The Enlargement of the European Union: Opportunities for Business and Trade

On 1 May 2004, almost 15 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the European Union was again enlarged. This time, 10 new member states have joined up: Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic enlarging the population to 450 million. The event sees the creation of the second-largest unitary market in the world (66% larger than the United States of America).

The Enlargement of the European Union - Opportunities for Business and Trade is a practical guide, intended to offer a reference framework for businesses trading within the accession countries and also for businesses that do not want to miss out on the new opportunities.

The book is split into three sections:

• The first section outlines the new framework of the EU and how the enlargement will impact on business. It will answer questions on; migration of labour forces, border controls, European investment, economic changes and preparing business for enlargement.
• The second section concentrates on the new legislation that has come into force in the accession countries since 1 May 2004 and includes practical illustration and examples. A list of Frequently Asked Questions looks at the impact of enlargement on a number of areas including proscribed state aids, intellectual property and human resources.
• Finally, direct and indirect (VAT, customs and excise) taxation are also dealt with. Amongst the questions coming up for discussion here are: What are the corporation tax rates? Will the VAT rules in the 10 new member states (and in the other 15) be identical? What changes are there regarding customs and excise? And what transitional measures are there?