European Union Accession: The Challenges for Public Liability Management in Central Europe

As the European Union (EU) launches its common currency (the Euro) , Central European (CE) nations are searching for best practices in public liability management in order to smooth their integration into the EU. This work addresses that concern, examining borrowing policies, institution building, portfolio optimization, and the implications of the Euro and EU accession for public debt management. To help the CE countries achieve their goals, the World Bank and the European Commission held a two-day seminar in Brussels in mid-December 1997. European Union Accession presents the papers delivered at that seminar which was attended by all ten EU applicant countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia. The workshop pursued the following goals: 1. to investigate the implications of the launch of the Euro and of the EU accession on fiscal prudence and on the borrowing strategies of CE countries; 2. to facilitate the dissemination of the best public liabilities management techniques developed worldwide; and 3. to explore plausible arrangements to promote prudent public liabilities management in Central Europe through a regional expertise network.