minimum critical mass of structural reforms is necessary before growth benefits could accrue. Among the structural areas, the CEECS have made the most progress in external trade liberalization (with the help of the EU integration factor), while price liberalization, enterprise privatization and banking reform still need to be completed in many of them. Strong positive associations have been found in many empirical studies between enterprise privatization and restructuring, and between privatization and higher productivity growth in transition countries. In addition, through the release of valuable assets (structures, equipment and human capital), privatization could also be important for the development of de novo activities. De novo activities have been the main determinant of private sector growth, and hence overall growth, in the CEECs. Privatization of small-scale enterprises has been virtually completed in all the CEECs except for Romania. Progress in privatizing large-scale enterprises has been somewhat slower, and greater effort is still needed to improve corporate governance. Several empirical studies on transition countries have found that of the different approaches to privatization, privatizing to foreign investors produces the most restructuring in enterprises and the highest productivity growth. This should not be surprising since foreign direct investment brings the benefits of knowledge and technology transfer as well as better corporate governance. The experience of the CEECs is consistent with these empirical findings. Countries which have a larger presence of FDI - Hungary and Estonia - have also achieved some of the best economic performances among the CEECs. Competition has been found to be important for enterprise restructuring and performance in the CEECs. This can be brought about by trade liberalization, which has been virtually completed in all the CEECs, as well as effective competition policies. Successful enterprise restructuring also requires hard budget constraints. This in turn requires banking reforms, since firms in the CEECs have continued to enjoy soft budget constraints through soft loans from the banking system. The experience of the CEECs is that successful bank restructuring requires banking privatization. The experience also suggests that bank privatization by strategic investors who are sound, reputable foreign banks can contribute significantly to improving the performance of the banking system. Private, and in particular, foreign, ownership insulates the banks from pressures from the enterprise sector or the government to extend credit to failed enterprises. The front-runners of banking reforms among the CEECs - Hungary and Estonia - have made impressive progress in privatizing banks to foreign investors, although some other CEECs, including Latvia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, are quickly catching up. 5 Banking privatization needs to be accompanied by further efforts to strengthen the institutional environment within which banks operate. This requires improvements in the legal framework, prudential regulations, accounting standards and banking supervision. An effective legal framework, in particular with regard to collateral and bankruptcy, is important for banks to perform their function of monitoring enterprises and improving the latter's corporate governance. Also, it is the implementation of the institutional framework that matters, and most of the CEECs have lagged behind on the implementation front. Strengthening prudential regulations as well as the capacity to implement them is particularly important for the CEECs in light of the need to completely open their capital accounts upon accession to the EU, and the risks associated with this. Furthermore, the CEECs would also need to enhance financial sector supervision, including supervision of nonbank financial institutions. Another area of the financial sector in which the CEECs need to make much more progress is development of govemment securities markets. This is important for the development of capital markets in general, but is also crucial because the CEEC governments will have no recourse to monetary financing of their fiscal deficits upon joining the EU. With the exception of Poland and Hungary, the CEECs have made little progress in this area. The transition experience has highlighted the importance of institutional factors in sustaining growth. In addition to those institutional factors that are integral to structural reform (such as commercial law), another institutional factor that has been found to also have an effect on investment and growth in transition countries is corruption. The experience of the CEECs is that the countries which are the least corrupt have also made the most progress in structural reforms. Countries where reforms are more partial have a greater degree of "state capture." State capture measures the extent to which laws and regulations are for sale, and hence reflects corruption at the highest level. The agenda for the CEECs in this regard is to complete structural reforms which will remove the economic rents arising from partial reforms. In addition, more progress in democratization and improving the accountability of political elites will also help limit state capture. An agenda for a successful integration. Completing the transition agenda is a first priority. In addition, the CEECs face the task of completing the implementation of the various chapters of the acquis communautaire. For a successful integration, the CEECs would also need to address other challenges in addition to the implementation of the acquis. These include (i) addressing the fiscal challenge, taking into account contingent liabilities and hidden deficits; (ii) addressing the challenge of global financial integration; (iii) strengthening administrative capacity; and (iv) raising living standards for the groups at risk. Addressing the Fiscal Challenge. Ensuring fiscal sustainability is one of the biggest challenges facing the CEECs not only for completing the transition agenda, but also for continuing to successfully integrate with the EU. This will require reducing the fiscal deficit in some of the CEECs, and maintaining fiscal sustainability in all of them. First, enhancing public savings will help reduce the rising pressures on the current account of the balance of payments in some of the CEECs. Second, fiscal consolidation and/or restructuring public finances will help make room for the investments that will be needed to meet the environmental and other obligations of the acquis. Third, over the medium term, the CEECs will need to meet the Maastricht criteria that include a target for government fiscal deficits, since adopting the euro will be a long-term commitment for new EU members. This will require reduction of the fiscal deficit in some of the CEECs, and the maintenance of low deficits in all of them. To achieve fiscal sustainability, the CEECs will need to (i) reform the revenue system and strengthen tax administration while lowering distortionary high tax rates; and (ii) reduce public expenditures. In addition, they will also need to account for and control hidden expenditures and 6 contingent liabilities, which are sources of fiscal risks. These include pension liabilities and state guarantees and liabilities associated with financial activities of subnational governments. Addressing the Challenge of Global Financial Integration. When the CEECs join the EU, they will have to completely open their capital accounts. Many of the CEECs have been liberalizing their capital accounts since transition. In particular, restrictions related to foreign direct investment have been liberalized almost completely. However, there continue to be restrictions of one kind or another with respect to short- and medium-term capital inflows, which will be the areas most affected when the CEECs open their capital accounts completely. While capital inflows contribute to growth and investment, they complicate macroeconomic management, in particular exchange rate management. Furthermore, recent experiences around the world show that capital inflows, especially short-term capital flows, could be suddenly reversed and result in severe economic disruptions. As the CEECs further liberalize their capital accounts in the run-up to accession, it is likely that they would attract increasing capital inflows, including short-term inflows. Managing the risks associated with these potentially volatile capital inflows will involve the following. First, the CEECs will need to ensure consistency in their monetary and exchange rate policies. To establish credibility in the sustainability of their exchange rate and monetary policies, they would need to have either very strong commitments to a fixed exchange rate regime, or to float their exchange rate. Second, the CEECs will need to introduce appropriate prudential regulations that take into account the risks associated with cross- border capital flows, and strengthen oversight of the banking institutions' own capacities to access and manage risk exposures. Since building up regulatory capability takes time, the CEECs should carefully sequence further capital account liberalization by liberalizing first those elements which will improve the efficiency of resource allocation without endangering financial or macroeconomic stability. These elements include direct foreign participation in the domestic financial system and provision of access to international capital markets. Strengthening Administrative Capacity. A key accession requirement is the capacity to adopt the legal framework of the acquis and the administrative and judicial capacity to apply it. The avis, or opinions prepared by the European Commission (EC) on each country's application for membership, also identified the need to strengthen government institutional capabilities and to accelerate public administration reforms as an implicit condition of accession. Two types of administrative strengthening are necessary for the CEECs in their quest for EU accession: the building of explicit management requirements of the accession process itself, and the direct membership responsibilities countries will have to assume in the future; and enhancement of government administration's ability to function with roughly equivalent competence with current EU member state public administrations. To achieve these two types of strengthening will require the following. First, building institutional infrastructure at the center of government to formulate and coordinate policymaking in an efficient and consultative manner. Second, strengthening institutional arrangements and administrative processes for policy and program implementation to better reinforce key administrative values such as reliability, transparency, predictability, accountability, adaptability and efficiency. Third, professionalizing the civil service. Fourth, creating effective feedback mechanisms on policy implementation and impacts. In addition, the CEECs will also need to build capacity to efficiently use the financial assistance extended to them by the EU both now and after they join the Union. This will require the CEECs to strengthen public expenditure control, improve the monitoring and evaluation of public investment projects and prioritize public investment. In addition, the CEECs will have to build local administrative capacity and strengthen local partnerships. 7 Raising Living Standards of the Groups at Risk. Over the past decade, the progress made by the CEECs in establishing a market economy has been accompanied by deteriorating living standards for some groups and rising income inequality. Two groups of population are at high risk of poverty in the CEECs: (i) members of household whose heads have lost contact with the labor market; and (ii) households with three or more children. Generally, being a child seems to be a significant risk factor for being poor. In addition, single parents with children and households headed by elderly women, as well as those living in rural areas, are also at risk in some of the CEECs. The main cause of poverty is unemployment, the result of industrial restructuring that has led to labor shedding and the emergence of open unemployment. The recovery in growth has not led to significant declines in unemployment. CEEC governments would need to address the challenge of reducing unemployment. In addition, to raise living standards for the groups at risk and reduce income inequality, CEEC governments would need to reform social protection programs and promote social inclusion policies. Reduce Unemployment. Some of the measures that may help CEEC countries reduce unemployment are training and education, ensuring that the minimum wage is not too high, and addressing some nonlabor, market-related structural problems. In many CEECs, unemployment is the result of nonlabor, market-related problems, including incomplete structural reforms, inflexibility of housing markets, regulated product markets, as well as the presence of monopolies in infrastructure sectors. Addressing these problems would go some way toward reducing unemployment in these countries. Training programs for low-educated adults who have long left school or other forms of assistance directed at raising their skills could potentially make a difference in raising their incomes or employment possibilities. Private sector provision of training should be given priority. Training should also be done in association with future potential employers and involve on-the- job components. More generally, to promote growth and reduce unemployment over the long term, reforms of the education system will be needed to provide the population with skills that are more appropriate for a market economy and that enable them to meet the challenge of global competition. This means that specialized education should be replaced by a broadly based vocational/technical education. Finally, in countries where the minimum wage is relatively high, such as in Poland where it is above 40 percent of the average wage, the minimum wage may be binding for certain groups and may have a negative impact on youth employment. This suggests caution in raising the real level of the minimum wage, as well as consideration for a lower minimum wage for young workers. Reforms of Social Protection Programs. Available evidence suggests that for the CEECs social insurance programs such as pensions may have helped raise the living standards of groups at risk, but at high costs, while social assistance programs explicitly targeted to those at risk are not always successful in reaching them. Reforms of these programs are needed to ensure that they are affordable, administratively feasible and take into account efficiency and equity trade-offs. Reforms of social assistance programs in the CEECs should meet the objective of channeling scarce resources in the most efficient way to provide basic needs - food, shelter and clothing - for groups at risk and to ensure that in doing so, governments are not creating a "poverty trap" or a culture of benefit dependency. Reforms should follow the following two principles. Higher income countries where the informal economy is limited and where administrative capacity is fairly advanced should use means and assets testing. However, since means testing is never perfect, this could be supplemented by universal or indicator-targeted child allowances, particularly in view of the high risk of child poverty in the CEECs. Another group at risk, elderly nonpensioners, could also be targeted this way. Indicator-targeting of this kind is also recommended for middle-income countries where there is a higher degree of informality and where it is difficult to verify incomes. To avoid creating work disincentives, social assistance programs 8 should incorporate labor market incentives. Finally, to address the problems of inequities and low levels of financing that have arisen from decentralization, the central government should be made responsible for the determination of the level of social assistance, and to ensure that local governments are using and allocating resources as agreed. In the CEECs, groups with special needs, including orphans, children with special needs, the severely disabled and the elderly in assistance, have become increasingly at risk. This has resulted from the legacy of over-reliance on residential institutions under the previous socialist regime, coupled with deteriorating conditions in these institutions after transition as budgets have shrunk. Some CEECs, such as Lithuania and Romania, have been exploring alternatives to institutions such as community-based services. Other CEEC governments could consider encouraging nongovernmental provision of these kinds of services through introduction of legislation - where such legislation does not yet exist - that allow nongovernmental groups to raise revenues and enter into contractual arrangements. There are two main types of social insurance programs in the CEECs: unemployment insurance and pensions. Reforms of unemployment insurance should include reduction of high tax rates on contributors to reduce tax evasion and informalization of the economy; tightening eligibility criteria; reducing the duration of benefits to avoid work disincentives; ensuring consistency of reforms with social assistance programs so that cost savings from reducing unemployment benefits will not be lost because of higher social assistance outlays; and giving one-off severance benefits to those laid off because of industrial restructuring. Pension reforms should aim at promoting fiscal sustainability. High-income countries could consider introducing multipillar mandatory pension schemes (Hungary and Poland have already done so), which will require managing the costs of transition; transforming the role of the government into one of supervisor; and designing institutions for the second (private) pillar. Middle- income countries could pave the way for the eventual introduction of a funded pillar by tightening the benefit-contribution link through conversion of the pay-as-you-go pillar into one based on a notional defined contributions principle, or by modifying and downsizing the earnings-related defined benefit schemes. These options would need to be accompanied by minimum pensions or social assistance to serve equity objectives. Promoting Social Inclusion. The high risk of poverty faced by the Roma populations in some of the CEECs reflects such factors as discrimination within society and cultural differences which have led to their marginalization in housing, exclusion from education and employment opportunities, and poorer health compared with the rest of the population. Roma issues have also emerged under the political criteria for EU accession as part of the subchapter on "human rights and the protection of minorities." Cross-sectoral policies that promote growth and improve the efficiency, equity and relevance of public services would certainly help address the problems of the Roma population. Specific policies to address the social exclusion aspects of their problem are also needed. These include (i) ensuring access to education; and (ii) improving the targeting of social assistance through greater involvement of social workers in the Roma communities. Challenges for the EU to facilitate inte2ration. At the same time that the CEECs are confronting the tremendous task of implementing the acquis and addressing the other key policy issues discussed above, the EU is facing the challenge of accommodating a large number of new members. This raises the issue of whether institutional changes are needed on the part of the EU regarding the size and composition of the European Commission; the weighting of votes in the European Council; and expansion of majority decisions within the Council. In addition, to promote stability in the region, the EU is intensifying political and economic cooperation with countries that will be neighbors of the enlarged EU, including countries in southeastern Europe and neighbors to the East, in particular Ukraine and Russia. Strategic attention from EU 9 institutions is needed to address many of the problems in the immediate vicinity of the enlarged Union, including differences in wealth, insufficient infrastructure, trade barriers, illegal immigration, organized crime, environmental issues and minority questions. As recognized by the signatories of the Stability Pact of South Eastern Europe, prospects for peace and prosperity for the subregion hinge critically on establishing a credible and predictable path for these countries to integrate with the EU in the foreseeable future. Such a path will anchor expectations and provide a strong incentive for today's political leaders to reform and cooperate. In the same vein, the EU has been intensifying its cooperation with Ukraine and Russia. The new Partnership and Cooperation Agreements that the EU has concluded with these countries set the path for such inclusive cooperation. Finally, the EU will need to address the challenges arising from the new "Pan-European Framework" for Commercial Integration. This Framework (in place since 1997), together with the elimination of import duties on industrial products by January 2002 (provided by amendments to the EAs), will establish a single free trade area for 28 European countries - including all ten CEECs. This could create major economic dislocations in the agricultural sectors of the CEECs. To avoid these major economic dislocations, reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will be important. Also, consideration should be given to including non-EU associate countries in southeastern Europe in the new Framework. 10 1. Introduction The upcoming enlargement of the European Union (EU) by ten countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia) as well as Cyprus and Malta, with Turkey also having been given an opening for eventual EU membership, is a development of great historical significance.2 It follows an integration process launched 50 years ago between France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg by Jean Monnet and Robert Schumann of France and the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Konrad Adenauer. Marked by their personal experience that hegemony of some European countries during the first half of the century had led to two devastating wars, with Europe being widely divided and a continuous source of conflict and instability, they called for the creation of a new Europe where countries are prepared to transfer important national policymaking and part of their sovereign rights to democratic supranational institutions and, thus, link the countries behind a common agenda. This led in the early 1950s to the creation of the European Community for Coal and Steel; in the 1970s, following the Treaty of Rome, to the creation of the single market; and in the late 1990s to the creation of the monetary union. During this period, nine additional countries joined the European Union,3 which now represents an area of econonmic strength as well as political stability and peace. The fathers of a united Europe had already recognized that their task could not be considered finished until and unless the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) were also included. Robert Schumann noted in 1963: "We need to build a united Europe not only in the interest of the free people of Western Europe but also to receive into this community the people of Eastern Europe as soon as they are freedfrom their subjugation and they request joining this united Europe. We owe them the example of a united brotherly Europe. Each step by us towards reaching this goal represents an opportunity for them. They need our assistance during their transition process. It is our duty to be ready to receive them." Ten years after the fall of the Berlin wall, it appears that the dreams of the fathers of Europe will become a reality, and that most countries in Central and Eastern Europe will join the European Union in the foreseeable future. Enlarging the Union presents unique political, economic and social opportunities as well as great challenges. It will contribute to enhanced trade and economic activity and provide a new impetus for the development of the European economy as a whole. For the EU, enlargement will enhance its weight and influence in the international arena while imposing upon it new international responsibilities. For the accession countries, enlargement should improve their long-term growth prospects by providing them with unimpeded access to a large, single market and eventual free movement of goods, services, capital and people within the market. Most of the EU membership requirements (for example, market liberalization and increased competition) are necessary for sustainable long-term growth of these countries with or without EU membership. The accession process therefore also provides important impetus for the acceleration of much needed econonic reforms in some of the CEECs. However, the current enlargement process exceeds by far any previous enlargement challenges. The sheer number of applicant countries and the very large differences in economic and social development which they will bring with them, present the EU with institutional and political challenges 2 This paper focuses on the challenges that transition countries face in joining the EU; for this reason it does not include a discussion on Turkey. 