Chezch Automotive Industry

European Business and Global Markets

Benefits and costs of the EU to Rail Transportation in the Czech Republic / Economic & Monetary Union to Ireland

SIT2011

An Analysis

By

Michael Fox

U1062814

Executive Summary

The scope of this report analyses the benefits and costs of EU membership to Rail Transportation in the Czech Republic, a new 2004 member state, along with the benefits and costs of EU membership to Economic Monetary Union in Ireland.

In order to draw summative comparisons, various trade journals, corporate reports and academic studies were used to provide evidence and act as both a resource and point of reference throughout. These mostly consisted of modern, current articles, but several pre-2000 sources were used where they presented sound logical reasoning, or even in some cases, prediction.

Conclusions drawn to the Rail infrastructure within the Czech Republic identify the benefits Czech EU membership has brought. These are primarily through improved efficiency and a guideline for infrastructure and service development. Costs are identified as the sheer capital required to enhance the infrastructure and service to this level, and that these enhancements have not yet been effectively implemented.

Conclusions drawn about the Irish Economic Monetary Union help to explain why the Irish economy experienced a significant boom during the early/mid 2000’s, but also how the Irish economy was highly exposed through this association with the EU to the 2008 economic recession.

Contents

1 | | Executive Summary | 2 |

2 | | Contents | 3 |

3 | | Introduction | 4 |

4 | | The benefits and costs of EU membership to Rail Transportation in the Czech Republic | 5 |

| 4.1 | Trends | 6 |

| 4.2 | SWOT analysis | 7 |

| 4.3 | Respective situation of EU involvement in Czech Rail | 8 |

5 | | Benefits and Costs of Economic and Monetary Union to Ireland | 10 |

| 5.1 | Benefits | 10 |

| 5.2 | Costs | 11 |

6 | |...