Economics of the Northern Dimension

In 1995 Finland joined, together with Sweden and Austria, the European Union. The integration strategy of Finland is to be an active partner in shaping Union policies. In concrete terms, this has meant that Finland was among the countries to join EMU in its conception in 1999. Another example of this has been the Finnish initiative of the Northern Dimension in 1997, which has been adopted by the European Council on the agenda of the Union. As such, it covers Union policies and bilateral links in the northern part of Europe with the aim to increase stability, both political and economic, and prosperity through increased co-operation in the Region. ETLA, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, has carried out intensive research throughout the entire 1990s on economic transition in the nearby countries and regions of Finland, especially in the Baltic countries and Russia. Therefore, in order to celebrate the first Finnish Presidency of the Union in the second half of 1999, we considered it to be a proper venture to organise a conference on the economics of the Northern Dimension. This is the collected volume of the papers and comments presented in the conference.