Where is Europe going? In this collection, several prominent European economists offer essays on the five big challenges to the development of the European Union (EU). Namely, the new European Constitution, European finances and the Euro, the need to boost economic growth, competition in both new member states and countries further to the East, and the goal of forming a cooperative and productive relationship with countries on the European periphery. The book includes essays by Charles Wyplosz, who argues that enlargement and deepening are not substitutes but complements; Vito Tanzi who questions the Keynesian foundation of the Growth and Stability Pact; Daniel Gros, who criticises the achievements within the Lisbon Agenda, as well as essays by Anders Aslund, who claims that Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs differ little from US 'robber barons'. The final two chapters discuss the EU's European Neighbourhood Policy and long-term economic integration in Eurasia.

List of charts, tables, and boxes; Contributors; Acknowledgments; Introduction Anders Åslund and Marek Dabrowski; 1. Has Europe lost its heart? Charles Wyplosz; 2. Economic implications of the social provisions of the stalled EU constitution Georges de Menil; 3. Fiscal policy and fiscal rules in the European Union Vito Tanzi; 4. Design and implementation of the stability and growth pact: the perspective of new Member States Fabrizio Coricelli; 5. Perspective on the Lisbon strategy: how to increase European competitiveness Daniel Gros; 6. Is Europe reforming? Evidence from cross-country structural indicators Patrick Lenain; 7. Recovery growth as a stage of post-socialist transition Yegor T. Gaidar; 8. Comparative oligarchy: Russia, Ukraine and the United States Anders Åslund; 9. The economic rationale of the 'European neighborhood policy' Susanne Milcher, Ben Slay and Mark Collins; 10. Economic integration of Eurasia: opportunities and challenges of global significance Johannes F. Linn and David Tiomkin.