It is a fact that the countries forming the European Union are so diverse that even European businesspeople suffer a lack of information on the cultural, political and economic differences, and this is still much more valid for potential US and Asian business partners and investors. Gathering good information on the most relevant facts and differences in the European countries is a precondition for avoiding fatal and expensive mistakes. Therefore it is a crucial challenge for those who have such information to deliver it to the interested public, to decision- makers in business, to scientists and students, and to integrate it into a compara- tive context. Within the growing and more and more integrating Europe it is highly desirable to support the development of better mutual understanding by good comprehensive information on the part of all the different countries, and to further the future development of a common European identity. For politically and economically interested people in other continents, it is useful to get more detailed information on the different socio-economic, political and cultural conditions prevalent in the various European countries.