Dette er så meget mere nødvendigt, fordi udvidelsen mod øst formodentlig vil øge det nuværende økonomiske og sociale samhørighedsunderskud i EU 15, således at de regionale asymmetrier vil øges inden for EU som følge af udvidelsesprocessen, især mellem centrum og periferi, så lande som Portugal kommer endnu længere ud i periferien, og det nuværende centrum bliver endnu stærkere, fordi det bliver centrum for et Europa, der er økonomisk integreret fra vest og næsten helt til dets østlige grænse.
This is all the more important because eastwards enlargement will probably accentuate the lack of economic and social cohesion in the current Europe of Fifteen, in other words, regional asymmetries could increase within the current European Union as a result of the dynamics created by the enlargement process, particularly in the relationship between the outermost regions and the centre of Europe. In other words, countries such as Portugal could become further consigned to the edges of Europe and the current centre and could become even stronger because it will then be the centre of a Europe which is economically integrated from its western almost to its eastern borders.