Transformation Processes in the Former Black Triangle

Abstract

This paper reviews economic and demographic changes in those parts of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic in the former ‘Black Triangle’, tracking differences and similarities in the trajectory of change. The region covers 34,000 km² and contains 5.7 million people. In 1989, it was one of the most polluted in Europe, but by 2002, remediation was largely complete. The area is mountainous and home to large deposits of minerals, particularly brown coal. Approximately 80 % of the Czech Republic’s energy was produced in the region, as was much of eastern Germany’s. The areas in the three countries started with similar problems, but have followed different development trajectories. In 1989, the three countries changed from centrally planned one-party systems to pluralistic, free-market democracies. There was a shift away from heavy industry and labour-intensive agriculture. As part of the EU, German regions benefitted from EU and German Federal assistance. The Polish and Czech regions had only limited assistance from the EU and their national governments. However, the pace of change was more rapid in the German regions, leading to depopulation and high unemployment. The area has passed through four stages of growth: 1989–1993, shrinking to health; 1994–1999, restructuring; 2000–2005, stabilisation on a new level; and 2006 onwards, divergence and growth. The first phase saw the closure of many firms and privatisation of the rest, with a rise in unemployment and outmigration. In Germany, decline persisted in the second phase, but in Poland and the Czech Republic, the situation improved. In the third phase, new firms and new growth clusters appeared. In the latest phase, while heavy industry has continued to decline throughout the region, growth has increased in the Czech Republic and Poland, reflecting both national trends and the local situation. However, there are still gaps in infrastructure. Today, there is considerable potential for cross-border cooperation and development. Saxony, the Land in which the German area is located, has extensive experience in corporate fund raising and applying for and using EU aid. Labour costs in Poland and the Czech Republic are below those in Germany and below the European average. However, barriers to cooperation remain in the form of legal frameworks, lack of institutions to facilitate cross-border management of projects, different degrees of centralisation in the three countries and lack of a stable forum to build consensus and develop programmes.