It has been closely involved with preparations for membership by the five most developed Eastern European countries - Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia - and the three Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who are all expected to join the EU in 2004.
The EPP did well, thanks to strong centre-right showings in some of the new members, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
Now, most live in eastern Europe, mainly Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Turkey.
The first, comprising the poorest eight new members - Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Malta - will have a fifth of the EU population but on average just 42% of the GNP per capita.
The summit offered a reassurance to the 10 candidate countries (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) that they should be able to finish negotiations by the end of the year, sign a Treaty of Accession in 2003 and join in 2004.
As well as being active in Poland it also has interests in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
They are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta.
The new member states are Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
In 2004, the EU took in new members the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
But from 2006, most countries lifted the restrictions on workers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland.
Since 2004, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia were all admitted into the EU, with Romania and Bulgaria joining in 2007.
The EU took in 10 new members - Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - on 1 May, 2004.
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