Introduction -- Patterns of Heterogeneity: The Competitiveness of the EU Countries: Multi-dimensional Cluster Analysis Approach -- Long-Run Heterogeneity Across the EU Countries -- Sustainable Development in the EU -- Policies for Competitiveness, Social Inclusion and Sustainability in the EU: Current Developments in Corporate Social Responsibility in the EU -- The Internationalisation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises as a Path to Competitiveness -- Key Aspects of Competitiveness: Focus on European Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises -- Pigouvian Carbon Tax Rate: Can It Help the European Union Achieve Sustainability?- Strategies and Instruments - The Potential for Policy Learning: A Lesson for the Contemporary European Periphery from the Transition Process of the CEE Countries -- Geospatial Infrastructure for European Union Sustainable Development -- Reforming Welfare States.

This book brings together the work of researchers in Eastern and Western Europe, who analyze competitiveness, social exclusion and sustainability from a range of perspectives. It examines the key challenges faced by the EU in its efforts to establish a socially inclusive and greener path to growth, and develops policy recommendations to simultaneously achieve the EU 2020 agenda’s long-term goals and address the current economic crisis in Europe.      .