What is the impact of the enlargement on EU specialisation and location patterns?
22 At the beginning of the transition towards a market-based economy, mass privatisation and macroeconomic stabilisation programmes were implemented in CEECs. Meanwhile, the former USSR economically and politically collapsed and the first trade agreements with EEC (the EU’s predecessor) were adopted. As a consequence, the CEECs’ trade flows were largely redirected towards the EU countries thanks to proximity advantages and cultural links. In 2000, the EU members took around two thirds of the CEECs exports whereas they accounted for only 50% in 1993. 23 The question of their potential for economic catching-up becomes crucial with the formal integration of these countries into the EU. In terms of per capita GDP, the newcomers lag behind EU members more than did Spain, Greece and Portugal when they joined the EEC (table 1). Slovenia, by far the most advanced country among CEECs, reaches 70% of EU per capita GDP compared with an average of 45% in the other Central and Eastern European coun
