The A8 is an acronym which refers the 8 Eastern and Central European countries who joined the European Union in 2004. They are the Czech republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The inclusion of the A8 was the single largest expansion of the European Union in its entire history.
Net Migration Of A8 Workers To The UK 2004-2008
The A8 nations have a GDP per capita that is about 40% of the EU average. This sparked fears across Europe of a Mass migration of low income central and eastern European families towards Western Europe. However, immigration didn't occur to such an rapid extent. Largely down to the most recent recession cutting down job opportunities forcing many migrant laborers to return home (As the graph for the UK immigration stats from the A8 above shows). The European Union Development fund is supporting the A8 countries in their development and within the coming decades they should reach much higher levels of development allowing them to contribute back to the European Union.
