It will take the Baltic states some 30 to 50 years to catch up to living standards in current European Union states

It will take the Baltic states some 30 to 50 years to catch up to living standards in current European Union states, according to a study released this week by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Among Eastern European countries, it said that Estonia and Slovenia would close the economic gap the fastest, roughly reaching EU living standards in 31 years; it said it would take Lithuania 53 years and Latvia 58. Romania will take the longest time to catch up, some 80 years, the London-based research group estimated. The calculations were made on the basis of relatively optimistic growth scenarios, with annual GDP growth in the Baltics states staying at or above 4 percent for the next several decades. But the report warned that it could take the countries even longer to match standards of wealth farther West if government leaders make the wrong policy choices. “The true impact depends not on the mere fact of adding countries to the EU club, but on the interplay between policy and the potential that enlargement creates,” said Daniel Franklin, Editorial Director of the Economist Intelligence Unit. Economic performance will vary, and with it the pattern of growth across the EU, but intensified competition in an enlarged single market generally will encourage policies that make markets more open and flexible, the report said.