  It is expected that incorporating the center symmetry in the conventional
dimensionally reduced effective theory for high-temperature SU(N) Yang-Mills
theory, EQCD, will considerably extend its applicability towards the
deconfinement transition. The construction of such a center-symmetric effective
theory for the case of two colors is reviewed and lattice simulation results
are presented. The simulations demonstrate that unlike EQCD, the new
center-symmetric theory undergoes a second order confining phase transition in
complete analogy with the full theory.
