The information on this site is subject to a disclaimer and a copyright notice . There is clear evidence that GDP per head, and therefore the output and income of poorer regions, is converging towards the EU average. In the four Cohesion countries taken together, the gap narrowed by around 10 percentage points over the period and projections for 1999 suggest a further narrowing of 2 percentage points. This rate of convergence is unusually rapid, both in historical and global terms. A marked growth in trade as European economies have become more integrated has been a major stimulus, exports and imports between the Cohesion Four and the rest of the EU doubling in real terms between 1986 and 1996 and now amounting to over 100 billion ECU in both cases.
Significant disparities remain, however, and convergence remains a long-term process.
In addition, although GDP per head in most of the poorer regions is converging towards the EU average, the pace at which this happens varies and different types of region have performed very differently. Rural areas, in particular, are vulnerable, especially those with heavy dependence on agriculture. New challenges lie ahead. Enlargement in the past has brought new problems for the Union, but also new opportunities and increased diversity. The prospective enlargement to the East is no different in these respects.