Afternoon Must-Read: Zsolt Darvas: The Convergence of East-Central (Central-Eastern?) Europe: Warsaw, Bratislava, and Prague Now Richer than Vienna

Zsolt Darvas: 10 years EU enlargement anniversary: Waltzing past Vienna: “Since their accession to the European Union ten years ago, something extraordinary…

…has has been going on in the central European capitals. Measured in purchasing power…. Warsaw, Bratislava and Prague now have a higher GDP per capita than Vienna. The Österreichs Kaiserstadt has been the reference point for central European countries for centuries – and a reference point now too, due to geographical closeness and strong trade and financial links. Budapest is also not far behind… other anniversary members’ capitals are closing the gap as well, except the Ljubljana region… in sharp contrast to the relative positions of capitals in southern European countries, which have not converged to the average of the core EU countries during the past decade and have even diverged since 2009. Rome, Madrid and Lisbon now have a GDP per capita at PPS comparable to Bucharest and lower than in Warsaw, Bratislava, Prague and Budapest…