The current work is the fourth volume in the series "Europe's Economic Future", edited by Strasbourg's Robert Schuman University, under the direction of Professor Sabine Urban, head of the CESAG-IECS research center. This series intends to analyze the European situation - not through idealized models of operation or abstract schemas - rather based on concrete observations, equally close to the actions and the life of the European citizen as of Europe's corporation and institutions. The studies that are presented here are not, however, simply descriptions; they refer to precise conceptual frameworks and nourish long-term reflection. The authors of this work are professors of universities representing a wide range of horizons: ltaly, Finland, Austria, the United States and Britain, not to mention from the heart of Europe, Germany and the Netherlands. The authors share the common experience of having served as visiting professors at Robert Schuman University (IECS Strasbourg) during the 1995-96 academic year. This volume, like its predecessors, reflects the diversity which characterizes Europe, rich and stimulating but, at the same time, difficult to manage.