Small states catching up - the European experiences of Ireland & Estonia Estonia - Lessons for Macedonia and the EU

The Irish Foreign Ministry, the Delegation of the European Commission and ESI organized a seminar in the government building in Skopje, Macedonia. It brought together 30 Macedonian key decision makers, including a number of government ministers, parliamentarians, mayors as well as members of the business community with experts from Ireland and Estonia.

The focus was on the experience of small European states - the Republic of Ireland in the last three decades and Estonia since 1991 – trying to catch up economically and institutionally with the rest of Europe. Speakers examined sectoral and regional policies, industrial strategies, and general development paths in the recent past and related them to the specific context of contemporary Macedonia.

Please click here to view and download the presentations made by Gerald Knaus, ESI President, John Bradley, research professor at the Dublin-based Economic and Social Research Institute and Natalie Lubenets from the Ministry of Finance of Estonia.