Development of the Visegrad Group in the Context of Efforts to Accelerate the Convergence Processes by Joining the European Union

Abstract

Abstract The European integration efforts have been underway on the European continent for several centuries. Therefore, it is important for a better clarity and transparency of selected processes to understand the term European integration, meaning the integration endeavour into the European Union, which in the case of the Visegrad countries took a notable place since the early nineties of the 20th century. This research paper focuses on analysis and comparison of selected development processes in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary since the fall of the communist regime in 1989, resulting into the Visegrad Group formation, until joining the European Union in 2004. This research is based on the hypothesis that during this period, the V4 countries had a similar initial economic situation, converging together towards developed structures and corresponding mainly to questions such as what they were their starting situation and how have those countries developed further. It will be further addressed what was the cause of this development and how it continued, showing which countries have led the way, and what factors did influence them the most.