I find it very useful that such a comprehensive stock-taking exercise is undertaken at this moment in time, since the accession of these countries to the Union is a distinct step marking the beginning of a new phase in their economic and monetary integration within the EU.
Looking back over the past years, it is obvious that the new EU Member States have made remarkable progress in terms of macroeconomic stabilisation. Eight of them transformed their planned economies into market economies and integrated them through trade and financial relations with the euro area.