Correlations between European integration and sub-regional cooperation - Theoretical background, experience and policy impacts

`This working paper is based on the findings of an international research programme. The aim was to make a comparative analysis of the interactions between European integration and sub-regional cooperation, placing it in a historical setting. Four European sub-regions were selected for study: the Benelux countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands), the two Iberian countries (Portugal and Spain), the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), and the founder members of CEFTA (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia). To ensure that findings would be comparable, the four sub-regions were surveyed according to uniform principles. The project focuses on the economic implications of sub-regional cooperation and European integration. However, some basic security, political and institutional aspects with strong economic implications could not be ignored.