Mr. Ivailo Kalfin:

Ireland is a case study of 50 years. From 2007, we have a bit less than 20 years' history and are still considered a new member. This is a fantastic opportunity and an absolute win-win. On the labour market, there is lots of labour mobility, which is to the advantage of the older member states. Quality skilled people are coming because of not only better salaries but better living conditions, public services and so on. To look at the economic dynamics, I mentioned the creation of jobs and the percentage made up by the service economy. Productivity in the new member states is rising faster than in the old member states. Again, although I say "new member states", having 20 years' history, they are not so new. There is still this process of catching up. This is positive for these countries. While they are losing some of the labour as people go somewhere else and may not return, their economies catch up and go further. I am not touching on the political or security sides but, from the purely economic side, longer term enlargement is very positive and would represent a win-win.