LocationsTwenty years ago, on May 1, 2004, the EU almost doubled the number of its member countries overnight. The EU enlargement to the east brought final closure to post-war division of the continent. But at the time it also brought about the fear of mass labor migration from the newly joined EU countries.
"From today's perspective, those concerns were unfounded," summarizes LBBW Chief Economist Moritz Kraemer. "Instead of displacing German workers, the accession countries have contributed to keeping our labor market running."
"Two decades of eastern enlargement are a reason to celebrate," Kraemer believes. You can read about the consequences he recommends for the near and distant future in the current issue of Kraemer's "To the point”.