3The nine additional countries joined in four waves. In 1973, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined; in 1981, Greece joined; in 1986, Spain and Portugal joined; and in 1995, Austria, Finland and Sweden joined. 11 far greater than ever before. In addition to the question of what it will take for EU candidate countries to get ready for EU accession is the question of whether the EU is itself ready to receive the EU candidate countries. These questions will be addressed in the rest of this paper. Section II discusses the progress made by the CEECs in their overlapping transition and EU accession processes. The process of EU accession is helping the economic transition of these countries, but only if they have also been undertaking the necessary economic, political and institutional reforms at the same time. Section III discusses the per capita income distance between the CEECs and the EU, and what it takes for real convergence. Section IV discusses some of the key policy issues facing the CEECs for a successful integration. These are, in addition to complying with the acquis: (i) addressing the fiscal challenge, taking into account hidden deficits and contingent liabilities; (ii) addressing the challenge of global financial integration; (iii) strengthening administrative capacity; and (iv) raising living standards for groups at risk. Section V discusses some of the key challenges facing the EU for facilitating a successful integration. Section VI highlights the role of internal and external partners in the accession process. II. The Transition of Central EuroDe and the Baltics and the Role of EU Accession Accession to the EU will be the culmination and completion of the transition process for the ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics. A country acceding to the EU will have to comply with the basic membership criteria, as adopted on June 30, 1993, by the Copenhagen European Council. These criteria - the so-called Copenhagen criteria - require that the candidate country (i) has achieved stability of the institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and respect for and protection of minorities; (ii) has a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with the competitive pressure and market forces within the Union; and (iii) has the ability to take on the obligations of membership, including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union. The Copenhagen criteria are fully consistent with the objective of transition for these countries, which is to establish a democratic market economy. In the decade or so since transition began, the ten candidate countries have made tremendous progress in establishing a democratic market economy, although progress has been uneven among the ten. The countries which were judged to have made the most progress - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia (the "Luxembourg" Group)4 - were first invited (in July 1997) to begin accession negotiations (these began in March 1998). They were joined in December 1999 by Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and the Slovak Republic (the "Helsinki" Group).5 In reality, however, the process of EU accession began prior to the formal invitation to start accession negotiations. It began with the signing of the Europe Association Agreements (EAs) between the CEECs and the EU.6 The EAs recognize the associated countries' ultimate objective of joining the EU, and went well beyond the narrowly conceived issues of market access. In addition to the trade liberalization component, the EAs also cover political dialogue, mutual right of establishment of finns, supply of services, liberalization of capital flows, movement of workers, and various formns of economic, financial and technical cooperation. The importance of the EAs stems less from foreign trade policy than 4The "Luxembourg" Group also includes Cyprus. 5 The "Helsinki" Group also includes Malta. 6 The EAs were signed on the following dates: Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland - December 16, 1991; Romania - February 1, 1993; Bulgaria - March 3, 1993; Czech and Slovak Republics - October 4, 1993; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - June 13, 1995; and Slovenia - June 10, 1996. 12 from the alignment of the economic system with the EU archetype, that is, the complementary reforms. These include, among others, laws on competition, company law, company accounts and tax regulations; banking law; laws on mergers and state aid; intellectual property law; rules of indirect taxation; and transport and environment laws.7 However, as will be shown in the rest of this section, signing of the EAs is no guarantee that countries would reap the main benefits of the accession process, which are increased trade flows and foreign investments. Countries could only accrue these benefits if, at the same time, they undertook the necessary economic, political and institutional reforms for transforming their economies to market-based ones. The EAs did not provide incentives for countries to do so (they did not have a mechanism for punishing countries which did not undertake these reforms) and, perhaps more importantly, they lacked a well-defined promise of membership. The importance of undertaking reforms to reap the benefits of the accession process is demonstrated in the case of Bulgaria and Romania. The two countries signed the EAs in 1993, in advance of some other countries which have since turned out to be better performers. Yet they have lagged behind in the transition process because of their slow progress in reforms, although Bulgaria has accelerated reform efforts recently. The recent invitation to begin accession negotiations should help advance the reform agenda in those countries that have been lagging behind by providing a boost to domestic political and public support for reforms. The rest of this section first discusses the economic performance of the CEECs since transition, including the growth performance as well as the emergence of groups at risk and the rise in income inequality. This is followed by a discussion of the role of EU accession in the growth performance of the CEECs since transition. Finally, there is a discussion of the other key factors that have contributed to the growth performance, including initial conditions, political regime changes, macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms, and institutional factors. A. Economic Performance since Transition (i) The Transition Recession As in the rest of the transition world, all ten CEECs suffered major contractions in output in the early years of transition (see Box 1 for a discussion on the debate on output measurement in transition economies). Poland and the Czech Republic suffered the least output contraction; the cumulative output declines in the two countries were around 10 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Output contraction was the most severe among the Baltic states. With transition beginning later in these states, output recovery also began later. Latvia suffered the greatest output loss among the three states, with cumulative output being reduced by 45 percent as a result of the transition recession. The factors behind the large output contraction in the transition world are well-known. There was widespread collapse in production resulting from transition-induced demand and supply shocks, including the loss of export markets with the collapse of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) trading arrangement; import competition arising from external liberalization; and the removal of enterprise subsidies. Output collapse was across-the-board, but it was particularly severe for industry. Since industry had made up the largest share of output in the pretransition years - the result of central planning - the fall in industrial output was the largest contributor to the overall output collapse. 7 Kaminski (2000). 13 The dissolution of the CMEA affected countries of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) much more than the Central and Easterm European countries, since the former were more dependent on CMEA trade. In 1990, over 90 percent of exports from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania went to CMEA markets. These shares were substantially lower in the Central and Eastern European countries, ranging from 20 to 30 percent for Romania and Slovenia; from 30 to 40 percent for the former Czechoslovakia and Hungary; and from 50 to 60 percent for Bulgaria and Poland. Moreover, the Central and Eastern European countries were already exporting to the EU countries prior to transition. In 1989, for instance, EU markets accounted for 40 percent of Polish exports, 34 percent of Hungarian exports and 22 percent of Bulgarian exports. The pretransition trade patterns help to explain the much more severe output contraction in the Baltic states than in the Central and Eastern European countries. Box 1: Output Measurement Issues The debate on the measurement of the true output loss due to transition and output recovery post- transition has not been settled. Some researchers (such as Fischer et al., 1996) suggest that conventional nmeasures of output may overestimate the extent of output loss since they do not take into account quality differences between output produced in the pretransition period and those produced after transition, nor the price distortions prior to transition. Another measurement problem arises from the existence of underground activities both pre-and post-transition. Johnson et al. (1997) provide estimates of the unofficial economy as a share of GDP for various transition countries from 1989 to 1995 (see Box Table 1). Output loss could also be overestimated because of the propensity to report overfulfillment of plan targets under the previous regime (De Broeck and Koen, 2000). In addition, there could also be mismeasurement of inflation, which biases output figures downwards, especially in the earlier stages of transition, since prior to transition there would have been repressed inflation. Given all these caveats, there is still not much alternative to using official statistics, which is what this paper uses. This could be justified on the basis that the paper focuses on cross-country comparisons, and although mismeasurement problems probably affect the countries in different ways, it may be safe to assume that on balance the bias affects all the countries in a similar direction. Box Table 1: Share of Unofficial Economy (percent of GDP) 1989 199O 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Bulgaria 22.8 25.1 23.9 25 29.9 29.1 36.2 Czech Republic 6 6.7 12.9 16.9 16.9 17.6 11.3 Estonia 12 19.9 26.2 25.4 24.1 25.1 11.8 Hungary 27 28 32.9 30.6 28.5 27.7 29 Latvia 12 12.8 19 34.3 31 34.2 35.3 Lithuania 12 11.3 21.8 39.2 31.7 28.7 21.6 Poland 15.7 19.6 23.5 19.7 18.5 15.2 12.6 Romania 22.3 13.7 15.7 18 16.4 17.4 19.1 Slovak Republic 6 7.7 15.1 17.6 16.2 14.6 5.8 Source: "Politics and Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies," Simon Johnson, Daniel Kaufmann and Andrei Shleifer, The William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, Working Paper Number 57, June 1997, Table 1 . (ii) The Transition Recovery The speed of output recovery depended in part on the extent of the initial output loss, which in turn depended in part on initial conditions. Poland suffered the least output loss and enjoyed the quickest output recovery. By 1994 it had recovered to its 1989 real output level. Slovenia was the second country among the ten to recover from the transition recession; by 1997 it had recovered to its 1989 real output 14 level. By 1999, two other CEECs - Hungary and the Slovak Republic - have also recovered back to their pretransition real output levels, while the Czech Republic reached around 95 percent. Growth recovery was the slowest in Bulgaria and Romania; in 1999 real GDP in Romania was three-fourths that of its 1989 level, while it was only around 70 percent for Bulgaria. Table 1: Real GDP Index 1989 1990 191 192 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1959 Central Europe Bulgaria 100.0 90.9 83.2 77.1 76.0 77.4 79.6 71.5 66.5 68.8 70.5 Czech Republic 100.0 98.8 87.3 86.9 87.0 88.9 94.1 98.7 97.7 95.5 95.3 Hungary 100.0 96.5 85.0 82.4 81.9 84.6 86.2 87.6 92.0 96.9 101.7 Poland 100.0 95.1 89.9 92.7 96.6 101.6 108.7 115.3 123.1 129.0 134.3 Romania 100.0 94.3 82.1 74.9 76.0 79.0 84.6 87.9 81.9 77.4 75.0 Slovak Republic 100.0 97.3 83.1 77.6 74.7 78.4 83.8 89.3 95.1 99.3 101.1 Slovenia 100.0 95.3 86.8 82.1 84.4 88.9 92.5 95.8 100.2 104.1 108.0 The Baltics Estonia 100.0 78.8 72.1 70.7 73.7 76.6 84.7 88.7 87.4 Latvia 100.0 65.0 55.3 55.7 55.2 57.1 62.0 64.2 64.4 Lithuania 100.0 78.7 66.0 59.5 61.5 64.3 69.0 72.6 69.6 Source: World Bank. Output recovery has been slower in the Baltic states, even after taking into account their later transition. Estonia is the best performer, but by 1999 its real output had recovered to only 87 percent of the 1991 level (at an equivalent point in time - that is, 1997 - all the Central European countries except for Bulgaria and Romania had surpassed the Estonian performance). The other two Baltic states fared considerably worse, with Lithuania reaching in 1999 only 70 percent of its 1991 real output level, and with Latvia reaching only 64 percent. In most of the CEECs, output recovery was sustained once the turnaround began. The exceptions were Bulgaria and Romania where GDP fell again in 1996-97 and 1997-99, respectively, and the Czech Republic in 1997-99. The general trend of output recovery has been accompanied by a dramatic change in the composition of output, with services taking over from industry as the dominant sector in the economy. This is a rational correction of the proindustry bias of the previous socialist regimes in these countries, which had resulted in overproduction of industrial goods and underproduction of services, a situation which reflected neither the countries' comparative advantages nor the preferences of consumers. With the exception of Bulgaria and Romania, the share of agriculture in total output declined in the CEECs. While the rapid growth in services generally contributed to growth recovery (particularly in the Baltics where they were the engine of growth), the recovery in industrial production also played a significant role in output recovery in many of the CEECs. This could be attributed in particular to new private sector (including foreign) activities as well as privatization and restructuring, all of which were spurred by the opening of external markets, greater competition and the prospects of integration with the European Union (see next section). As can be seen clearly in Chart 1, private sector development has been the key factor behind the growth recovery in the CEECs. 15 Table 2: Sectoral Shares of GDP (in percent) Industry Services Agriculture 1989 : ! 1998 I I19890 El 1998 tit1989e 198 Bulgaria 59.4 25.5 29.7 55.7 10.9 18.7 Czech Republic 57.7 39.2 33.8 56.6 8.5 4.2 Estonia 40.6 26.7 38.4 67.0 21.0 6.3 Hungary 43.7 28.2 40.7 66.3 15.6 5.5 Latvia 43.9 29.4 36.1 65.9 19.9 4.7 Lithuania 44.9 32.6 27.8 57.0 27.4 10.4 Poland' 52.4 32.8 34.7 62.4 12.9 4.9 Romania 56.4 40.1 27.9 43.4 15.7 16.4 Slovak Republic 58.5 31.6 32.2 64.0 9.4 4.4 Slovenia2 45.6 38.6 48.9 57.4 5.5 4.0 1. Data for 1997 (latest available data) shown in the column for 1998. 2. Data for 1991 (earliest available data) shown in the column for 1989. Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank. Chart 1: Private and Public Sector Contributions to Growth in the Ten CEECs 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% 1 1991 1 19£ 1 1994 19" ~~~199 1997 11 -5.0% -10.0%- _ -15.0% -20.0% -25.0% EMPrivate Sector Contnbution =Public Sector Contribution -A- Real GDP Growth Notes: Slovenia is not included in the average for 1991. Contribution to growth (growth x share) measures what the overall growth would have been if growth of the other sector was zero. Source: EBRD, Transition Report, various issues; World Development Indicators, World Bank. Much of the growth of the private sector in the CEECs has been due to de novo private sector activities' (Table 3). In 1995, de novo private sector activities made up the overwhelming bulk of private sector production in most of the CEECs and in fact made up all of the private sector production in Slovenia. The Czech and Slovak Republics were notable exceptions in that de novo private activities made up less than half of private sector activities in the economy at that time. 8This is corroborated by the following studies, cited in Havrylyshyn and McGettigan (1999). Bilsen and Konings (1997), in a study of newly privatized firms in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, find that de novo firms are far more dynamic in terms of job creation than state-owned enterprises or privatized firms. Belka et al. (1995) find that de novo firms in Poland outperform privatized enterprises across a variety of indicators. In another study covering Polish enterprises, Johnson and Loveman (1995) provide evidence that de novo firms have been the main source of growth and have considerably outperformed both state-owned enterprises and privatized firms. 16 Table 3: Private Sector Share of GDP (in percent) 1995 1999 De novol Total Total Bulgaria 40 45 60 Czech Republic 30 70 80 Estonia 50 65 75 Hungary 45 60 80 Latvia 50 55 65 Lithuania 40 65 70 Poland 50 60 65 Romania 35 40 60 Slovak Republic 25 60 75 Slovenia 45 45 55 Note: Estimates should be considered as tentative. 1. Estimates by Johnson et al. (1997), cited in Havrylyshyn and McGettigan (1999). Source: Total private sector share of GDP from EBRD, Transition Report, various issues. Most of the de novo firms tend to be primarily small-scale operations, although they include privatized retail firms or spinoffs of larger privatized enterprises. Employment data for the Czech and the Slovak Republics reflect the growing importance of small-scale firms in the economy. Between 1993 and 1997, the share of total employment in small-scale firms (with less than 100 employees) in the Czech Republic rose from 14 to 32 percent. In the Slovak Republic, the average number of employees in Slovak firms fell sharply between 1990 and 1996, with the fall being particularly sharp for firms with greater than 25 employees.9 Most of the new firms in the CEECs were initially found in the services and trade sectors, although over time they expanded into other sectors. In 1995, around 25 percent of new private firms in the Czech and Slovak Republics and Poland operated either in manufacturing or construction, representing a shift away from the initial concentration in consumer services. ° This shift in production towards manufactured goods is mirrored by a shift in exports towards manufactured items, with the EU being the largest market. As will be discussed in Section IM, the EU integration factor has played a significant role in this development. Labor productivity. The growth recovery has largely been due to increases in labor productivity (Table 4), while unemployment, which rose significantly at the beginning of transition, has not declined much (Table 5). Among the Central European countries, Hungary performed the best in experiencing the smallest decrease as well as the largest recovery in labor productivity. Estonia is the top performer among the Baltics in terms of experiencing the largest improvement in labor productivity. Section IIB will discuss the important role that EU accession has played in raising labor productivity in the CEECs. 9 World Bank data, quoted in Havrylyshyn and McGettigan (1999). 0 EBRD, Transition Report (1997). 17 Table 4: Index for Labor Productivity in Industry 1989 1990 191 192 193 19 95 19 97 19 Bulgaria 100.0 91.4 86.6 83.9 81.5 91.8 98.5 101.8 98.0 n.a. Czech Republic 100.0 99.6 78.7 76.6 75.2 78.9 87.6 96.0 106.7 112.7 Hungary 100.0 100.4 82.4 91.2 107.9 115.8 128.4 140.0 160.0 181.3 Poland 100.0 78.9 69.5 81.3 92.1 105.0 112.3 123.5 138.5 147.2 Romania 100.0 75.9 59.4 53.1 58.7 64.7 77.6 87.0 87.9 101.9 Slovak Republic 100.0 99.0 81.0 78.9 81.8 89.4 94.1 96.5 100.4 112.0 Estonia 100.0 101.1 107.9 108.3 112.3 141.9 145.1 Latvia 100.0 77.4 84.8 83.9 91.1 116.6 118.9 Lithuania 100.0 77.6 68.2 76.4 82.9 89.2 99.0 Slovenia 100.0 111.8 121.2 129.3 135.1 142.4 n.a. Not applicable Note: The indices have different base years because of differences in data availability for the different countries. Source: World Bank calculations based on data from EBRD Transition Report, various issues. Table 5: Registered Unemploymentl (in percent) 19W9 190 0019911 19 'W1993 1 1995 -1996 ,7 Bulgaria .. .. .. 13.2 15.8 14.0 11.4 11.1 14.0 Czech Republic .. 0.3 2.6 3.1 3.0 3.3 3.0 3.1 4.3 Estonia .. .. .... 3.9 4.4 4.1 4.4 4.0 Hungary 0.4 0.8 8.5 12.3 12.1 10.4 10.4 10.5 10.4 Latvia .. .. .. 0.9 4.5 6.3 6.4 7.0 7.4 Lithuania .. .. 0.3 1.3 4.4 3.8 6.1 7.1 5.9 Poland .. 3.4 9.2 12.9 14.9 16.5 15.2 14.3 11.5 Romania .. .. 3.0 8.2 10.4 10.9 9.5 6.6 8.8 SlovakRepublic .. 0.6 6.6 11.4 12.7 14.4 13.8 12.6 12.9 Slovenia 2.9 4.7 8.2 11.5 14.4 14.4 13.9 13.9 14.4 .. Negligible Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank. (iii) Emergence of Groups at Risk and Rise in Income Inequality The progress made by the CEECs in establishing market economies over the last decade has been accompanied by a deterioration in living standards for some groups and a rise in income inequality. The deterioration in living standards for some groups - or the rise in poverty - has been larger and more persistent than many would have expected at the start of the process. Poland is a case in point: while poverty has come down from the peak in 1994 as the economy rebounded, poverty rates are still higher in " Registered unemployment figures based on registries of unemployed are usually different from unemployment figures based on labor force surveys, which rely on International Labor Organization criteria to define unemployment. The differences could be substantial - see World Bank (1998b), pp. 6-7. 18 1998 than in 1991.12 Table 6 provides a picture of the relative poverty situation across the CEECs using absolute poverty lines of $2.15/day and $4.30/day.13 Table 6: Absolute Poverty Rates (in percent) Headcount Index Headcount Index $2.15/day $430/day Bulgaria (1995) 3.1 18.2 Czech Republic (1996) 0.0 0.8 Estonia (1998) 2.1 19.3 Hungary (1997) 1.3 15.4 Latvia (1998) 6.6 34.8 Lithuania (1999) 3.1 22.5 Poland (1998) 1.2 18.4 Romania (1998) 6.8 44.5 Slovak Republic (1997) 2.6 8.6 Slovenia (1997/98) 0.0 0.7 Note: Survey year in parentheses. Source: World Bank (2000e). The increase in inequality has varied widely across the CEECs. Increases were modest in Hungary and Poland, and income distribution remains fairly egalitarian in these countries, where the income ginis14 are similar to those in Spain, France or Germany. There was a larger increase in income inequality in the Czech Republic since the beginning of transition, although by 1996-98, income ginis in the Czech and Slovak Republics remain low and are roughly of the same magnitude as those in Sweden and Norway. On the other hand, Estonia and Bulgaria experienced large increases in inequality. Table 7: Changes in Inequality During the Transition (gini coefficient for income per capita) 1987-90 1993-94 1996-98 Bulgaria 0.23 0.38 0.41 Czech Republic 0.19 0.23 0.25 Estonia 0.24 0.35 0.37 Hungary 0.21 0.23 0.25 Latvia 0.24 0.31 0.32 Lithuania 0.23 0.37 0.34 Poland 0.28 0.28 0.33 Romania 0.23 0.29 0.30 Slovenia 0.22 0.25 0.30 Source: World Bank (2000e). 