Professor Lino Briguglio, Director of the Islands and Small States Institute, is the editor of a new book entitled 'Small States and the European Union: Economic Perspectives'. The book is published by Routledge UK.
The book deals with the small states and candidate states of the EU, with a focus on their economic structure and performance, and the impact of EU membership (past, actual and potential) on the economy. The small states covered are those with a population of 3 million or less, namely: Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia.
This title adds to the literature on the EU, on regional integration generally and on small states. It delves into the special constraints of small economic size, and examines why and how the small states of Europe manage to compete, albeit not without difficulty, with the larger states in the block, where free trade prevails.
The book answers the following research questions: What are the special economic development constraints faced by the small states of the EU? What policy options have been used by, or are available to, these small states to address these constraints?
The book will be available as of June. Details about the book and a pre-publication offer are available online.