European regional policies and eastern EU expansion

The eastern expansion of the EU is taking on concrete form. In the coming years the European Union could become a community of 27 independent states. However, it is not only the considerable increase in the number of member states that gives the eastern expansion its particular dimension. It is above all the fact that the accession candidates are, without exception, transformation countries that are considerably behind the development of the EU-15 countries. Too great a difference in welfare within a highly integrated economic region can lead to considerable migration pressure which can only be eased by a corresponding redistribution to the benefit of the poorer countries. Prof. Joachim Weinmann, who holds the chair in economics and economic policy at the University of Magdeburg, examines how justified these concerns with regard to eastern expansion are. He investigates how the situation in eastern Germany will change, which itself is still a recipient of considerable transfer payments. His remarks paint a fairly bleak picture, especially with regard to the impact of eastern expansion on European structural policy.