12 World Bank (2000e). 13 It is important to note that absolute poverty lines are used here only for cross-country comparison purposes. The headcount index according to these standard poverty lines does not necessarily provide an accurate indication of the extent of poverty in any one country. To obtain a better indication of poverty in a particular country, it is necessary to use the country's own poverty line. 14 The income ginis measure income inequality in a country. A gini coefficient = 0 reflects perfect equality and a gini coefficient = 1 reflects perfect inequality. 19 While the absolute poverty and inequality situations vary quite widely across the CEECs, there are some similarities in their poverty profiles.'5 Specifically, two groups of population are at a high risk of poverty in all the CEECs: (i) members of households whose heads have lost contact with the labor market, in particular the unemployed who represent 11 to 30 percent of the poor in these countries; and (ii) households with three or more children which represent 15 to 39 percent of the poor (although in both cases they represent a small share of total households). Generally, being a child seems to be a significant risk factor for being poor; children account for some 18 to 49 percent of the poor. In addition, single parents with children and households headed by elderly women, as well as those living in rural areas, are also at risk in some of the CEECs. In Bulgaria, the retired represent a large share of the poor. In some of the CEECs, there is also a strong ethnic dimension to poverty. In Bulgaria, a 1997 household survey found that over 84 percent of the Roma were living below the poverty line, in comparison with the national poverty rate of 36 percent; only 0.2 percent of the Roma households had never been poor. In Hungary, one-third of the long-term poor (households which were poor four or more times during 1992-97) were Roma, although they comprise only about 5 percent of the population. B. Role of EU Accession in Economic Performance The process of EU accession that began first by the granting of the General System of Preferences (GSP),16 followed by the signing of the EAs, contributed to output recovery in the CEECs through (i) the opening of export markets; (ii) foreign direct investment; and (iii) liberalization of the trade regime.17 (i) Opening Export Markets The provision of preferential market access to the EU under the GSP and later the EAs helped cushion and reverse the output collapse in many of the CEECs by providing an outlet for their exports after the collapse of the CMEA. In fact, exports constituted the main engine of growth for many Central European countries (Chart 2), with the EU (and in particular Germany) quickly becoming their major trading partner (Table 8). The redirection of exports towards the European Union was accompanied by a significant shift in the composition of exports away from traditional (essentially unprocessed) inputs (agricultural raw materials, ores, minerals, nonferrous metals) towards manufactured components (Table 9). This follows from the preferential access to the EU given to industrial products over agricultural products at the outset of transition. Over the period 1993 to 1998, total exports of the CEECs grew from US$49 billion to US$94 billion, with the share of manufactured exports rising from 70 to 75 percent. Manufactured exports have in particular been the driving force of CEEC exports to the EU. While redirection of exports from the CMEA to EU markets was initially responsible for this change in export composition, industrial restructuring and de novo private activities, both involving foreign investment, contributed to sustain this export performance in the highly demanding and competitive EU markets. 15 The poverty profiles result from setting the poverty line in each country equal to 50 percent of median equivalent consumption, except for the Czech Republic, where the relative poverty line was set at two-thirds median equivalent consumption, since only 2.8 percent of the population in the Czech Republic fell under the 50 percent line. See World Bank (2000e). 16 GSP was granted first to Hungary and Poland (effective January 1, 1990), then to Bulgaria and the former Czechoslovakia (1991), and to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (1992). Romania had GSP status since 1973. 17 Over the last 25 years, almost every empirical study that has examined the issue found that outward-oriented countries have superior growth performance. 20 The shift in the sectoral composition of exports towards manufactures, with the EU becoming the main export destination, are accompanied by several notable developments which illustrate the depth of the changes and the emerging patterns of specialization.'8 First, the CEECs have become the second largest importer of EU products after the U.S. Second, the composition of CEEC trade with the EU in terms of end-use categories has been converging towards that of the EU, which reflects the process of catching up with the EU. Third, there is a growing similarity between the composition of exports and the composition of imports of the CEECs, which reflects increasing intraindustry trade, and is the outcome of industrial restructuring. Fourth, there has been a shift in exports away from unskilled, labor-intensive industrial goods and natural resource-intensive products toward high-skilled, labor-intensive and technology-based products. The shares of the latter are particularly high in the exports of Hungary (67 percent of total exports), the Czech Republic (62 percent), the Slovak Republic (62 percent) and Slovenia (57 percent). At the same time, CEEC imports from the EU have also followed the same trend, with the most dynamic imports being products with high-technology and human-capital content. These imports embody knowledge and have a similar effect as technology transfers, and reflect the very significant progress in integration into EU markets at increasingly more sophisticated levels. Fifth, as in the case of highly developed countries, the CEECs have been experiencing a faster growth of trade in manufactured parts and components than in manufactures. Between 1993 and 1998, the total value of exports of parts and components from the CEECs to the EU grew around fivefold, while that of manufactures grew around threefold. Chart 2: Contribution to Growth, % (average for 1992-1997 for the CEECs excluding the Baltics)l 14 1 2 10 8 6 2 0 -2 -6 -8 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 | |Private Consumption GDI General Govt. Consumpi4n | r_Exports If imports Qnverted sign) -_- GDP l Note: Contribution to growth (growth x share) measures what overall growth would have been if growth of the other sectors was zero. 1. The Baltics were excluded because of insufficient data. Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank. 18 See Kaminski (2000) for a detailed discussion. 21 Table 8: Shares of Total Exports of CEECs to the EU (in percent) Hungary 33.5 57.9 72.9 Poland 39.6 69.2 68.3 Slovenia n.a. 61.6 65.5 Romania 31.1 41.4 64.6 Czech Republic n.a. 55.5 64.2 Latvia n.a. 32.1 56.6 Slovak Republic n.a. 29.6 55.7 Estonia n.a. 48.3 55.1 Bulgaria 21.5 48.0 51.5 Lithuania n.a. 17.0 38.0 n.a. Not applicable Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank. Table 9: Shares of Total Exports of CEECs (in percent) 1989 199 19971 4199 Food, Feeds and Beverages 18.6 8.5 5.2 4.4 Industrial Supplies and Materials 28.3 18.3 13.0 11.2 Capital Goods (excluding Motor Vehicles) 8.3 13.5 22.3 25.7 Consumer Goods (excluding Motor Vehicles) 42.6 54.6 50.8 47.4 Automotive: vehicles and parts 1.8 5.1 8.7 11.2 Sources: Kaminski (2000); author's calculations based on data reported by the EU to UN COMTRADE. (ii) Attracting Foreign Direct Investment Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been the key factor responsible for the emerging trade trends described above. First, FDI has been mainly responsible for the shift of CEEC trade with the EU from unskilled labor-intensive and natural resource-intensive products to skilled labor-intensive and technology-based products. Available evidence for Hungary and Poland suggests that FDI tends to target skilled labor and technology-intensive lines of production in the CEECs.19 FDI in the car industry - which mostly produces skilled labor-intensive and technology-based products - in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic has contributed to significant shifts in their export baskets in terms of factor intensities. Second, the increase in the trade of manufactured components suggests that CEECs are becoming part of a rapidly emerging global division of labor based on production fragmentation, as multinational corporations (MNCs) set up supply chains which cut across national boundaries in these countries. This has resulted in increased intraproduct trade, which appears to account for more than one-third of CEEC trade with the EU. Estonian and Hungarian producers in particular seem to have already become complements to EU-based production and marketing networks. In addition to the technological upgrading of exports, FDI has also contributed to export growth itself, and hence overall economic growth. The important role of FDI in CEEC exports can be seen from evidence suggesting that foreign firms are more trade oriented than domestic firms. Foreign firms have already emerged as the largest exporters in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Poland. In 1998, foreign firms accounted for around 80 percent of Hungarian EU-oriented exports of manufactures and 40 percent of Polish exports. 19 See Kaminiski and Riboud (2000) and Kaminski and Smarzynska (2000). 22 FDI has also contributed to overall economic growth through promoting industrial restructuring. Many empirical studies have found that FDI brings about the largest degree of enterprise restructuring,20 and in turn contributes to higher productivity growth (see next section). This could be done through the introduction of better technologies and know-how, as well as improvements in corporate governance. In addition, FDI can also provide much of the growth of the de novo sector. Through these various channels, foreign investment has made a large contribution to growth. It is also interesting to note that, among the CEECs, the two countries - Hungary and Estonia - which have received among the highest FDI inflows (Table 10) have also experienced among the highest productivity growth (Table 4). The case of Hungary reflects clearly how FDI can contribute to growth. Hungary, which is one of the more advanced candidate countries, has been the foremost recipient of FDI among the CEECs both in per capita terms and as a share of GDP. It is estimated that foreign firms now account for almost two- thirds of total investment, one-third of GDP and 40 percent of employment in Hungary.2' EU integration has played an important role in attracting FDI to the CEECs. This is because in addition to preferential access to EU markets, the EAs also guarantee the right of establishment to EU firms, commit the CEECs to liberalize access to services, and provide for the alignment of the economic regimes of the CEECs and the EU and, hence, an orderly transition of the former to market-based economies. As such, the EAs increase the flow of direct and portfolio investment into the CEECs by reducing the risk that foreign investors face and by improving the business climate. In addition, the EAs allow the CEECs to use a duty drawback (that is, refund to exporters to the EU for duties paid on imported inputs), which has provided the CEECs an additional tool to attract foreign investors. Investors from outside the EU would find location in the CEECs useful for overcoming trade barriers in the EU, whereas EU-based firms might consider moving production from the EU into the CEECs without fear of deterioration in the conditions of access to their home markets. Participation in the EU integration framework alone, however, is not sufficient to attract FDI into the CEECs. This can be seen in the differential performance of the CEECs in attracting FDI. The case of Hungary illustrates some of the factors that are important for attracting FDI.22 First, Hungary chose direct sales as its main privatization approach, with an emphasis on selling firms, including those in the strategic sectors to foreign investors. Privatization-related FDI flows to Hungary have accounted for around 40 percent of total flows. Second, Hungary has made significant progress in macroeconomic stabilization, structural reforms and institutional development, which together contribute to a business-friendly environment. Third, Hungary has experience with foreign investment even prior to transition. And fourth, Hungary has an impeccable record of servicing sovereign debt.23 This strongly illustrates the point, mentioned earlier, that the process of EU accession by itself does not necessarily generate the benefits of higher trade flows, investments and growth. These benefits could only be attained if the accession process is supported by appropriate domestic reforms. 20 Although, Djankov and Pohl (1997) found that there could be successful enterprise restructuring in the absence of foreign strategic investors in the case of 21 large Slovak firms. 21 Kaminski and Riboud (2000) and EBRD, Transition Report (1999). 22 Kaminski and Riboud (2000). 23 Empirical work by Claessens et al. (1998) also shows that creditworthiness is an important factor in attracting FDI. 23 Table 10: Cumulative Foreign Direct Investment in the CEECs (1991-99) Shareo199qPIn.ralta Bulgaria 18.5 6 273 9 Czech Republic 29.4 4 1508 2 Estonia 33.2 3 1170 3 Hungary 37.5 1 1764 1 Latvia 35.2 2 874 4 Lithuania 19.6 5 569 6 Poland 12.8 8 511 7 Romania 15.9 7 241 10 Slovak Republic 10.2 9 356 8 Slovenia 6.3 10 623 5 Source: World Bank. (iii) Spurring Trade Liberalization The accession process has helped spur the liberalization of the trade regime in the CEECs. The EAs and the subsequent amendments have obliged the CEECs to remove tariffs on industrial products over a period of ten years - by January 1, 2002, the CEECs would need to have lifted all barriers to industrial imports from the EU. In fact, in 1999, around 80 percent of industrial imports into the CEECs from the EU were already not subject to tariffs. Another area where EU-led integration has affected trade policies of the CEECs was their involvement in bilateral free-trade agreements (FTAs). The CEECs have entered into two kinds of FTAs: those signed among the CEECs themselves and with the European Free Trade Association, and the various agreements between the CEECs and other "nonaccession" partners. The result of these FTAs is that the CEECs have very low tariffs on industrial imports from preferential partners. In 1999, around 85 percent of all industrial imports from these partners were duty-free. That the EU accession process has contributed significantly to more liberalized trade regimes in the CEECs can also be seen in the CEECs' Most Favored Nation (MFN)24 tariff policy. It appears that average tariffs on industrial products would have been much higher in the absence of integrationist arrangements. Although the CEECs have removed most tariffs and nontariff barriers to imports from the EU, their MFN rates on industrial products remain significantly higher than in the EU, with the exception of Estonia, which has a free-trade regime, and Latvia, which has reduced all tariffs to or below EU levels in 2000.25 Therefore, except for Estonia, protectionist sentiments in the CEECs seem to have remained strong with respect to nonpreferential partners. However, it should be noted that distortions arising from higher MFN rates are not very strong since MFN suppliers account for only 10-15 percent of CEEC industrial imports (down from 100 percent in 1991), while the bulk of CEEC industrial imports are from EU producers who are efficient and provide strong competition. 24 MFN tariff rates are those applied on industrial imports from nonpreferential WTO members. 25 Another exception is the Czech and Slovak customs union, which has rates close to EU levels, although this is a legacy of the low MFN rates from tariff concessions made earlier by the Czechoslovak communist regime in GA1T multilateral trade negotiations. 24 (iv) Conclusions The EU accession process has brought major benefits to the CEECs. It opened export markets to the CEECs, which softened the transition recession. Exports have also turned out to be the engine of growth recovery in these countries. Further, the EU accession process has shifted the CEECs to increasingly advanced stages of production on both the export and import side by attracting FDI to these countries. This has contributed substantially to the skills and technological upgrading of production processes in the CEECs. Finally, the EU accession process has spurred trade liberalization in these countries, as a result of which they can enjoy the benefits of higher growth brought by the opening of their economies. All these factors have contributed substantially to raising labor productivity in the CEECs, which has been the key element behind the transition recovery in these countries. The increasing integration of CEEC trade with the EU has produced a high degree of mutual interdependence between the EU and CEECs. This also helps to weaken protectionist interests as gains accrue to both exporters and importers. The rising intraindustry trade as well as intraproduct trade also have a similar impact. With exporters and importers increasingly operating in the same industries as firms operating in global cycles of production of multinational corporations, they support trade liberalization, as any disruption in this trade would produce losses for both groups. They therefore constitute a potentially strong antiprotectionist lobby in both the EU and the CEECs, and help to sustain trade reforms in these countries. C. Other Key Factors Explainin2 Economic Performance The previous section discusses how the EU accession factor has contributed to output recovery in the CEECs. However, the EU accession factor by itself is not sufficient to explain the CEEC economic performances, given how different they have turned out to be. Other factors that are equally important are initial conditions, political factors, macroeconomic stabilization, structural reforms, and progress in institutional development. These factors - discussed below - in turn affect how much the CEECs could gain from the EU accession process, particularly in regards to attracting foreign direct investment. (i) Initial Conditions Both Hungary and Poland had some degree of economic and political liberalization prior to transition. Before 1989, these two countries, together with Yugoslavia, had already departed from the Soviet model of central planning to varying degrees. There was decentralization of power away from the state, permission of self-managed firms, and closer interactions between enterprises and consumers, including foreign ones. The prior exposure to market activities before transition provided important advantages to Poland, Hungary and Slovenia, which are among the more advanced candidate countries. By contrast, the leaders of Bulgaria and Romania allowed very little political and economic liberalization, and maintained tighter control of the economy and the bureaucracy during the socialist period. Czechoslovakia was an intermediate case, where strong opposition to the socialist regime had led to the Prague Spring of 1968, followed by purges of dissident elites. Finally, the Baltics introduced market reforms only after regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Although initial conditions play a role in determining the degree and speed of reform policies at the beginning of transition, some empirical studies found that once reforms were implemented, negative initial conditions did not impede the effectiveness of reforms.26 In fact, the empirical studies generally found that both macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms outweigh the negative effects of 26 De Melo et al. (1997); Berg et al. (1999). 25 initial conditions in spurring growth recovery. One study found that negative initial conditions could be offset by even a modest acceleration in reform efforts.27 Estonia provides a good example, showing that, despite negative initial conditions (high trade dependency on the CMEA and overindustrialization), once it started reforming it quickly caught up with some of the more advanced candidate countries. (ii) Political Regime Changes The initial political conditions discussed above had an impact on political elite regime changes (or the absence thereof) at the onset of transition, which in turn had an important impact on the speed and extent of reforms pursued. The extent of elite renewal was greatest in Poland and the Czech Republic, where new leaders emerged from years of opposition to the communist regime, and undertook radical reforms. As a result, even the Czech Republic - with its much more centralized economy prior to transition - quickly caught up and became one of the more advanced candidate countries. In Hungary, there was not as much renewal of bureaucratic elites, nor was there a need for it, because the bureaucracy was already reformed to a large extent. This is because the liberal policies in the 1970s had led to the emergence of a new class of technocratic elites and reformist factions within the Communist Party. By contrast, in the Slovak Republic28 and Romania, the change among the elites, except for the top political leaders, has been more limited. As a result, reforms were slow in the case of Romania. The differing performances of the three Baltic states reflect the importance of political regime change in spurring economic reforms. While all three Baltic states share the legacy of being part of the former Soviet Union (FSU), upon the dissolution of the FSU their paths diverged. Estonia pulled ahead of the other two states in terms of reformns and performance, and was included among the first group of invitees for membership negotiations. The divergent performances could in part be traced back to the elite regime changes in these states upon transition. Estonia experienced the highest renewal of political elites; the percentage of young elites in the core institutions of the parliament, the bureaucracy and the judicial system is higher in Estonia than in the other two Baltic states (Chart 3). 27 Havrylyshyn et al. (1998). 28 It is interesting to note that in the Slovak Republic elite renewal was much more limited and the connection with the previous regime was much stronger than in the Czech Republic. This was due to the fact that after the Prague Spring, the Czech elites suffered from purges to a greater extent than the Slovak elites. In the Czech Republic, therefore, the resentment of the previous regime was greater and dissident elites that formerly opposed the regime came to power after 1992. 