Four years after the EU enlargement

Four years on, Linas Balsys looks at the major EU enlargement in May 2004: "At the beginning, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were still known as the 'Baltic tigers' because they had the largest economic growth in the EU. But after just two years of membership inflation soared, particularly in Estonia and Latvia, and this has prevented the introduction of the Euro there until today. Lithuania tried its luck despite all the warnings of the European Commission, but its application was rejected. The most successful of the new member countries in this respect has been Slovenia, which really has fulfilled the criteria for the introduction of the Euro. ... For their part, Lithuania and other new EU states have entered the Schengen Zone and done away with passport controls on their borders."

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