'Stuck in Transition'? The EBRD Transition Report 2013

26 November 2013
Join UCL SSEES and the European Institute for the launch of this year's EBRD Transition Report, a unique source of information on developments in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

This is a free event and all are welcome but pre-registration is essential.

Following publication of the annual Transition Report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies and the UCL European Institute are organising a panel discussion involving prominent academics and politicians.

The Transition Report is a unique source of information on developments in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The latest report highlights that economic reform continues to stagnate in the transition region, as reforms face significant political, social and human capital constraints. Progress in transition across countries has been closely correlated with their political systems: more democratic countries have come further, in terms of reform, than less democratic countries. But even and especially in the more democratic countries, public opinion turned against market reform after the 2008‐09 financial crisis. This reversal may have begun to show consequences, as witnessed by an increase in the number of "downgrades" in EBRD transition indicators, particularly in EU countries, since 2010. The long-term growth forecast is also projected to be modest.

This event will present the main findings of the 2013 EBRD Transition Report, and critically examine these with a range of political and economic experts.

Chair:
Slavo Radosevic, Professor of Industry and Innovation Studies and Acting Director, UCL SSEES

Principal Presenter:
Peter Sanfey, Deputy Director of Country Strategy and Policy within the Office of the Chief Economist at the EBRD

Panellists:

• Božidar Delić, Serbian economist and politician, Minister of Finance in the first post-Milošević government of Zoran Đinđić in 2001-2003, and Vice-President of the government from 2007 to 2011, from the list of Democratic Party.
• Júlia Király, Professor of Economics, former Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Hungary and Member of the Monetary Council from 2007 to 2013.
• Tomasz Mickiewicz, Professor of Comparative Economics at UCL SSEES (until 2012), currently Professor within the Economics and Strategy Group at Aston Business School.