26 Chart 3: Age Distribition of Mites in the Baltic Countries: Parlianmnt, Bureaucracy, andJudicial System 70 10 60 i :;XXn Estonia [civia Lithxra Estonia Ldvia Lithucn'ia Estonia Ldv,ia Litfrulaa Parliament Bureaucracy Judicial System * @22-34 *35-44 ~45-54 *55-64 *65+ Source: Steen (1997). (iii) Macroeconomic Stabilization and Structural Reforms The importance of macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms for growth recovery in transition economies is supported by various empirical work (for example, Fischer et al., 1996 and 1998 and de Melo et al., 1996 and 1997). Chart 4 shows clearly the negative relationship between inflation and growth in the CEECs, and the fact that once hyperinflation was brought under control in 1994, average growth in the region became positive. Chart 5 shows that greater structural reform effort is associated with stronger growth performance.9 It also shows that for the ten CEECs, a rninimum critical mass of structural reforms was necessary for the accrual of growth benefits. More recent empirical work (Berg et al., 1999; Havrylyshyn and van Rooden, 2000) showed that structural reforms outweigh macroeconomnic stabilization in contributing to the recovery of growth. The fact that stabilization by itself does not necessarily contribute to growth recovery has been underlined by some researchers (Johnson et al., 1997) who point to the Russian experience. Regardless of whether structural reforms have a stronger effect in promoting growth, it is clear that in the CEECs, growth recovery only began when the macroeconomic situation stabilized. Moreover, de Melo et al. (1996) found that restrictive monetary policies which had allowed stabilization in the advanced reformers also facilitated currency convertibility and structural reforms. On the other hand, the experiences of Bulgaria and Romania also show that macroeconomnic stabilization can only be sustained if there is adequate 29 Reform efforts are the sum of reform indices for the years 1990 to 1999. For the years 1990-93, we use the World Bank's aggregate Liberalization Index (LI) (de Melo et al., 1996) to measure the extent of structural reforms. The LI has three subcomponents: external regime liberalization; price liberalization and privatization, and banking reform. For the years 1995-99, we use the EBRD aggregate Transition Index, which consists of eight subindices: large-scale privatization, small-scale privatization, enterprise restructuring, price liberalization, trade and foreign exchange system, competition policy, banking reform and interest rate liberalization, and securities markets and nonbank financial institutions. The EBRD also has an index for legal extensiveness and effectiveness for the years 1997-99, which is excluded from the derivation of the aggregate index. The World Bank and EBRD indices are linked using a simple regression. 27 progress in structural reforms. The weak progress in imposing hard budget constraints on enterprises in Bulgaria (until recently) and Romania has undermined their ability to achieve macroeconomic stability. Chart 4: Inflation and Growth in the (in percent) 6.0 400.0 4.0 350.0 2.0 c 300.0 C4 0.0 1 250.0 C9 2.0 200.0 dJ-4.0 I- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~150.0 (1- -6.0 - 100.0 -8.0 -10.0 5. -12.0 0.0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 | ~ Average GDP Growth - Average CPI Inflation Source: World Bank. a. Macroeconomic Stabilization Inflation has followed an inverted U shape in all the CEECs (Chart 6). Once transition started in 1989-91, inflation quickly rose to hyperinflation rates. Central Europe peaked first, followed by Bulgaria and Romania, with inflation peaking last in the three Baltic states, since the latter undertook price liberalization only after independence was regained from the Soviet Union in 1991. Stabilization generally took two to three years in the CEECs. In Central Europe and the Baltics, stabilization was followed by a process of gradual reduction of inflation to single-digit levels. In Bulgaria and Romania, however, inflation remained in the high double digits and even in the low triple digits until it escalated in 1997 (particularly in Bulgaria where it reached over 1000 percent). Stabilization was brought about by fiscal consolidation and in many cases by fixing exchange rates. All the CEECs have made progress in reducing fiscal deficits since 1992, although further progress was still required in some of them in 1999 (Table 11). In Romania and Bulgaria, insufficient fiscal adjustment contributed to the inflationary spike in 1997, but progress has been stronger since then in Bulgaria. In the Baltics, in particular Lithuania, there was some slippage in fiscal adjustment in 1998-99, which reflected in part the impact of the Russian financial crisis on economic activities in these countries. 28 Chart 5: Cumulative Reform and Real GDP Growth' 40- *Poland g 30 'U 20 p 10 a X es , , , Slovak Re 0Hungary 0 es -lo - / * Czech Rep. -10 2. -20- omaniania ' 30 +g * ~~~~~~~~~~Estonia -30iu -40 - Latvia -50- 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 Cumulative Reform Effort, 1990-99 Source: Reform indices from de Melo et al. (1996) and EBRD, Transition Report, various issues. GDP growth from the World Bank. Chart 6: Inflation in the CEECs 10000.0 __ _ 1000.0 I- 10.0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 |J CPI Central Europe lCPI Bulgaria and Romania CPI Baltic states Source: World Bank. 30 The graph illustrates the positive relationship between reform effort and growth, and is not meant to illustrate the comparative reform efforts between the CEECs. Since the Baltics began transition two years after the rest of the CEECs, it is not surprising to find that they lag behind in terms of cumulative reform effort. If we compare cumulative reform efforts from the date of transition rather than the chronological date, the cumulative reform effort of Estonia for the seven years since transition (1992-99) exceeds that of all the Central European countries for their respective seven years since transition (1990-97). 29 Table 11: General Government's Fiscal Balance (percent of GDP) : ~~~90 1991 1TX0 IU:f99t2 01993U 1994A'.ttt>E^L 1995............ '-996St }1997 01998 <(199 Bulgaria -4.5 -4.9 -12.1 -4.6 -5.2 -15.4 2.1 0.9 -0.9 Czech Republic 2.6 0.8 0.3 -0.3 -1.2 -1.5 -0.6 Estonia 5.0 -0.2 -0.7 1.4 -1.3 -1.9 2.2 -0.3 -4.5 Hungary 1.0 -3.8 -7.8 -9.2 -8.6 -6.2 -3.1 -4.8 -4.8 -3.7 Latvia -0.8 0.6 -4.0 -3.5 -1.8 0.3 -0.8 -3.5 Lithuania -45.7 -5.0 -6.5 -4.5 -4.5 -1.8 -5.8 -8.6 Poland -3.6 -6.1 -3.1 -3.3 -3.3 -3.4 -2.7 -2.4 -2.1 Romania 1.0 3.3 -4.6 -0.4 -1.9 -2.6 -3.9 -4.5 -5.0 -3.4 Slovak Republic -11.9 -7.0 -1.3 0.4 -1.4 -5.2 -5.6 -4.0 Slovenia 0.3 0.3 -0.2 0.1 0.2 -1.2 -0.7 -0.7 Note: 1999e refers to estimated figures. Sources: World Bank, IMF. Exchange rate policy has played an important role in the EU accession countries in their stabilization and transition efforts. In the early stages of transition up to 1995, after large devaluations of their currencies, most candidate countries adopted fixed exchange rate regimes (except Bulgaria and Romania).3 Over time, however, the CEECs have tended to move toward more extreme exchange rate regimes. They have adopted either very flexible regimes or fixed pegs/currency boards depending on the objectives of the monetary authorities in each country with regard to the trade-off between flexibility versus credibility. Indeed, the countries that have suffered the most from hyperinflation, that is, the three Baltic states and Bulgaria, have all adopted currency boards (or strong fixed pegs) in an effort to re-establish credibility. The Baltics adopted such exchange rate regimes early in the 1990s, once they abandoned the ruble zone; Bulgaria adopted a currency board as part of the stabilization program to deal with the second bout of hyperinflation during 1996-97. The fixed exchange rate regimes have played an important role in the stabilization achieved in all of these countries. b. Structural Reforms Price and External Regime Liberalization. Prices and external regime were the first areas to be liberalized in the CEECs.32 In both these areas, Slovenia and Hungary started with the most liberal regimes in 1989. They were quickly caught up and even surpassed by Poland in 1990, when the latter undertook the "big bang." By 1991, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia had caught up with the front-runners, while the Baltics did not catch up until 1993, as they had a later start. Romania stands out among the ten countries as being the most gradual liberalizer, while Bulgaria was the only one that reversed its reform efforts in these areas (in 1995) although reforms were resumed after 1997. By 1999, according to the EBRD transition indices, Hungary and Poland had the most liberalized price regimes among the ten,33 although they still did not have completely liberalized prices. Price controls remain on many important items in the consumer basket in the CEECs, including rents, utilities, 31 See Fischer et al. (1998). 32 According to the World Bank Liberalization Index, de Melo et al. (1996). 33 Hungary and Poland had a 3+ rating in 1999, compared with the maximum possible rating of 4+, and a 3 rating for the rest of the CEECs. 30 transport and basic foods. For trade and foreign exchange,34 by 1999 virtually all ten CEECs had 35 completely liberalized their regimes in these areas. Enterprise Privatization, Hard Budget Constraints and Competition. Enterprise restructuring is a precondition for EU accession, as firms will have to be able to compete in the single market without subsidies or excessive risk of bankruptcy or loss of employment.36 The three factors that are important for promoting enterprise restructuring, productivity increases and growth are privatization, hard budget constraints and competition. Enterprise Privatization. Strong positive associations have been found in many empirical studies between enterprise privatization and restructuring, and between privatization and higher productivity growth.37 Privatization could also be important for the development of de novo activities which, as mentioned earlier, have been the main determinant of private sector growth - and hence growth - in the CEECs. This is because privatization allows the release of valuable assets (structures, equipment and human capital) to support the growth of the new private sector. The failure in Poland to prvatize and restructure large state enterprises had been attributed as a reason for the slow growth of private firms.38 Most of the CEECs were fast in privatizing small firms, which were predominantly in the trade and service sector. Delegation of the administrative process to the local levels also enabled rapid privatization of small firms. In Slovenia, small firms were already privatized before transition started. On the other hand, Bulgaria, Romania and Latvia were the slowest movers. By 1999, according to the EBRD transition index, small-scale privatization was completed in all ten CEECs except for Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania (Table 12). Since then, Latvia has completed small-scale privatization and Bulgaria, with its recently accelerated reform efforts, has privatized 90 percent of its small-scale enterprises. Privatization of medium and large enterprises requires much more effort in design and implementation, given the need to avoid the "agency" problem (agency problems arise when there is separation of ownership and control). This was a new challenge for the CEECs, since little or no private ownership structures existed under the old regimes. By 1999, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and the Slovak Republic were considerably ahead of the rest of the CEECs in large-scale privatization, according to the EBRD transition index, although in none of the countries has large-scale privatization been completed. The CEECs have adopted a combination of different approaches to medium and large-scale privatization (Table 13). These approaches include (i) manager or employee buyouts; (ii) mass privatization by population-wide distribution of vouchers; and (iii) case-by-case direct sales to domestic and foreign investors, and equity offerings. Restitution has not been a prominent approach to privatization except for Estonia, and to a lesser extent the Czech Republic. The approaches chosen depended on the objective of the govemments. 34 This measures the extent of openness of the trade regime as well as currency convertibility. 3 All the CEECs had the highest rating of 4+ for this item, according to the EBRD transition index, except for Estonia, Lithuania and Romania, which had a 4 rating. 36 Pohl et al. (1997). 37 See Djankov and Murrell (2000), which reviews many of the empirical studies, including Pohl et al. (1997), which found that privatization increased total factor productivity by about 4 to 5 percent a year over a period of at least four years (1992-95) for seven CEECs (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia). The productivity growth of these privatized firms was five times higher than still state-owned enterprises. Similar results were reported by Claessens and Djankov (1998). 38 Johnson and Loveman (1995). 31 Table 12: Enterprise Privatization and Restructuring and Competition Policy, 1999 Large-scle Small-scale Governance and Competition Privatization Privatization Enterprise Policy Restructuring Bulgaria 3 3+ 2+ 2 Czech Republic 4 4+ 3 3 Estonia 4 4+ 3 3- Hungary 4 4+ 3+ 3 Latvia 3 4 3- 3- Lithuania 3 4+ 3- 2+ Poland 3+ 4+ 3 3 Romania 3- 4- 2 2 Slovak Republic 4 4+ 3 3 Slovenia 3+ 4+ 3- 2 Note: The indices range from I to 4+, with 4+ being the highest. Source: EBRD, Transition Report, 1999. Table 13: Main Privatization Methods for Medium-Sized and Large Enterprises Insider Buyouts Mass Privatization Program Sales to Outsiders Other5 Equal Access Large Little for the Whole Concessions Foreign Foreign Employees' Managers2 Population to Insiders Share3 Share4 Bulgaria Secondary Primary Tertiary Czech Republic Primary Secondary Tertiary Estonia Secondary Primary Tertiary Hungary Secondary Primary Tertiary Latvia Secondary Primary Lithuania Secondary Pnmary Tertiary Poland Secondary Tertiary Primary Romania Primary Secondary Tertiary Slovak Republic Primary Seconday Slovenia Secondary Pnmary Tertiary 1. Employees' share exceeds 75 percent of total assets pfivatized. 2. Management share exceeds 25 percent of total assets privatized. 3. Foreign share is more than 25 percent of total assets sold. 4. Foreign share is less than 25 percent of total assets sold. 5. Includes restitution and assets sales through insolvency proceedings. Source: McHale and Pankov (2000); EBRD, Transition Report (1999); Mlakar (2000). Insider buyouts were the norm for countries where there was significant employee power (Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovenia) or management power (Czech and Slovak Republics and Bulgaria) prior to transition. Insiders were allowed to purchase, often at a discount, or obtain for free the shares in their own companies. Mass privatization was chosen by countries where the priority was speed of ownership transformation and, in some cases, a just and equitable distribution of state assets. Mass privatization programs (MPPs) involve predominantly cashless transfers of a substantial number of firms to new owners through the distribution of vouchers to the entire population. MPPs were adopted in all the CEECs except for Hungary and Estonia, which pursued direct sales to strategic foreign investors as their primary method of privatization. Both these countries also pursued global placements of shares in manufacturing firms, banks and public utilities to encourage foreign ownership. There has been a lot of empirical work estimating the efficacy of the different methods of privatization. Djankov and Murrell (2000) in their survey of over 125 such studies drew the following conclusions. The most effective owners (foreign investors) produce 10 times as much restructuring as the least effective private owners (diffuse owners). In fact, performance with diffuse ownership is 32 statistically indistinguishable from traditional state ownership. Manager ownership leads to twice as much restructuring as that in companies privatized to outsiders (blockholders and individuals). Overall, however, privatization to outsiders is associated with 50 percent more restructuring than privatization to insiders (managers and workers). State ownership within traditional state firms is less effective than all other ownership types. However, state ownership within partially privatized firms is surprisingly effective, producing more restructuring than ownership by enterprise insiders, workers, individuals and banks. These empirical findings are consistent with the evidence in the CEECs. The countries which involved foreigners the most in the privatization process (and are also among the top recipients of FDI), namely Hungary and Estonia, have also turned out to be among the best performers in economic reforms and performance. Hard Budget Constraints. In addition to privatization, successful enterprise restructuring also requires the presence of hard budget constraints. An econometric study using data collected from a cross- country enterprise survey39 found that soft budget constraints are a serious disincentive to both new product development and the upgrading of existing products. Although there has been a reduction in direct subsidy support (Table 14), firms have continued to enjoy soft budget constraints through tax arrears, arrears to public utilities, and/or soft loans from the banking system. Soft loans from the banking system, in addition to inherited bad debt from the socialist era, have led to banking crises or severe banking distress in virtually all the transition countries, including the CEECs.40 Hardening budget constraints, including through banking privatization (see next section), will be essential for ensuring successful enterprise restructuring. Table 14: Direct State Subsidies to Enterprise Sector (as a share of GDP) 1994 1995 1996 1997 Bulgaria 1.3 1.2 0.8 0.8 Czech Republic 3.1 2.7 2.2 2.4 Estonia 0.9 0.5 0.4 0.3 Hungary 4.5 3.8 3.9 3.3 Latvia 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.4 Lithuania 1.7 1.1 1.3 0.9 Poland 3.3 2.9 2.5 2.4 Romania 3.8 4.1 4.3 2.6 Slovak Republic 3.2 2.8 2.4 2.2 Slovenia 1.6 1.6 1.2 1.3 Source: Commander et al. (1999). Competition. Evidence is beginning to accumulate that competition may also be important for performance.4' The same econometric study mentioned above found that competition from 1-3 rivals is important for a firm's decision to launch new products, although not for other forms of restructuring, including upgrading old products and reorganization of the firm. This study found that competition has a strong but nonmonotonic relationship with performance, specifically that firms reporting the presence of 39 The survey was conducted in the early summer of 1999 by the EBRD and the World Bank. The survey included approximately 125 firms from each of 20 transition countries, with the exception of Poland and Ukraine (over 200 firms) and Russia (over 500 firms). The sample is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. The econometric study was done by Carlin et al. (1999). The provisional findings of the study and the survey have been published in the EBRD Transition Report, 1999. " Tang et al. (2000). 41 Carlin et al. (1999), footnote 8. They cite studies which give differing evidence on the impact of competitive conditions on enterprise performance. 33 1-3 competitors have sales growth 9.2 percentage points higher and productivity growth 12.2 percentage points higher than monopolists. Those firms with more than three competitors perform better than monopolists, but their advantage is little more than half as great. The study also found that state firms have faced fewer number of competitors than private firms, which implies that state firms have lower sales and productivity growth. The findings of this study indicate that some competition, but not too much, is important for promoting enterprise restructuring and performance. Given this finding, the implication for policy recommendations is therefore not straightforward. With many state-owned firms being effectively monopolists, it is far from certain that privatization can bring about competition. Trade liberalization can Surely pronmote domestic competition, although by itself it is not enough. The CEECs have introduced competition laws and authorities to implement such laws. The efficacy of competition policies in these countrics still needs to be studied, although there appears to be some correspondence between the performance of the CEECs with respect to competition policy (Table 12) and their overall economic performance. Financial Sector Reforms. An efficient and healthy financial sector not prone to crises plays a key role in supporting growth by intermediating scarce financial resources to the most productive use. Financial sector reforms are important for transition countries also because of their role in promoting enterprise restructuring through enforcement of hard budget constraints, as discussed above. In addition, banking reforms are also important for banks to exercise their role in monitoring enterpnrses, which helps improve the corporate governance of enterprises. The experience of transition countries is that successful bank restructuring requires banking privatization. The experience also suggests that privatization to strategic investors that are sound, reputable foreign banks can contribute significantly to improving the performance of the banking system. Private, and in particular foreign, ownership insulates the banks from pressures from the enterprise sector or the government to extend credit to failed enterprises. Among the CEECs, Hungary and Estonia are the front-runners in banking reforms, according to the EBRD transition index (Table 15). These two countries have also made impressive progress in terms of privatization to foreign banks, although some other CEECs are quickly catching up with them. Table 15: EBRD Banking Reform, Financial Regulations and Securities Markets Indices, 1999 Banking Reform and Financial Regulations Securities Interest Rate Market Liberalization Index Extensiveness Effectiveness Index Index Index Bulgaria 3- 3 2+ 2 Czech Republic 3+ 3+ 2+ 3 Estonia 4- 4 3+ 3 Hungary 4 4 4 3+ Latvia 3 3 2 2+ Lithuania 3 3- 2 3- Poland 3+ 4 4 3+ Romania 3- 3 3- 2 Slovak Republic 3- 4 3+ 2+ Slovenia 3+ 3+ 3+ 3 Note: The indices range from I to 4+, with 4+ being the highest. Financial regulations include banking regulations and supervision; minimum financial requirements and criteria for banking operations; use of internationally acceptable accounting standards; and ability of banking regulators to engage in enforcement and corrective action. Source: EBRD, Transition Report, 1999. 