, also become subject to competition from countries covered by reciprocal trade agreements with the eu, and inefficient and high - cost producers in malta could well be driven out of the market. to a great extent, however, this adjustment is already taking place, not least because the removal of import levies is well underway. thus, while there could be some increased costs, the effects on unemployment should be limited. in any case, both the government and the eu have mechanisms designed to assist uncompetitive firms. it could also be argued that some job losses are inevitable if we really want to give consumers a better deal while promoting the competitiveness of domestic firms. a short - term increase in unemployment, moreover, could well be reversed. this is not an unrealistic expectation. investors from non - eu countries will find that they would be in a better position to tap the enlarged eu market by consolidating their activities in the new members than by accessing these markets separately. the opportunities which enlargement would provide for investors should not be underestimated given that europe is the region having the greatest concentration of regional trade agreements with third countries, and that it is also the region with the highest proportion of imports that is outsourced from partners covered by such agreements. the resultant increase in employment opportunities should compensate for any jobs lost through restructuring. the prospect of access to a large market will not, of course, alone guarantee larger inflows of fdi. investment decisions are not based solely on considerations of market size. unfortunately, malta is at a disadvantage in terms of other relevant criteria such as resource endowments and transport costs. such deficiencies, therefore, have to be made up for through other factors, including a sound it could also be argued that the additional tax revenue from the application of the cet to imports from non - eu countries would make up at least partly for any losses arising from the removal of duties on intra - eu trade and trade with eu partners covered by reciprocal agreements. the cotonou agreement additionally foresees that the number of developing countries that will continue to receive nonreciprocal access to eu markets under other agreements of this type is expected to decline, although there could remain a certain degree of asymmetry in timing to take into account the specific needs of developing countries. it is also relevant to mention that although malta does not benefit directly from the pre - accession funds which are available to the other accession countries of eastern europe,

of the existing eu - 15 is that the prospective longterm benefits of membership outweigh the costs. that is why they are anxious to become members. european commission, directorate general for economic and financial affairs. ( 2001 ) “ the economic impact of enlargement. ” enlargement papers no 4. june. http : / / europa. eu. int / economy _ finance. the report notes that between 2005 and 2009 the average growth rate in 8 of the accession countries ( the first wave of exceeding countries excluding malta and cyprus ) will be 2. 9 %, 4. 6 % and 6. 1 %, respectively under the baseline scenario, a central scenario and an optimistic scenario. in a similar vein, a recent report by the national bank of hungary concludes that the adoption of the euro could boost economic growth in hungary by between 0. 6 to 0. 9 percentage points annually for 20 years. most of the growth will come from increased international trade. see national bank of hungary, occasional paper 24, “ adopting the euro in hungary : expected costs, benefits and timing ”, by attila csajbok and agnes csermely. until such time as an equally well - documented argument is made which seriously questions this view, the case for membership remains a compelling one.