As several central and eastern European nations and Baltic states prepare to join the European Union (EU), the European Commission is scheduled to complete a report on the status of women scientists in such countries by the end of 2003, according to the Commission. The report, by the Enwise Expert Group, is in advance of the EU's first batch of 10 new members, due to enter in 2004: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta. If all goes according to plan, they will be joined by Romania and Bulgaria in 2007. Negotiations with Turkey are beginning, and other countries may follow.
"It seems timely, on the eve of enlargement, to give women scientists from Central and Eastern European countries and the Baltic states an opportunity to report on the situation they are facing in universities and research institutes, after the fall of Communism...