34 Hungary, which has one of the strongest and most independent banking systems among transition economies, illustrates the contribution of a strong foreign presence in the banking system. In Hungary, most of the banks have been privatized to strategic foreign investors, with the result that over 80 percent of total bank equity in Hungary is pnrvately owned, and 60 percent of banks is owned by foreign intermediaries.42 In Estonia, Swedish banks own majority shares in the two largest domestic banks which accounted for 85 percent of total banking sector assets as of mid-March 1999. In Latvia, majority foreign-owned banks were responsible for almost 85 percent of total banking assets by end-1998. In Bulgaria, recent bank privatizations have brought foreign-owned banks' market share to nearly 80 percent of total assets in the system. In the Czech Republic, three of the big five state-owned banks are already privatized to strategic foreign investors and preparations are underway for the privatization of the remaining two, the completion of which will bring foreign-owned banks' market share to about 90 percent of total assets in the system. In addition to banking privatization, a sound banking system requires a sound institutional environment within which banks function, the key elements of which are the legal framework, prudential regulations, accounting standards and banking supervision. The CEECs have strengthened the institutional framework for banking over the last decade, usually in the aftermath of banking crises which afflicted all of them.43 Some countries have done better in terms of the extensiveness of financial regulations, such as Estonia, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic. However, it is implementation of these financial regulations that matter and, with the exception of Hungary and Poland, all of them lag behind in effectiveness compared with extensiveness (Table 15). In light of the need to completely open their capital accounts upon accession to the EU, it is all the more urgent that the CEECs enhance their prudential regulations and improve the capacity to implement them, to take into account the different risks associated with cross-border capital flows (see section IV.B). Furthermore, all the CEECs will need to enhance financial sector supervision, including supervision of nonbank financial intermediaries. Key elements of the legal framework for banking are collateral and bankruptcy laws. Banks can only exert pressure on enterprises to improve the latter's corporate governance if they are supported by effective collaterallbankruptcy/insolvency mechanisms and creditor rights. Some CEECs have made more progress in these areas than others (Table 16). Further, poorly defined creditor rights in the CEECs have meant that banks have been reluctant to extend credit, with the result that even viable enterprises have found it very difficult or costly to obtain credit for new investments. This has contributed to the low level of private sector credit as a share of GDP in the CEECs compared to other countries at a similar level of income.44 Finally, another area of the financial sector in which the CEECs would need to make much more progress is the development of government securities markets. This is important for the development of capital markets in general. In addition, once these countries join the EU, they will no longer be able to undertake monetary financing of government deficits. Unless the CEECs run no government deficits at all, the development of government securities markets will be crucial. Most of the CEECs have made less progress in this area than in other areas of the financial sector. Poland and Hungary have made more progress than the rest. There is active trading of Polish government bonds on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, while the Hungarian government has introduced a ten-year note. Development of securities markets will also help strengthen risk management in the CEECs, which will be important when capital accounts are completely open. This is because developed securities market would help price maturity transformation and credit risks, and facilitate corporate access to financial resources, which would also 42 World Bank (1999c). 43 Tang et al. (2000). EBRD, Transition Report (1998), p. 93. 35 help to reduce the burden on banking institutions as the principal channel for the intermediation of financial resources.45 Table 16: Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Indices, 1999 Commercial Law Bankruptcy Extensiveness Effectiveness Index Index Index Bulgaria 4 4- 4- Czech Republic 3+ 3- 3+ Estonia 3+ 4- 4- Hungary 4 4- 4- Latvia 4- 3 3+ Lithuania 4 3 3 Poland 4 3 3+ Romania 3+ 4- 3 Slovak Republic 3+ 3 3 Slovenia 4 4 4 Note: The indices range from I to 4+, with 4+ being the highest. Commercial Law covers pledge, bankruptcy and company law. Source: EBRD, Transition Report (1999). (iv) Other Institutional Factors Market institutions refer to both formal organizations and informal arrangements that influence the behavior of economic agents. Institutions central to the well-functioning of a market economy include corporate law (including provisions of creditor and shareholder rights), bankruptcy, regulation of infrastructure and finance, and competition policy, some of which are discussed above. In addition to these formal arrangements, institutions are frequently interpreted to include the less tangible elements, such as the set of rules and norms according to which society operates. North (1997) identifies the latter ,,46 as "norms of behavior that are recognized standards of conduct. They include, for example, the historically and culturally predicated tradition of the respect for laws and regulations, acceptance of property rights and other factors that create the conditions for effective enforcement and acceptance of rules created by government bodies. A few empirical studies have been undertaken to determine the effect of institutional factors (variously defined depending on the study) on growth in transition economies. The institutional factors that have been tested include property rights, government regulation, political and civil rights, rule of law, governance and public administration, legal reform, and political risk, among others. Havrylyshyn and van Rooden (2000) found that while institutional factors have an effect on growth, their effect is not as strong as that of macroeconomic stability or structural reforms. Among the institutional factors, legal reform was the most important.47 Campos (2000) found that the rule of law was the most important institutional dimension (compared to accountability of the executive, quality of bureaucracy, transparency and accountability, and strength of civil society) in terms of its effects on per capita income and school enrollment. Brunetti et al. (1997) found that property rights and political stability are particularly important for per capita growth, while an indicator of credibility (a simple average of five indicators - 45 Johnston and Otker-Robe (1999). 46 North (1997), p. 4. 47 Havrylyshyn and van Rooden tested nine institutional variables for 25 transition economies for the period 1991- 98. Their basic equation regresses GDP growth on inflation, structural reform index (contemporaneous and lagged) and initial conditions. They found that adding an institutional variable added little explanatory power. Legal reform was found to be the most significant institutional factor. They concluded that good economic policies remain the dominant statistical determinant of growth. 36 predictability of rules, political stability, property rights security, judiciary reliability and corruption) was highly significant for both FDI and per capita growth. These empirical findings point to the legal framework as one of the most important institutional factors affecting investment and growth. For the CEECs, those countries which have a better record of legal effectiveness and extensiveness are also among the best performers (Chart 7). In particular, Hungary and Estonia, which rank the highest in terms of legal effectiveness, also enjoy among the highest FDI flows on a per GDP or per capita basis. The empirical work also points to corruption as another important institutional factor that affects investment and growth. In some CEECs, corruption at the highest level (with firms influencing the formation of the basic rules of the game) has led to slow progress in economic reforms, which has slowed growth. This phenomenon, called "state capture" 48 _ which measures the extent to which laws and regulations are for sale - is more prevalent in countries where reforms have been partial. The partiality of the reforms meant that there are remaining distortions in the economy and, hence, economic rents to be captured. Those groups which have managed to capture the rents would have a vested interest in blocking further reforms. These are the groups that "capture" the state. Chart 8 illustrates clearly that the more advanced reformers - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia - have both lower variance of reforms (that is reforms are less partial) as well as lower level of state capture. Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria, where progress in reforms has been slower, have both higher variance of reforms (more partial reforms) and higher state capture. Chart 7: Legal Effectiveness and Extensiveness (EBRD indicators of legal reform, 1997-99 average) 4.5 40 _ 3.5- 2.5 2.0 1.0 E EBRD Lecal Effectiveness Index. U EBRD Leaal Extensiveness Index. Note: The EBRD legal effectiveness and extensiveness indicators are based on the Legal Indicator Surveys. The average indicators in this chart were calculated from the indicator that measures progress in the following areas: pledge, bankruptcy (insolvency) law, company law, and the general effectiveness of the judicial system. The scale is I to 4+, with 4+ indicating the most progress. Source: EBRD, Transition Reports. 1997, 1998 and 1999. 48 Hellman et al. (2000). 37 Chart 8: Partial Reforms and State Capture 0.9 0.8 Homan a i Latvia 067 m 0.6 - 1: Bulgaria 0.5 00.4 -_ ;, 03 *Hungery* Czech Rep 4Poland oa e 0.2 - ovaa Hap 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 BEEPS Index of State Capture Sources: Index of State Capture from the joint EBRD and World Bank Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) conducted in August 1999, reported in Hellman et al. (2000). Variance in EBRD scores from Hellman (1998), used as a proxy of the partial extent of reforms. The greater the variance, the greater is the partial and incomplete nature of reforms. State capture can be reduced by democratization and by raising the accountability of political elites. D)emocratization introduces a system of checks and balances that reduces rent-seeking opportunities.49 In countries which did not deal with this issue early on, such as Bulgaria and Romania, the old elites continued to have clear advantage over other interest groups. Raising the accountability of political leaders can help constrain the winners of partial reforms from "capturing" the state. As can be seen in Chart 9, the advanced reformers rank higher on governance and public administration, which reflects greater accountability of the political elites, than the slow (or partial) reformers.50 Chart 9: Governance and Public Administration 7- 5 4 3 a ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1~~~~~998 2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 0 Pola-d H.ng.ry Czech Rep. E.toN,e Sl--eej L.tv, ULh-a,a Slo-kle Ror-ei. big.na Source: Nations in Transit, Freedom House. Note: Ratings are from I to 7 with 7 being the highest. 49 Dethier et al. (1999). 50 The index on Governance and Public Administration is taken from "Nations in Transit," Freedom House. It measures, among other things, effectiveness of the legislature as a rule-making institution; decentralization of power to subnational levels; fair and free elections at subnational levels; functioning of legislative bodies; openness and transparency with which executive and legislative bodies operate; and management of municipal governments by elected local leaders and local civil servants. 38 D. Conclusions EU integration by itself is not sufficient to lead to good outcomes. Other key factors are the pace and scope of economic reforms and the progress in institutional development. Countries that have undertaken bold economic reforms - macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms - both in terms of speed and scope have reaped the most benefits from the EU accession process and have the best economic performance. Growth recovery only began in the CEECs after the economies were stabilized. Macroeconomic stabilization has also been found to facilitate structural reforms, although the latter has been found to make a much bigger contribution to growth than the former. Countries that did less well in stabilizing their economies earlier on, such as Romania and Bulgaria, made slower progress in structural reforms and suffered poorer economic performance. Furthermore, in countries where reforms have been partial, there have also been greater state capture, whereby firms have influence over the basic rules of the game in the market. These countries also have a lower level of legal effectiveness, lower level of political accountability, and a slower pace of democratization. While enterprise privatization is important, the approach to privatization also matters. Enterprises that were privatized to foreign investors were found to have been restructured the most and have the highest productivity growth. This should not be surprising since foreign direct investment brings the benefits of knowledge and technology transfer as well as better corporate governance. Successful enterprise restructuring also requires hard budget constraints. This in turn requires banking reforms, in particular banking privatization and the strengthening of the institutional framework of banking. As in the case of enterprises, the outcomes also appear to be better when banks are privatized to foreigners, since foreign ownership insulates the banks from pressures to extend soft loans. Competition has also been found to be important for enterprise restructuring and performance, although it is less clear how this can be brought about. Trade liberalization would be important as a first step, while having effective competition laws may also contribute. III. Income Convergence The ultimate objective of accession for the CEECs is to achieve a standard of living for their people equivalent to those living in the EU. The differences in per capita incomes (in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms) between the EU member countries and the CEECs in 1998 offer one important indication of how far the CEECs need to go (Table 17). In 1998, per capita incomes of the CEECs ranged from around one-quarter to more than two-thirds of the EU per capita income level. Bulgaria was the poorest, with a per capita income that was only 23 percent of the EU average, while Slovenia was the richest, with a per capita income that was 68 percent of the EU average (and higher than that of Greece). The benefits conferred by accession to the EU provide the opportunity for the CEECs to bridge these income gaps with the EU. Whether countries can take advantage of this opportunity, however, depends on the policies they pursue. This was discussed in the previous section, and is also illustrated clearly in the experiences of previous EU members, which is discussed next in Section A. Section B will then provide some estimates of how long, and what it takes, for the CEECs to converge. 39 Table 17: Per Capita Income Levels in Europe .1998 Per Cpita G1D? NHin US$-M (PP %oEUavg. European Union 21227 100 of which: Greece 13943 66 Ireland 21482 101 Central and Eastern Europe Bulgaria 4809 23 Czech Republic 12362 59 Estonia 7682 37 Hungary 10232 49 Latvia 5728 27 Lithuania 6436 31 Poland 7619 36 Romania 5648 27 Slovak Republic 9699 46 Slovenia 14293 68 Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank. A. Experience of Income Convergence of Previous EU Members The diverse experiences of Ireland and Greece provide useful lessons on what it takes for real convergence. Ireland joined the EU in 1973, when its per capita income51 was 59 percent of the EU average,52 while Greece joined the EU in 1981 with a per capita income that was 77 percent of the EU average. By 1998, Ireland had caught up, with a per capita income that is slightly over the EU average. On the other hand, the per capita income distance of Greece from the EU has been increasing since it joined, such that by 1998 Greece had a per capita income that was only 66 percent of the EU average (Chart 10). The very different patterns of income convergence of these two countries reflect the different economic policies pursued by them. In particular, their experiences in macroeconomic stabilization were quite different, as summarized below.53 Chart 10: Per Capita Incomes (PPP) as a share of EU average 110 - (in percent) 100 - M 90- Greece joins EU Ireland 70 joins EU 60 50 +---Greece D Ireland Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank. 51 Per capita incomes discussed here are all in purchasing power parity terms. 52 The EU average is calculated to include per capita incomes of all the EU members as of 1998. This removes the bias that is introduced when countries which join the EU after the initial round could raise or lower the EU average. 53 The discussion on the Irish and Greek macroeconomic stabilization experiences is taken from Detragiache and Hamann (1997). 40 Over the last three decades since Ireland joined the EU, its per capita income has grown at an average of around 9 percent per annum. One of the main policies that contributed to this growth performance was the major fiscal consolidation that Ireland undertook, although not until eight years after it joined the Union. Two consecutive fiscal consolidation programs (the first one of 1982-85 was not very successful)54 reduced the deficit from nearly 16 percent of GDP in 1981 to a surplus of 2 percent of GDP in 1998. Inflation has been below 5 percent since 1986. The success in macroeconomic stabilization has, in turn, helped attract foreign direct investment, which rose from less than 1 percent of GDP in 1973 to nearly 4 percent of GDP in 1998. A manufacturing sector highly dominated by large foreign-owned firms has been the engine of growth in Ireland. The experience of Greece, on the other hand, was quite different. Over the two decades since Greece joined the EU, it registered an annual per capita income growth of 4 percent, less than half that of Ireland's. Its fiscal deficit had been more or less continuously deteriorating, reaching over 21 percent of GDP in 1994 before being brought down to 12 percent in 1995 and 10 percent in 1996 (still very high). High fiscal deficits had resulted in high inflation which did not drop below 10 percent until 1995. Its weak performance in macroeconomic stabilization did not help Greece in attracting FDI, which had been hovering around 1 percent of GDP per annum. B. Income Convereence for the CEECs The following shows the results of exercises undertaken to estimate how long it will take, and what it will take, for the CEECs to converge to the EU in terms of per capita income (PPP terms). First, a simple exercise was undertaken to estimate how long it will take for the CEECs to converge in per capita income terms to the EU average. Assuming that the CEECs grow at an average per capita real rate of 5 percent per annum (which is higher than most of them have achieved since transition) and the EU average per capita real growth rate is 2 percent per annum in the long term, it will take from between 13 years (for Slovenia) to 50 years (for Bulgaria) for them to converge to the EU average (Table 18).5 The exercise also shows by how much the period of time will be shortened if the goal is to reach 75 percent,56 or 50 percent of the EU average. Second, an exercise was undertaken to estimate the long-run growth rates required for the CEECs to achieve convergence to the average EU per capita income level in 20 and 30 years, respectively. The growth rates required are quite high (Table 19). All the CEECs except for Slovenia and the Czech Republic will have to grow at an average per capita real rate of over 5 percent per annum for the next 20 years in order to reach convergence (as for the first exercise, the EU is assumed to grow at a per capita real rate of 2 percent per annum). For Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania to achieve parity with the EU average, the required growth rate is even higher - above 8 percent. The growth exercises described above underline the importance of achieving higher growth rates for the CEECs to achieve income convergence with the EU. This, in turn, requires that the countries first complete the transition agenda - which includes achieving and maintaining macroeconomic stability, 54 See Detragiache and Hamann (1997) for a more detailed discussion of the two fiscal consolidation programs in Ireland and their different results. 55 Two percent per year per capita real income growth is assumed for the long-term EU average because this is the average per capita real growth of the oldest members of the EU (Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). The exercise does not take into account the fact that when the CEECs join the EU, the EU average per capita income level will be reduced. 56 EU member states are eligible to receive grants and loans if their per capita GDP is close to or below 75 percent of the Community average. 41 completing structural reforms and continuing to make progress in institutional development - all the while taking into account the lessons of the CEEC transition experience as discussed in the previous section. In addition, successful integration with the EU will also require that the CEECs undertake the policy agenda that is discussed in the next section. Table 18: Years Required to Close Per Capita Income Gap (in PPP terms) with the European Union 11L- *XGDUSgrowth rate aivera aW mrage Slovenia 4.0 13 3 n.a. Czech Republic 1.5 18 8 n.a. Hungary 4.0 24 14 0 Slovak Republic 5.1 31 16 2 Estonia 5.0 34 24 10 Poland 5.7 34 24 10 Latvia 3.8 40 30 16 Lithuania 3.3 40 30 16 Romania -0.8 45 35 21 Bulgaria -1.4 50 40 26 Note: Not applicable (n.a.) for Slovenia and the Czech Republic under the assumption of 50 percent of EU average because these countries have already reached it. Source: Polastri (2000) based on World Development Indicators, World Bank. Table 19: Growth Rates Required to Close Per Capita Income Gap (PPP terms) with the European Union Bulgaria 9.7 7.1 8.1 5.0 5.5 4.3 Czech 4.6 3.7 3.1 1.8 n.a. n.a. Republic Estonia 7.2 5.4 5.6 3.4 3.1 2.7 Hungary 5.6 4.4 4.1 2.4 1.6 1.7 Latvia 8.1 6.0 6.6 4.0 4.0 3.3 Lithuania 8.1 6.0 6.6 4.0 4.0 3.3 Poland 7.2 5.4 5.7 3.4 3.1 2.7 Romnania 8.8 6.5 7.3 4.5 4.7 3.8 Slovak 5.9 4.6 4.4 2.6 1.9 1.9 Republic Slovenia 3.9 3.2 2.4 1.3 n.a. n.a. n.a. Not applicable Source: Polastri (2000), based on World Development Indicators, World Bank IV. Aaenda for the CEECs for a Successful Integration In large part, the policy agenda for integration is clear. First and foremost, the CEECs need to complete the adoption of the EU's acquis communautaire. To that end, these countries would need to stay the course and complete their policy reforms and institutional strengthening. Since the ten countries 42 are not at the same stage in these EU-related reform efforts, they face different challenges. Nonetheless, they also face a common set of challenges outside of the acquis; four of the main ones are discussed below. A. Addressing the Fiscal Challenge Ensuring fiscal sustainability is one of the biggest challenges facing the CEECs, both to complete the transition and to continue integrating successfully with the EU. This will require reducing the fiscal deficit in a number of the CEECs. It will also require reforms of the revenue system and restructuring of public expenditures in all of them. Ensuring fiscal sustainability is important in the CEECs for the following reasons. First, reducing fiscal deficits will help reduce the rising pressures on the current account of the balance of payments in some of the CEECs (Table 20). Although current account deficits in most of the CEECs are financed by foreign direct investment, which should mitigate concerns about their rising levels, recent increases in fiscal deficits in the CEECs and continued real appreciation of most of their real exchange rates in 1998-99 have led to some concerns. Second, reducing the fiscal deficit and/or restructuring of public finances will help to make room for the investments that will be needed to meet the environmental and other obligations of the acquis. The magnitude of these investments is estimated to be sizeable. For instance, the annual environmental expenditures for compliance with EU directives is estimated to be between 2.5 to 3.7 percent of 1997 GDP in the Czech Republic, and between 1.7 to 4.5 percent of 1997 GDP in Hungary. In the Czech Republic, this entailed between 120 and 150 percent increase over what the country would have spent without accession.57 The expenditures might be substantially higher if operations and maintenance costs are included. A study on Poland estimated that operations and maintenance costs amount to around 10 percent of the annualized additional investment requirements for all environmental sectors, and up to half for certain sectors.58 While these costs would not be the sole responsibility of the government, and will be shared by the private sector and to some extent financed from EU funds, the fiscal burden of these costs would be significant.59 Third, over the medium term, the CEECs will need to meet the Maastricht criteria (Table 21), since joining the euro-zone will be a long-term commitment for the new EU members. This will require reduction of the fiscal deficits in some of the CEECs, and the maintenance of low deficits in all of them. 57 World Bank (1999a) and World Bank (1999c). 58 World Bank (1997). 59 In the Czech Republic, for example, the central and local governments will bear an average of 60 percent of the total costs in implementing the environmental directives. See World Bank (1999a). 