Economic integration, regional structural change and cohesion in the EU new member-states Petrakos George*, Fotopoulos Georgios** and Kallioras Dimitris* * University of Thessaly – SEED Center ** University of Patras – SEED Center Abstract The systemic change in Central and Eastern Europe has caused radical changes in the socio-economic status of the European continent, with the parallel and interacting processes of integration and transition as the driving forces. The need for the period of transition and pre-accession to be re-evaluated is evident, concerning the mobility of economic activities and the possible re-location of industries, the behavior of the individual regions, the dynamics of regional discrepancies and the stability of the territorial structures, in the area of the EU new member-states. A series of question needs to be answered: i) what is the impact of economic integration on regional industrial patterns? ii) have advanced and lagging-behind regions developed similar or different types of regional specialization? iii) have metropolitan and peripheral regions developed the same or different mix of economic activities? iv) are there particular types of structural change more closely related to strong growth performance? v) is the process of integration associated with winners and losers at the regional level? The reported findings and conclusions constitute a valuable basis for the understanding of the impact of economic integration on regional structural change and cohesion in the EU new member-states’ area. Key-Words: EU new member-states, economic integration, regional structural change, regional cohesion JEL: R11, R12 1