The countries that are about to come into the EU have adopted a transition model that gives much importance to measures for the reduction of social costs of transition, attributing a central role to redistribution policies. These States have transformed their economies, creating considerable unemployment but at the same time limiting inequalities. Income gaps have thus increased following the transition to a market economy but there have not been explosive repercussions as was the case in the ex-Soviet Republics. These redistribution policies have undoubtedly encouraged structural reforms allowing the entry of these countries into the EU but at the same time, they have caused fiscal imbalances. The correction of such imbalances is one of the more the most complex problems that the new member countries will have to face in a context of EU fiscal regulations which have been conceived for countries at much higher levels of development.only subscribers can see the full article