43 Table 20: Current Account Balance (percent of GDP) 1i90 1991 1992 1993 1994- 9 16 1 Bulgaria -5.9 -11.2 -3.5 -10.1 -0.3 -0.2 0.8 4.4 -0.5 -5.4 Czech Republic 0.2 1.3 -1.9 -2.6 -7.4 -6.1 -2.4 -2.0 Estonia -2.2 0.8 0.6 -4.2 -3.3 -9.1 -11.8 -9.2 -5.9 Hungary 0.8 1.2 1.0 -9.0 -9.4 -5.6 -3.7 -2.1 -4.9 -4.3 Latvia 3.3 2.9 -1.6 -3.2 -5.4 -6.1 -11.1 -10.4 Lithuania 1.4 -3.1 -2.1 -10.2 -9.2 -10.2 -12.1 -11.2 Poland 1.1 -1.7 -0.3 -3.1 0.7 4.8 -1.1 -2.9 -4.3 -7.6 Romania -4.7 -3.5 -8.0 -4.5 -1.4 -5.0 -7.3 -6.1 -7.0 -3.8 Slovak Republic -5.9 -5.0 4.8 2.3 -11.2 -10.0 -10.4 -5.8 Slovenia 3.0 1.5 7.4 1.5 4.2 -0.1 0.2 0.2 0.0 -3.0 Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank. Table 21: Selected Maastricht Convergence Indicators, 1998-99 General Government Public Debt Deficit (percent of GDP) (percent of GDP) 0 fit'00 0 0 000'00i0 0 000 199800 19990 0g''' 1,99 ajffA8 RS 't00'019990 Bulgaria 0.9 -0.9 80.2 86.7 Czech Republic -1.4 -0.6 11.5 n.a. Estonia -0.3 -4.5 5.9 9.9 Hungary -4.8 -3.7 61.1 60.6 Latvia -0.8 -3.5 10.5 13.0 Lithuania -5.8 -8.6 22.4 30.5 Poland -2.4 -2.1 43.2 43.9 Romania -5.0 -3.4 n.a. 29.9 Slovak Republic -5.6 -4.0 24.8 27.6 Slovenia -0.7 -0.7 n.a. n.a. Reference value -3.0 -3.0 60.0 60.0 n.a. Not applicable Source: World Bank. To achieve fiscal sustainability, the CEECs face two interrelated challenges. First, revenues as a share of GDP are very high for the per capita income levels of these countries, and are not expected to be sustainable. Further, the higher share of indirect taxes in total revenues in the CEECs compared with industrial countries implies larger distortions to raise an equal share of revenues. The high tax rates would need to be reduced to reduce distortions and the negative effects on growth. This needs to be accompanied by improvements in the revenue system and tax administration. Second, to maintain fiscal sustainability in the face of expected further declines in revenues, most of the CEECs would need to find ways to reduce public expenditures. 44 Table 22: Central Government Revenues and Expenditures, 1998 Revenues Expenditures Bulgaria 34.9 33.5 Czech Republic 33.2 35.5 Estonia 33.0 32.9 Hungary 37.0 43.8 Latvia 35.0 34.7 Lithuania 26.7 30.3 Poland 35.6 37.5 Romania 18.3 21.1 Slovak Republic 23.1 25.7 Slovenia 25.9 21.6 Sources: World Bank, IMF. In addressing the challenge of achieving fiscal sustainability, CEEC governments would also need to account for and control hidden fiscal expenditures and contingent liabilities, the sources of which are diverse. First, there are direct explicit obligations, such as pension liabilities. Given demographic trends, the pay-as-you-go system predominant in the CEECs is not sustainable without reforms. In Bulgaria, for example, demographic trends threaten to generate deficits of almost 2.3 percent of GDP by 2002 in the pension system.60 Second, there are contingent explicit liabilities, such as guarantees. In the Czech Republic, state guarantees amounted to 1.5 percent of GDP in 1998.61 Third, there are contingent implicit liabilities, such as those arising from expected government bail- outs in the case of bank failures and liquidations of large enterprises. Realization of the implicit liabilities arising from bank failures has been very costly in the CEECs.62 Fiscal costs may be incurred when enterprises are liquidated, since the related social safety net expenditure is often mandated by law or constitution. Moreover, in some cases, enterprises were accumulating arrears that might eventually have to be cleaned up by the governments. In Bulgaria, for example, the stock of arrears in 90 enterprises reached around 8.5 percent of GDP by end-1999. About one-half of the arrears are due in taxes and social security contributions, and have led in the past to shortfalls in state revenues. The other half, which represents a contingent implicit liability for the government, are arrears to suppliers, and especially to employees (wage arrears). There are similar contingent and implicit liabilities associated with the financial activities of subnational governments. Central governments may be obliged to bail out local governments that cannot 63 meet their obligations, even if these are not guaranteed by the central government. In the Czech Republic, the total debt outstanding for local governments increased from CZK2.9 billion in 1993 to CZK41.6 billion in 1997 (or an equivalent of 2.5 percent of GDP), which amounted to 19 percent of total general government debt. In some cases, debt service reached more than 50 percent of the total expenditure of a particular municipality. 60 Brixi et al. (2000). 61 Ibid, and World Bank (1999a). 62 Tang et al. (2000). 63 There are also fiscal risks when the central government provides loans to local governments. For example, in the Czech Republic, around 10 percent of loans issued by a state agency to the local governments between 1992-1997 have defaulted. See World Bank (1999a). 45 These hidden deficits and contingent liabilities are sources of future fiscal risks that can be identified, controlled and reduced. As a first step, the fiscal authorities in the accession countries should develop a comprehensive framework for fiscal analysis that takes into account the cost of implicit subsidies provided by contingent support programs. Contingent fiscal risks have to be assessed and costed based on the stock of existing government programs and promises, and should be treated like any other budgetary or debt item. It will be critical to devise and enforce rules on state guarantees and insurance programs, including strict limits and reserve buildup to cover obligations guaranteed by the government. A comprehensive regulatory framework for subnational credit has to be devised. Risky and excessive municipal borrowing should be prohibited, and information disclosure rules for subnational debt strengthened. B. Addressin2 the Challenee of Global Financial Integration Accession to the EU will require the implementation of complete and effective capital account convertibility, not just vis-a-vis EU member countries but also third countries. The CEECs have been liberalizing their capital accounts since transition. In particular, the conditions for foreign direct investment have been liberalized almost completely, and all of them have established current account convertibility of their currencies. Restrictions remain in one way or another with respect to short- and medium-term capital transactions in all the candidate countries - these will be the areas that would be the most affected when the CEECs open their capital accounts completely.64 In general capital inflows are beneficial, as they enhance savings and could promote investment, which is good for growth. However, they also complicate macroeconomic management, including management of the exchange rate. Furthermore, as can be seen in the recent experience in East Asia, economies that have received large private capital inflows could face huge economic disruptions - balance of payments difficulties and currency and banking crises - particularly if the inflows are short term and they are reversed suddenly on a large scale. As the CEECs approach accession and further open their capital accounts, it is likely that they will attract increasing private capital inflows, including short-term capital inflows. The CEECs would need to manage the risks that could arise from potentially volatile capital flows. There are a few well-known elements to the management of such risks,65 although each has its caveats.66 First is ensuring the consistency of monetary and exchange rate policies. With an increasingly open capital account, short-term interest rates in domestic markets will increasingly be determined by covered interest arbitrage. This means that the country can either set the exchange rate or the domestic interest rate, but not both. Attempts to set both could lead to short-term capital flows, as the market responds to incentives created to switch investments between currencies. In addition, establishing credibility in the sustainability of the monetary and exchange rate policy requires that countries have either very strong commitments to a pegged exchange rate regime, or adopt a flexible exchange rate. Some of the more advanced candidates with inflation increasingly under control have adopted more flexible regimes to help deal with the increasing volume and instability of international capital flows. Poland, for example, adopted in 1999 a crawling band (this was changed to a free float in early 2000) in response to large net and variable capital inflows that proved expensive to sterilize. The Czech Republic 64 See EC website, http://www.europa.eu.int/comrnemployment social/fundamri/movement/news/parta.pdf, June 2000. 65 The discussion of the key elements is derived from Johnston and Otker-Robe (1999). 66 Furman and Stiglitz (1998). 46 moved to adopt a dirty float in 1997 as a result of a currency crisis, followed by the Slovak Republic in 1998 for similar reasons. Table 23: Exchange Rate Regimes in EU Accession Countries Regime Adopted When Comments Bulgaria Currency Board 1997 To eliminate hyperinflation and improve credibility. Czech Republic Dirty Float 1997 Flexible system adopted to reduce pressure on reserves during the 1997 crisis. Estonia Currency Board 1993 Pegged to DM. Hungary Crawling Band 1995 Forward-looking rate of crawl lower than forecast inflation differential to contain real appreciation while providing anchor for expectations. Latvia Fixed Peg 1994 Pegged to SDR. Lithuania Currency Board 1994 Despite increasing trade flows with the EU, currency is pegged to dollar. Poland Float 2000 Authorities adopted system to enhance flexibility in responding to increasing volatile capital flows. Romania Dirty Float 1997 Authorities stopped intervening in the foreign exchange market in 1996. Slovak Republic Dirty float 1998 Flexible system adopted to reduce pressure on reserves. Slovenia Managed Float 1996 The exchange rate vis-a-vis the deutsche mark has been kept on a gradually depreciating rate within implicit bands. Second is introducing appropriate prudential regulations which take into account risks involved in cross-border capital movements, and incorporating these risks in the loan classification, provisioning, capital adequacy, disclosure and reporting requirements for banking institutions, as well as oversight of the institution's capacity to assess and manage its own risk exposures. However, the development of regulatory frameworks takes time. While the CEECs have made progress on this front, it is instructive to note that even advanced institutions have found it difficult to develop a regulatory framework that insulates them from financial crises. For instance, even countries like the United States have not implemented fully transparent risk adequacy standards based on modem risk analysis. Most CEECs still have a distance to go in building a strong regulatory framework, especially one that takes into account the risks that arise from cross-border capital movements that are different from risks arising from purely domestic transactions. This has the following implications. The CEECs need to make strong efforts, starting now, to build up their financial regulatory framework in anticipation of completely liberalized capital accounts upon accession to the EU. In the meantime, they should follow an orderly process for further liberalization of the capital account. This does not necessarily mean, however, that countries cannot liberalize certain components of the capital account before all the supporting reforms are in place. In fact, liberalizing some components may help support reform and economic objectives.67 One approach would be to liberalize first those elements of the capital account which improve resource allocation efficiency and help to achieve, or at least do not undermine, financial and macroeconomic stability.68 These elements include direct foreign participation in the domestic financial system, as this would introduce new technology and instruments, new skills and risk management capabilities; strengthen the capital structures of financial institutions; and promote competition for 67 Johnston and Otker-Robe (1999). 68 The discussion in this paragraph is taken from Johnston (1998). 47 financial products. Another element is provision of access to international capital markets, which would improve financial discipline where such liberalizations spur the introduction of new accounting and disclosure requirements, and incentives to revise out-of-date regulatory structures and weak or ineffective supervisory arrangements. On the other hand, it would not include provision of access for dominant domestic financial institutions to foreign sources of funds to the exclusion of their customers, as this would serve to support existing monopoly and inefficient financial structures. C. Strengthening Administrative Capacity Over the last decade, the progress in establishing a modem public administration capable of providing adequate support to the functioning of a market economy has been uneven among the ten CEECs. Hungary and Poland, for instance, have made much more progress than Bulgaria, Romania and the Slovak Republic. The substantial differences in state capacity between the different CEECs can partly be explained by the different conditions of the public administration prior to transition. By the time transition was initiated, public sector reforms had already been well underway in Hungary, where the creation of an apolitical bureaucratic elite had been supported by the reform-oriented communist government. On the other hand, the former Czechoslovakia and Romania had been super centralized states where the bureaucracy and the law were largely subject to the will of the Communist Party. The result was a politicized public administration which mostly did not have the will or ability to think independently. The legacy of the Communist past continues to weigh heavily in some of the public administrations even today, and their reform agenda is accordingly that much greater. A key accession requirement is the capacity to adopt the legal framework of the acquis and the administrative and judicial capacity to apply it. This administrative requirement has been further reinforced by the avis, or opinions prepared by the EC on each country application for membership, which identified the need to strengthen government institutional capabilities and to accelerate public administration reforms as an implicit condition of accession. As part of the acquis, common standards have been established for a European Administrative Space within the EU. These standards include reliability and predictability in decision making within a state administration, meaning that all decisions made by the public administration should be in accordance with existing laws and regulations. The administration should also be open to outside scrutiny, and its operations should be comprehensible and transparent to external monitors. Government agencies should be held responsible for their actions. Public management should be efficient in the sense that there is a strong positive relationship between resources utilized and results attained. Administrative reforms implemented in the CEECs have made an attempt to incorporate these principles into the operations of the public administration, but they have only partly succeeded. The challenge is to strengthen the public service's commitment to reform and thereby continue the modernization of the bureaucracy and the overall reforms in the countries. The public administration can be a powerful autonomous force for change in the CEECs if it is equipped with sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable people that are provided with adequate resources and employed in an organization that values achieving results. A growing body of literature identifies two types of administrative strengthening that are necessary for the CEECs in their quest for accession to the EU. The first is the building of explicit management requirements of the accession process itself, and the direct membership responsibilitites countries will have to assume in the future. The second is the enhancement of government administration's ability to function with roughly equivalent competence with current EU member state public administrations. To achieve these two types of administrative strengthening will require (i) building institutional infrastructure 48 at the center of government to formulate and coordinate policymaking in an efficient and consultative manner; (ii) strengthening institutional arrangements and administrative processes for policy and program implementation so that they better reinforce key administrative values, such as reliability, transparency, predictability, accountability, adaptability and efficiency; (iii) professionalizing the civil service; and (iv) creating effective feedback mechanisms on policy implementation and impacts. The CEECs' ability to implement reforms that achieve these objectives will determine the speed with which they are able to take on EU membership. Deep reform of the public administration will also improve the CEECs' ability to access EU financial assistance now and after they join the EU, as well as to represent their national interests within the Union. (i) Building Institutional Infrastructure for Policy Formulation and Coordination Most CEECs have established the basic structures required for effective cabinet-led policy formulation and coordination.69 At the same time, in many CEECs the practices, procedures and institutional capacities needed to underpin effective policy formulation and coordination need improvement. Precisely which practices, procedures and capacities need improvement vary across individual CEECs. Among the more important improvements often needed are: * Reduction in cash rationing, which (a) puts the treasury department or its equivalent, rather than cabinet, in the position of making (de facto) policy prioritization choices, and (b) undermines credibility of cabinet's budget decisions; * Better tying of revenue forecasts to expenditures (i.e., reduction in tendency to overestimate expected revenues, coupled with enforcement of budget formulation procedures that limit overall budget envelope to realistically projected revenues); * Agreement by cabinet and dissemination to budget entities of budget preparation rules well before the budget cycle commences; * Ensuring that the rules and procedures governing policy submissions are not restricted to procedural and legal reviews, but also address the need for assessment of likely costs, outputs and impacts of ongoing and proposed policies: .> Ensuring that sector ministries effectively shoulder responsibility for costing policy proposals - this requires, among other things, that cabinet establish clear standards for fiscal information for individual items, that cabinet have at least minimal in-house capacity to evaluate ministry cost projections, as well as that sector ministries have capacity to produce cost estimates consistent with those cabinet-established standards; > Ensuring that sector ministries provide cabinet with information required to evaluate likely and actual outputs and impacts of existing and proposed policies - again, this requires that cabinet establish clear standards and guidelines for such policy evaluation information, that cabinet develop at least minimal in-house capacity to evaluate ministry-provided indicators and assessments of policy outputs and impacts, and that sector ministries develop capacity to identify, monitor and analyze policy outputs and impacts; > Ensuring that policy submission procedures allow adequate time for cost, output and impact aspects of policy proposals to be thoroughly assessed by a variety of parties (e.g., other sector ministries, organized interests likely to be impacted by the proposal, independent think tanks or policy analysis institutes, a professional staff within the cabinet Office or Chancellery itself); > Ensuring that policy submission procedures encourage collaborative feedback prior to cabinet submission from parties likely to be impacted by a policy proposal. 69 See, for instance, Manning (1999); Manning and Barma (1999). 49 * Ensuring that other bodies do not usurp cabinet's ultimate authority to establish basic policy parameters and priorities (e.g., the treasury department or its equivalent (see "cash rationing" point above), the Cabinet Office or Chancellery, informal power brokers, etc.). (ii) Strengthening Institutional Arrangements and Administrative Processes for Policy and Program Implementation Well-functioning policy formulation and coordination mechanisms need to be complemented with effective institutional arrangements and administrative processes that ensure effective and accountable implementation of those policies. In many CEECs, these institutional arrangements and administrative processes frequently fail to adequately reinforce key administrative values, such as reliability, transparency, predictability, accountability, adaptability and efficiency. Two major challenges typically need to be addressed in order to respond to this need: (a) striking a better balance between central controls and devolved managerial autonomy; and (b) creating an organizational culture more supportive of these administrative values. a) Strikin' a balance between central controls and managerial autonomv. Major areas in which such balancing requires adjustment include pay and personnel management, budget and financial management, and policy/program/performance accountability.'° Some CEECs, Romania and the Czech Republic, for instance, have reacted to the pretransition legacy of highly centralized controls by granting considerable discretion to line ministries in both salary setting and personnel management, without imposing much in the way of policies, procedures or institutional mechanisms to ensure that such discretion is wisely used. In both countries, while the overall number and composition of authorized positions is subject to control of the Ministry of Finance, individual ministries are essentially free to hire, fire and assign personnel to those authorized positions without being subject to any regular and systematic oversight. In addition, line ministries have considerable discretion in the assignment of performance "bonuses." In Romania this has led to "grade creep" as well as a substantial lack of transparency in the setting of overall compensation packages for individual staff, despite the existence of a basic salary scale and various rules governing salary supplements and bonuses.7' A similar situation appears to hold in the Czech Republic, where, as of 1997, organizations have been permitted to use all vacancy savings to "top- up" earnings of other employees through bonuses or other one-off allowances. While such devices provide a means of increasing the competitiveness of public sector remuneration, the absence of systematic checks on the exercise of discretion in the use of such funds both undermines the transparency and accountability of salary-setting and fails to create pressure on those line ministries to use such discretion in ways that further the administrative values noted above and the policy objectives of the ministry. A better balance between central controls and managerial autonomy could be achieved in a number of ways in these two instances. Central authorities could be required to be have a voice in key personnel decisions, such as hiring, firing, assignment to posts, assignment of performance "bonuses." Alternatively, reporting requirements could enhance transparency and pressures to exercise such discretion appropriately. Publication of summary statistics on such personnel actions could also enhance transparency and pressures to exercise such authority responsibly. Random independent audits of a ministry's personnel management practices could create incentives for managers to exercise such discretion responsibly. In short, a variety of devices exist for exercising sensible central control over managerial discretion wielded by line agencies, without resorting to extreme centralization of such authority. But many CEECs have yet to develop sufficient webs of accountability mechanisms to provide reasonable comfort that the fairly substantial degrees of autonomy they are currently granting to line 70 See Nunberg (1999), pp. 78-80. 