On 1 May 2004, ten states (mostly from Central
and Eastern Europe) became members of the
European Union. Fears have been expressed that the
accession of the CEEC (Central and Eastern European
countries) might increase economic divergence within
the EU and result in more asymmetric shocks acting
on European economies. In particular, some observers
regard the membership of former Communist
countries as a threat to the macroeconomic stability of
the EU as the political systems in some of them are
seen to have only a weak tradition of macroeconomic
policies for stability and growth.