Business Models for Strategic Innovation

4Assessing the dynamic of agri-food export trends before and after the EU Eastern Enlargement

Antonino Galati, Marcella Giacomarra and Maria Crescimanno

Introduction

One of the most important political and economic challenges faced by the European Union (EU) in the last decade has been the enlargement to the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). Two historical events marked this process: first, in 2004, during which the biggest enlargement took place with the entry of Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia; and second, after three years, in 2007, with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria.

In the enlargement process as well as in the framework of the EU’s bilateral relations ...