71 Nunberg (1999), pp. 78-80. 50 agencies will be exercised in ways that are supportive of administrative values such as reliability, transparency, predictability, accountability, adaptability and efficiency. b) Creating an organizational culture more supportive of these administrative values. Most CEECs have established a variety of administrative systems, procedures and oversight mechanisms designed to provide some consistency and accountability in administrative practices. Most, however, fall short of an integrated web of institutional arrangements and practices aimed at creating an organizational culture within public agencies that can be expected to engender the administrative values mentioned earlier. Four mutually reinforcing elements of such a web are developed to varying degrees across CEECs: (i) frequent and varied signals from top leadership in the public sector stressing the importance of these administrative values and praising agencies and organizational units that exhibit behavior consistent with those values; (ii) administrative systems, procedures and oversight mechanisms that reinforce behavior of agencies and their staff that is consistent with these administrative values ;72 (iii) mechanisms that facilitate "bottom-up" feedback on whether individual public agencies and organizational units are embodying these administrative values;73 and (iv) training that both reinforces these values and provides practical guidance on means of putting them into practice (iii) Professionalizing the Civil Service Most CEECs have taken initial steps toward creating a professional civil service. While a few, notably the Czech Republic, have yet to enact a civil service law, most have established this most basic requirement for creating a depoliticized, professional, meritocratic civil service. But the detailed procedures and guidelines required to establish clarity about such things as job descriptions, job classifications, qualifications required for particular categories of jobs, recruitment and selection procedures, performance evaluation criteria and procedures, etc., are only in the rudimentary stages of development in most CEECs. Moreover, while most civil service legislation in CEECs routinely establishes among their objectives the creation of a professional, merit-based civil service, and implicitly a depoliticized civil service, most CEECs have yet to develop the web of checks and balances required to ensure that personnel actions actually tend to support those objectives. This requires such things as: * A central authority responsible for establishing and ensuring compliance with policies and guidelines governing civil service management, as well as management of public employees not covered by the civil service law. * Detailed guidelines and procedures designed to help managers to manage personnel effectively and professionally. * Procedures and mechanisms that ensure that major personnel actions - such as recruitment and selection, promotion and dismissal - cannot be made at the sole discretion of the agency within which the civil servant is or would be employed. * Reporting requirements that ensure that sufficient and probative information is available to both central authorities and the public so that public agencies and their managers can be held accountable for managing their personnel, and their civil servants in particular, in a professional, meritocratic, depoliticized manner. * Credible, accessible and simple administrative appeals mechanisms for aggrieved civil servants. * An independent appeals body to serve as an additional check on personnel management. 72 Galligan and Smilov (1999). 73 See, e.g., Tendler (1997), and Galligan, (1996), pp. 398-411. 51 The competitiveness of public sector wages in CEECs is difficult to compare with their OECD or EU counterparts due to data limitations. Data on the ratio of average public sector wages relative to average manufacturing sector wages in a subset of CEECs (mostly for 1997 but some for 1998) reveal that they range between 0.9 (Hungary, Romania) and 1.4 (Poland), averaging 1.07 in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries for which data were available.74 Strictly comparable data for OECD or EU countries are not readily available, but based on some rough approximations, it appears that there is perhaps somewhat less variance in this ratio across OECD countries, but the average is probably slightly below the CEE average.75 It is, of course, risky to hazard summary assessments of the competitiveness of public sector remuneration based on such crude comparisons, even if the data definitions were fully consistent across countries, since the skill mix of both public and private sector employees is likely to vary considerably across countries. If any general conclusion were to be drawn from such comparisons, it would probably be that CEE countries may offer slightly more competitive compensation to their public employees than their EU counterparts. At the same time, the variation in competitiveness, as measured by the standard deviation, is about three to four times greater within CEE countries than within EU countries. Thus, while some CEECs may need to improve the compensation they offer their civil servants, others may need to examine whether they can afford the levels they are currently providing. The composition of remuneration, on the other hand, is frequently relatively nontransparent and subject to considerable and almost unchecked discretion of line ministries, as described above. Accordingly, the real remuneration challenge facing many CEECs is to enhance the transparency of their remuneration policies and practices, as well as the web of mechanisms for holding managers accountable for how they manage not just base salaries but the total package of compensation provided to their employees. Training provides another means by which CEECs can help themselves to create a professional civil service. Some countries have made admirable progress in establishing national institutions for training of civil servants. Poland has established a national school for public administration modeled after the French Ecole Nationale d'Administration, which has graduated approximately 60 students each year since it was established. Such a small number is unlikely to have an immediate impact on the overall quality of the civil service, but it is the first step in a direction of creating a fertile academic environment for training and retraining of public servants. Poland is unfortunately the exception, as a majority of the CEECs have no functioning national civil service training strategy or national academies for public administration. But CEECs will need to rely on a variety of sources of training if they are to meet their substantial training needs. Moreover, evidence from more developed countries suggests the importance of ensuring that training not be entirely supply-driven. Means of addressing these challenges include the following: * Multiple training options should exist.76 74 CEE countries included are Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. 75 OECD comparisons are based on data on "Pay Differentials in the Public and Private Sectors: 1994-1997," published by OECD's PUMA in its Trends in Public Sector Pay in OECD Countries (OECD: 1997). ECA comparisons are from Salvatore Schiavo-Campo, Giulio de Tommaso and Amitabha Mukherjee (updated version of 1997 publication). 76 Multiple options means both multiple possible providers (e.g., private firms, universities, in-house production, other government agencies) and multiple vehicles for accessing those providers (e.g., fellowships, contracts between the agency whose employees are being trained and the provider, direct hiring of training personnel, etc.). 52 * Persons responsible for assigning training resources should face a real price for those resources (i.e., they must have to give up some resource they could have used for other purposes). * Persons responsible for assigning training resources should be rewarded, at least in part, on the basis of the performance of their training resource allocation decisions (e.g., their subunit may receive bonuses for especially effective training programs, the manager responsible for training resource allocation may be granted greater discretion over those decisions as his subunit's training performance). (iv) Creating Effective Feedback Mechanisms on Policy Implementation and Impacts Policies, procedures and mechanisms to ensure regular, timely, systematic as well as opportunistic feedback on policy implementation and impacts are largely missing in most CEECs. In addition to providing information, such feedback mechanisms need to ensure that the feedback they provide actually impacts subsequent policy design and implementation. They also need to help to build support for successful policies and their implementation, as well as for the redesign or, in extreme cases, abandonment of less than successful policy initiatives.7 Personnel performance evaluation systems are one such mechanism. So are simple posting of service standards and information that permits intended beneficiaries of a given program or public service to easily figure out whom or what office to contact if those service standards have not been met. Focus groups are another such mechanism. Surveys of users of particular public services are another. Independent evaluation units, with the resources and skills to undertake careful program evaluations are another option. Ombudsmen are another device. The list goes on. In short, countless options exist for seeking and generating feedback on policy implementation and impacts. Because no single source of feedback can ever capture all dimensions of policy impacts, and because every source will have its own particular nuances and biases, it is important to facilitate the proliferation of such mechanisms. The paucity of such mechanisms in active use in most CEECs poses a major constraint on the ability of their public administrations to become more responsive and accountable. Ultimately, this dampens their capacity to continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency with which they pursue the policy objectives they were created to achieve. (v) Building Capacity to Efficiently Use Structural Funds Access to the structural funds of the EU will be one of the most immediately visible benefits of EU membership. These funds were created to support convergence of GDP per capita between different areas of the EU through productive public investments. The structural funds can only be accessed if matched with national funds (private or public) of the receiving countries. All these funds together will potentially dramatically increase public investments and thereby strengthen the long-term economic growth potential of the candidate countries. The experience the CEECs will gain in utilizing the pre-accession funds - Phare, the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) and the Community Support for Pre-Accession Measures for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD) - should help prepare the CEECs to utilize the structural funds when the latter become available upon accession. Given the large amounts involved - the pre- accession funds can amount to 2.5 percent of GDP and the structural funds can amount to 4 percent of GDP - the CEECs will need to start building institutional capacity now to raise their absorptive capacities. This will require that the CEECs (i) develop a strategy to integrate these funds into an overall public investment strategy; (ii) prioritize the needs of public investment; and (iii) improve the monitoring and evaluation of public investment projects. 77 See Reid (1997) for detailed advice on the risks and challenges posed by such evaluation arrangements and devices for addressing those risks and challenges. 53 The ability of regions to attract funds is to a large extent determined by the skills and capabilities of local officials. The experience of current EU member countries shows that accessing structural funds is easier than the extensive requirement for documentation indicates, provided that the local administration is persistent and has a thorough understanding of the rules regulating the projects eligible for funding. Other lessons from current EU member countries include the need to ensure adequate national matching funds both at the national and local levels; to have a multiyear planning horizon; to have a clear and transparent intergovernmental fiscal system; and to have improved public finance management at the local levels. As the regulations regarding structural funds are steadily evolving, the CEECs would need to have a flexible strategy to fully benefit from the structural funds. The experience of EU member countries indicates that there is no single right answer for administrative reform in order to maximize the benefits from the funds. What the CEECs need to do is to carefully study the successes and failures of present EU members, in particular those of Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and the eastern states of Germany (following unification) because the structural funds the CEECs will receive are similar to the funds these countries and states are currently receiving. In addition, the CEECs will need to bear in mind that local institutional capacity will be more important for the management of structural funds than for the pre- accession funds, the management of which is more centralized. The experience of EU member countries indicates that failures often occur where the local administrative capacity is weak, where local partnerships are underdeveloped and where the local community lacks development experience. The CEECs should therefore pay special attention to the strengthening of local administrative capacity and local partnerships if they are to fully benefit from the structural funds. D. Raisins Living Standards of the Groups at Risk78 As discussed earlier, progress in transition in the CEECs has been accompanied by a deterioration in the living standards for some groups and an increase in income inequality. In general, the CEEC governments have not focused as much attention on these groups at risk as they have on completing the transition process and preparing for EU accession. To some extent, therefore, the EU accession focus has been a mixed blessing for these groups. On the one hand, the accession process enhances growth, which helps raise living standards for everyone, including the groups at risk. On the other hand, however, it has detracted the attention and resources of CEEC governments from focusing efforts on raising the living standards of groups at risk and reducing income inequality. The main cause of the emergence of groups at risk in the CEECs is unemployment. Industrial restructuring has led to labor shedding and the emergence of open unemployment. While the recovery in growth has led to some recovery in real wages in the more advanced CEECs, unemployment has not dropped significantly. The challenge of reducing unemployment will be addressed next. This will be followed by a discussion on reforms of social protection programs and promotion of social inclusion policies, both of which are necessary to raise the living standards of the groups at risk and reduce income inequality in the CEECs. (i) Reducing Unemployment As discussed earlier, the main cause of poverty in the CEECs is unemployment, in particular long- term "structural" unemployment. In Hungary, for instance, 55 percent of the unemployed at mid-1996 had been out of work for more than a year. Workers that have only primary education or vocational training are the most negatively affected. Some of the measures that may help reduce unemployment are as follows. 78 The discussion in this section is drawn from World Bank (2000e). 54 Nonlabor Market-Related Structural Problems. There is evidence that at least in some CEECs, high unemployment can only be attributed in part to labor market institutions, while other structural problems are as much to blame. Bulgaria is a case in point. Unemployment in Bulgaria has stayed in the double digits throughout the 1990s. However, with the exception of high payroll contributions, the rest of Bulgaria's labor market policies and institutions do not appear to be "rigid," at least not compared to Europe. It has a low minimum wage; its unemployment benefits are less generous than in other CEECs and lower than in France; and industrial relations are characterized by a high degree of cooperation between unions, and between union and employer representatives, with little evidence of high wage pressures. It therefore appears that the poor performance in the labor market in Bulgaria can only be partly attributed to its labor market institutions, and is likely to be the result of the - until recently - slow progress in industrial restructuring and other structural reforms. Similarly, for the other CEECs, reducing unemployment will require measures that go beyond making labor markets more flexible. Increasing the flexibility of the housing markets, deregulating product markets, and breaking up infrastructure monopolies are likely to be as important. Trainingz and Education. For low-educated adults who have long left school, training programs or other forms of assistance directed at increasing their skills could potentially make a difference in raising their incomes or employment possibilities. A recent World Bank study found that training schemes for unemployed workers in three transition countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) had generally positive, though small, employment effects. The general evidence suggests that training carried out in association with a future potential employer and involving an on-the-job component has a higher probability of being effective. Private sector provision of training should be given priority. Training is also more effective for workers with low levels of education (primary and secondary), as opposed to postsecondary. General training in skills widely in demand (such as languages and computers) can also be considered. Finally, training programs should be done only on a very select basis, after a careful examination of labor market conditions, with an impact evaluation component built in from the start. More generally, to promote sustained growth and reduce unemployment over the long term, the education systems in the CEECs need to be reformed to provide the population with skills that are more appropriate for a market economy and that enable them to meet the challenge of global competition. This means that specialized education should be replaced by a broadly based vocational/technical education and the number of specializations should be downsized. Highly specialized vocational training should be left to employees.79 Minimum Wages. Minimum wages in the CEECs are not very high (usually below 40 percent of average wage) and as such do not have much effect on reducing aggregate employment demand. In Bulgaria, for instance, the minimum wage is now around 25 percent of the average wage, compared to a ratio of around 50 percent in France and Germany. However, in those countries where the minimum wage is higher (over 40 percent of average wage), such as in Poland, there is evidence that the minimum wage may be binding for certain groups (low- skilled, manual workers in low-paying sectors) and may be having a negative impact on youth employment. This suggests the need for caution in raising the real level of the minimum wage. It also suggests that a lower minimum wage may be considered for young workers, as is done in many European countries. 79 For a more detailed discussion of the required reforms for the education systems in the CEECs, see World Bank (2000d). 55 (ii) Social Protection Programs The key social protection challenge for most countries is to provide protection without comprising efficiency and growth objectives. Too much protection is costly both in terms of fiscal resources and compromising economic growth, while too little protection may give rise to destitution and endanger the long-term welfare of children. The two types of social protection programs in the CEECs are (i) social assistance programs which provide cash and in-kind transfers; and (ii) social insurance schemes which allow individuals to smooth consumption against particular adverse events (unemployment or disability) or over their lifetime (lack of savings). Available evidence suggests that social protection programs in the CEECs, particularly pensions, may have helped raise the living standards of the groups at risk, but have been very costly. Many countries spend too much on social insurance relative to their levels of income, and heavily tax their rapidly shrinking working populations to do so. Social assistance programs explicitly targeted to the groups at risk are not always successful in reaching those groups. The social protection programs in the CEECs need to be reformed to ensure that they are affordable, administratively feasible and take into account efficiency and equity trade-offs. The main issues and reform proposals relating to the two types of social protection programs are discussed next. a. Social Assistance The main form of social assistance in the CEECs is cash benefits, which include child allowances and means-tested social assistance. In-kind benefits, such as utility and housing subsidies - which are still common among the FSU countries - have been phased out in the CEECs in part because of fiscal constraints. The fiscal costs of social assistance programs are quite substantial, ranging from around 1 to 2 percent of GDP. There are also efficiency costs to these programs, as high benefit levels in many CEECs have resulted in weak or nonexistent work incentives. These programs also suffer from administrative problems. In Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania, for example, responsibility for financing social assistance has been transferred to local governments, with some support through central budget transfers. However, a lack of earmarking of budget transfers meant that the funds are often not used for this purpose. In Hungary, administration and financing of all or some social assistance programs is completely decentralized. This has given rise to inequities across jurisdictions or to low levels of financing. Fiscal and efficiency costs aside, the existing evidence also suggests that social assistance programs in the CEECs have not been very effective in achieving their objectives. The coverage of the groups at risk provided by social assistance is found to be quite low, and program effectiveness (share of benefit relative to average household expenditure) generally not very high. Child allowances are found to be better targeted than means-tested programs. Social assistance programs in the CEECs need to be reformed to meet the objective of channeling scarce resources in the most efficient way to provide basic needs - food, shelter and clothing - for the groups at risk, and to ensure that in doing so, governments are not creating a "poverty trap" or a culture of benefit dependency. Reforms of social assistance programs in the CEECs should follow the following principles. 