ABSTRACT
In January 2007, with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, the second round of the Eastern enlargement of the European Union (EU) has been completed, the first round of which was realised in May 2004 with the accession of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. This is the most recent integration step in a series of subsequent steps since the foundation of the European Economic Community in 1957, other important steps being the Northern enlargement in 1973 admitting Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom, the Southern enlargement in 1981 and 1986 admitting Greece, Spain and Portugal, the Single Market Programme (SMP) in 1993, the EFTA enlargement in 1995 admitting Austria, Finland and Sweden, and the completion of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999. As before, this new advance of integration is likely to increase trade and factor mobility thereby intensifying interregional competition and affecting the interregional division of labour within the enlarged EU.
