The State of Public Finances in Post-socialist, Central European Economies: a Comparison with the European Union Countries

Introduction

On December 16, 1991 Poland signed an Association Agreement with the European Communities which came into force on February 1, 1994. The remaining countries of the Wyshegrad  Group  (Hungary,  and  the  Czech  and  Slovak  Republics)  also  signed  such agreements with the European Union. It is  interesting, both from the perspective of these countries' potential membership in the European Union, as well as the necessity of creating fiscal systems complying with market economy  requirements,  to  compare  the  budgetary position of these countries with the state of public finances in the Community's countries.