After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the previous economic system, the countries of central and eastern Europe went into a deep economic recession, resulting in a decline in Gross Domestic Product that was mirrored by a serious downturn in the transport sector.

The transport sector, like the economy in general, changed from a supply-based system to one driven by demand. Decisions were no longer imposed by central planners, but by the market. Round Table 106 set out to assess the state of the transport sector in central and eastern European countries after a period of five to six years of reform. Are the policies currently in place adequate to meet restructuring needs? All of the countries concerned are planning to join the European Union and with that in mind tend to organise their transport sector along the lines of the Community's model of competition. But is this model consistent with the attitudes and realities of former socialist countries? These are some of the issues addressed by the Round Table 106.