56 The choice social assistance mechanism should be one based on means and asset testing. This is more feasible in higher income countries where the informal economy is limited and where administrative capacity, record keeping and registration of assets are fairly advanced. Given that mean testing is never perfect, the provision of child allowance may assure that families with children, who appear to be at highest risk of poverty in many CEECs, obtain some cash assistance if means testing fails. In countries where child poverty is a particular concern and means-tested poverty benefits cover a limited number of poor, they could be supplemented or replaced by universal or indicator-targeted child allowances. Another group at risk, elderly nonpensioners, might also be targeted this way. Indicator targeting of this kind would also be recommended in middle income countries where there is a high degree of informality and where it is difficult to verify incomes. In countries where the social assistance system is performing well in reaching the groups at risk, child allowances could be merged with the social assistance system, where the social assistance benefit scale is set so as to increase the threshold level of benefit per child. To avoid creating work disincentives, the social assistance programs should incorporate labor market incentives. This could be achieved through requiring beneficiaries to be registered with labor offices, limiting the duration of social assistance benefits, and keeping benefit levels low. Bulgaria addresses the work disincentive problem by disregarding 30 percent of wage income in the calculation of eligibility for benefits. In Estonia, nonworking household members of working age are not included in benefit calculations. Addressing the problems arising from decentralization of social assistance programs mentioned above would require that central governments be responsible for the determination of the level or threshold of social assistance and ensure that such programs are adequately financed. In some cases, the state may delegate the identification of the groups at risk to the community, since the latter knows the needs and conditions of its population better than the state. But, even in this case, the central government should monitor and audit the local governments to ensure that the latter are using and allocating resources according to agreed upon rules. In the CEECs, groups with special needs, including orphans, children with special needs, the severely disabled and the elderly in need of assistance, have become increasingly at risk. This has resulted from the legacy of over-reliance on residential institutions for social care under the previous socialist regime, coupled with deteriorating conditions in these institutions after transition as budgets have shrunk and operating costs have increased. Some CEECs have been exploring alternatives to institutions, such as community-based services. Lithuania introduced a number of pilot programs, including day schools for handicapped children and multiservice community centers which serve battered women, socially vulnerable children and former prisoners. In Romania, apartments with house parents are used to care for HIV-positive children. CEEC governments could encourage nongovernmental provision of such social services through introduction of legislation - where such legislation does not yet exist - that allows nongovernmental groups to raise revenues and enter into contractual arrangements. b. Social Insurance There are two main social insurance programs in the CEECs: pensions, which include old age, disability and survivors' insurance; and unemployment programs. Although the main objective of these programs is consumption-smoothing, they also have explicit or implicit redistributive objectives in reaching the groups at risk. In most countries, the ability of programs to "insure individuals" has been constrained, but they have had an important impact on raising the living standards of the groups at risk, particularly pensions. However, these programs impose high fiscal costs, averaging over 10 percent of GDP in the CEECs. Reforms are necessary both to reduce costs and to increase the efficiency with which they meet their objectives. 57 Unemployment insurance programs were introduced at the beginning of transition to protect the emerging large numbers of unemployed and to facilitate layoffs and promote restructuring. They imposed large fiscal costs because of generous benefits and coverage, and because layoffs and unemployment reduced the ratio of contributors to beneficiaries. In response, many CEECs reduced the level and duration of benefits and tightened eligibility criteria. The reduction in benefits has, however, not increased incentives to work, because many unemployed shift to social assistance (which is of indefinite duration) after their unemployment benefits expire. Reforms of unemployment insurance should include reduction of the high tax rates on contributors which have led to tax evasion and informalization of the economy. One recommendation is to set the tax rate for the unemployment insurance program to, say, 1 to 2 percent, which is at the lower end of the range of tax rates in transition countries. The tax should also be imposed on both employee and employer, as in most OECD countries, which would make the insurance link more clear to employees. Also, where politically possible, eligibility conditions should exclude students and new entrants to the labor force. Benefit duration should be limited to six to nine months to reduce work disincentives. These measures to reduce benefits should be coordinated with the social assistance program to avoid work disincentives and to ensure that cost savings are not offset by higher costs of social assistance. Finally, giving one-off generous severance payments to those who lost their jobs as a result of enterprise restructuring would be less fiscally costly than generous unemployment benefits which are difficult to reduce or phase out. The major issue related to pensions is fiscal sustainability. In the early transition period, growing unemployment, layoffs, poor tax compliance from the informal economy and early retirement policies all combined to raise the ratio of pensioners to contributors and created financial problems for most pension systems. The inherited generosity of public pensions further reduced the fiscal viability of pension systems. The high share of pensions in total government expenditures and GDP means that the insolvency of pension systems has major adverse implications for macroeconomic stability in many transition countries. In addition, the CEECs have to confront the long-term financial solvency of pension funds, due in most part to the future aging of the population. The high tax rates needed to finance the pension system, and the lack of a link between contribution and benefits, both encourage informalization of the economy. Early retirement in many countries has also reduced incentives for work, which in turn have negative implications for the financing of the pension systems. Reforms of the pension system would need to address both the fiscal issue and the incentive issue. The kind of reforms would depend on the income level of the country, which is related to the resources and administrative capacity for providing social protection. The main reform challenge for the middle and higher income countries is to tighten the benefit- contribution link to maintain workers' incentives to contribute to the system, downsize public systems in order to reduce the burden on public finances, lower tax rates on employees (and employers), and create room for the eventual introduction of a defined contribution plan. These options would need to be accompanied by minimum pensions or social assistance to serve equity objectives. Higher income countries could consider introducing multipillar mandatory pension schemes; assuming that financial market administrative capacities are adequately developed, the government can effectively regulate and supervise funds, and that the transition costs can be financed. This would allow individuals to obtain pensions from two sources: a benefit from the downsized public defined benefit pension system (the first pillar) and the benefit obtained from a portion of mandatory individual contributions which accumulate in individual accounts and are invested in (eventually) a diverse portfolio 58 of assets (second pillar). The accounts are managed by the private sector but are regulated and supervised by the state. To date, Hungary and Poland have introduced multipillar systems, while Bulgaria and Latvia have passed legislation implementing a multipillar system, and Estonia, Romania and Slovenia are considering doing so. The multipillar reformers, present and future, face a host of challenges. These include managing the financial costs of transition; transforming the role of govemment to one of supervisor; and designing the institutions of the second pillar. (iii) Social Inclusion Policies80 The Roma population is the most impoverished group in the CEECs. The high risk of poverty faced by the Roma population reflects such factors as discrimination within the society and cultural differences which have led to their marginalization in housing, exclusion from education and employment opportunities, and poorer health compared with the rest of the population. Roma issues have emerged under the political criteria for EU accession as part of the subchapter on "human rights and the protection of minorities." In its most recent country progress reports (October 1999), the EC specifically identified concern for the conditions of Roma as a priority issue for all of the Central and Eastern European applicant countries with sizeable Roma communities, including the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. Cross-sectoral policies that promote growth and improve the efficiency, equity and relevance of public services would certainly help address the problems of the Roma population. Specific policies to address the social exclusion aspects of their problem are also needed. These include ensuring access to education through, among other measures (i) stopping the practice of channeling "Roma" into special schools intended for the mentally and physically handicapped children, and integrating Roma children into the mainstream education system; and (ii) training teachers on Roma history and culture and to provide a link between the Roma communities and schools. They also include improving the targeting of social assistance through greater involvement of social workers in the Roma communities and of Roma facilitators who can assist in identifying isolated households and in providing language assistance. V. Challenges for the EU to Facilitate a Successful Integration At the same time that the CEECs are confronting the tremendous task of implementing the acquis and addressing the other key policy issues discussed above, the EU is facing the challenge of accommodating a large number of new members. This raises the issue of whether institutional changes are needed on the part of the EU regarding the size and composition of the European Commission; the weighting of votes within the European Council; and expansion of majority decisions within the Council. Major decisions are expected to be taken on these and other matters as part of the Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC) during the December 2000 summit of EU leaders who will meet in Nice at the end of the French EU presidency. In addition, the drive towards European unification is not only based on the desire for prosperity; perhaps even more importantly, it is based on the desire to secure peace in the heart of Europe. In fact, economic prosperity through increased integration is a means to the political security objectives. Indeed, this potential prosperity can be thwarted if important areas of Europe east and south of the current EU member and CEECs are left behind and a new "iron curtain" is erected. This, in turn, would lead to continued or even increased political instability in these countries. These considerations imply the need for the EU to address many of the problems in the immediate vicinity of the Union, including the 80 Discussion in this section is drawn from World Bank (2000g). 59 differences in wealth, insufficient infrastructure, trade barriers, illegal immigration, organized crime, environmental issues and minority questions. In the first instance, this concerns the countries of southeastern Europe which have so often been the origin and site of military and ethnic conflicts in Europe. The past decade of conflict has left this region with a legacy of inadequate growth and declining living standards. War, civil strife and ethnic conflict have fragmented societies, put strains on nascent political systems and destroyed institutions and infrastructure. Normal economic activities are seriously disrupted. As recognized by the signatories of the Stability Pact of Southeastern Europe,81 prospects for peace and prosperity for the subregion hinge critically on establishing a credible and predictable path for these countries to integrate with the European Union in the foreseeable future. Such a path would anchor expectations and provide a strong incentive for today's political leaders to reform and cooperate. Along the same vein, the Union has been intensifying its cooperation with its neighbors to the East, in particular Ukraine and Russia. The new Partnership and Cooperation Agreements that the EU has concluded with these countries set the path for such inclusive cooperation. A. The "Pan-European Framework" for Commercial Inteiration The initial process of EU accession that started with the signing of the EAs, followed by the signing of bilateral FTAs, has led to the development of a new framework of economic integration within the European continent. Because of the proliferation of bilateral FTAs and the emergence of a network of overlapping free-trade areas around the EU, the European Commission has sought to harmonize rules of origin among the 28 European partners of EU-inspired FTAs. The major outcome of these developments is the Pan-European Cumulation Arrangement (effective since January 1997) which, together with the elimination of import duties on industrial products on January 1, 2002 (provided for by amendments to the EAs), will establish a single free-trade area in industrial products linked through a system of diagonal cumulation (WTO, 1997). Introduction of this new, single free-trade area means that the previous system of bilateral cumulation of origin (under the bilateral FTAs) will be replaced by a diagonal cumulation of origin system.82 This implies the elimination of the disincentives to use inputs originating in separate free-trade areas. Therefore, countries in the EU and the CEECs are now able to benefit from a trade-based fragmentation of production (that is, moving across border various fragments of a supply chain) which has been the most dynamic component of international trade for the last decade (Feenstra 1998). This emerging framework for free trade in industrial products provides a good vehicle for integration and economic growth, even without quick EU membership. However, the framework has a main drawback stemming from the exclusion of agricultural products. This has two implications. First, staggered accession to the EU could create major economic dislocations in the agricultural sectors of those countries which are later entrants to the EU. One example is if the Czech Republic accedes before the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic would then have to adopt the EU's external tariffs, which would not be a problem for Slovak firms producing industrial products as these already enjoy duty-free access to EU markets. But the customs union agreement between the Czech and Slovak Republics also includes agricultural products. If the Slovak Republic accedes later than the Czech Republic, its farmers would have to compete on an unequal footing with subsidized EU agricultural products. More generally, the FTAs signed by the CEECs are more friendly towards free trade in agricultural products than the EU's 81 World Bank (2000f). 82 The system of bilateral cumulation of origin under the FTAs specifies that if "outside" imports embodied in a product exported to another partner of the FTA exceed a certain threshold, the product is subject to MFN rather than preferential tariffs. With diagonal cumulation, such a product will be subject to preferential tariffs. 60 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which remains a barrier to smooth regional integration. Second, exclusion of non-EU associate countries from this new framework could also create friction between them and the CEECs once the latter join the EU. To address these problems, reforms of the CAP will be important. Also, consideration should be given to including the non-EU associate countries in southeastern Europe in the Pan-European Cumulation framework. VI. Partners in the EU Accession Process The EU accession process has so far been largely driven by the European Commission (EC) and the governments of the candidate countries. Recognizing that the civil society in both the EU member states and the candidate countries are important partners in the process, the EC recently launched a major communications strategy "aiming to meet the need for information, generate dialogue with citizens and dispel misapprehension about the enlargement process...." "Reunifying our continent is for the European Union a core strategic priority, which cannot be limited to a close circle of negotiators, but must be widely explained to the people and supported by them." This strategy takes into account the fact that civil society in the EU candidate countries has much evolved over recent years and that citizens of these countries demand that their voices be heard and that they hold their governments accountable for their actions and decisions. This is a reflection of the democratization process which has taken root in all of these countries. Gaining the support of citizens of the current and future member countries provides the necessary legitimacy for the unification of Europe as envisaged by its forefathers. The World Bank has been assisting the ten CEECs in their transition process through lending operations and policy advice over the last decade.83 Since 1997, when the ten CEECs applied for EU membership, the World Bank has also been playing a major role in the EU enlargement process. The CEECs, all of which are World Bank members and most of them active borrowers for some time, have asked the World Bank to assist them through analytical advice and focused lending to meet the EU accession requirements. In addition, the EC, through the Agenda 2000 issued in July 1997, which lays out the terms and conditions under which the CEECs will be able to join the EU, recognized that it needs the participation and support of other international financial institutions (IFIs), such as the World Bank, in the EU enlargement process. Such assistance is being provided in the first instance by the EU's own bank, the European Investment Bank, but also involves the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, the Council of Europe Development Bank and, last but not least, the World Bank Group. In March 1998, these parties concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the purpose of better coordinating their respective financial assistance to the CEECs. The MoU notes specifically that the EC and the IFIs will seek to implement programs for cofinancing of suitable projects in candidate countries, and fostering their ability to comply with the EU's acquis. The MoU was recently amended to include cooperation under the EU's three pre-accession facilities (totaling euro 3 billion a year) available since the beginning of 2000 to the EU candidate countries. The three facilities are (i) Phare, which focuses on general institution building and technical assistance as well as social cohesion within and among the CEECs; (ii) ISPA, which focuses on acquis- related structural policies and investments in environment and transport; and (iii) SAPARD, which 83 See World Bank (2000c) for a discussion on World Bank involvement in the transition countries, including in the ten CEECs. 61 focuses on agriculture and rural development. Recent experience has shown that for each euro mobilized by the EU, an additional 4 euros have been mobilized by the IFIs under the said cooperation. World Bank investment lending to the EU candidate countries has averaged US$1 billion over the last few years. In addition, the World Bank has also - at the request of the accession countries - provided analytical support via country economic memoranda (CEM) on the challenges of EU accession. The first such report, "Reform and Growth on the Road to the EU," was prepared in 1997 for Poland. Similar reports have since been issued on the Slovak Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. A report on Bulgaria will be issued during the summer of 2000, and a report on Romania is being initiated. The CEMs are prepared in close consultation with the EC. As part of its analytical support, the World Bank has also helped establish partnerships between EU candidate countries and with EU member countries in areas such as financial and banking sector reforms, environment, agriculture and rural development, property rights and cadastre, public administration reform, etc. In an effort to also involve the civil society of the CEECs in the EU enlargement discussion, the World Bank and the Bertelsmann Foundation of Germany went into an innovative partnership in May 1999 to establish a network of CEEC research institutes and think tanks. This "Towards EU Integration" network aims to promote cross-border dialogue on key political, social and economic issues that are pertinent for EU accession. Some of the key elements of the partnership are (i) sharing with and dissemination to a wider audience in the accession countries key accession issues in order to create greater understanding and ownership of such issues; (ii) involvement of governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations in the cross-border dialogue; and (iii) capacity building of the institutes by linking them up with similar bodies in EU member and other countries. To date, three network events have taken place. In November 1999, participating institutes as well as a representative from Portugal presented various papers on "Winners and Losers of EU Integration: Policy Issues for Central and Eastern Europe." These papers have since been published by the World Bank in book form. In April 2000, a workshop on "Regional Cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe" was held in Sofia which discussed, among other issues, EU enlargement in the broader context of the Balkan Stability Pact. In June 2000, a workshop on "Communications Strategies in Selected Key Areas of EU Enlargement" was held in Budapest. This event coincided with the announcement by the EC a few weeks earlier of the need for greater attention to inform the public in both EU member and candidate countries on EU enlargement. The last two workshops were organized by CEEC institutes with the support of the World Bank and the Bertelsmann Foundation. Future workshops will, among other topics, address "Lessons from EU Member Countries for Accession Countries," with particular emphasis on Portugal and possibly Greece and Ireland; "Issues of National Identity and Sovereignty Related to EU Accession;" "Direct Neighborhood," which will focus on consequences of EU accession for countries in the East of the new member countries. 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L D B A 14 K the countries in Central and Eastern Europe 1818 II Street, N.Wand the Commonwealth of independent WashingtDn,.LJ.C. 00 00S204 _SA ; d - XStates still face major challenges: although T$pw 202000 -477S0-1234 S ; ER< much has been achieved in the transition to Fa>siniile: 20-47-39 - \ fmarket-based democracies, much remains to Te1e~:MCI 6443 WORflBANKbe done. The World Bank has been an active partner in helping countries design and im- MCI 248+23WOliLUBANKplement their reforms. E-ail:0 100 ok-s@w;o Wbank .org 8 The region has witnessed many successes, as well as setbacks, in the transition process. This series of publications is part of the Bank's con- tribution to the debate about the unfinished agenda and possible approaches to future chal- lenges. The 14 titles in the series cover the issues of resurgent poverty and inequality, the importance of sound corporate citizenship, strategies for better education systems, social and environmental protection, institution building, investments, and livable cities. The series was prepared to facilitate the discus- sions during, the thematic seminars at the 2000 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Prague, and thebroad-based dialogue to follow. "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-2340-