L'économie des Länder est-allemands : une trajectoire originale

The Economy of the East German Länder. A Unique Trajectory
Nine years ago the Berlin Wall was dismantled, giving way to German unification. Some have regarded this as a challenge on the scale of integrating central and eastern European countries into the European Union. While the analogy may be questionable, there is no doubt that the political economic and social challenge was formidable. Were the Eastern Länder condemned to remain for decades at the retarded periphery, the Mezzogiorno of the German industrial giant, or would they be promoted into the ranks of the most modern European regions?
Nine years later, at the end of the Kohl era, Rémi Lallement evaluates a recovery which does not fit into black and white categories. The Eastern Länder have partially caught up but have not yet overcome all of their handicaps. He explains why, showing which efforts have been successful and identifying the major challenges that remain.
The author adds, however, that the present German conjuncture is not very favorable to an accelerated pursuit of the recovery. On the other hand, it appears that the Eastern Länder are developing in a pattern noticeably different from the well known Rhenan one. Neither catch-up nor Mezzogiorno, it seems. The Eastern Länder are varied, and some of them at least could play a leadership role between the East and the West.