At least in GDP per capita terms, Poland has caught up with Portugal and Czechia has caught up with Spain. Meanwhile Ukraine, which was not on the EU track and

At least in GDP per capita terms, Poland has caught up with Portugal and Czechia has caught up with Spain. Meanwhile Ukraine, which was not on the EU track and was about as rich as Poland in 1989, saw a much longer drop in GDP after 1989 and its GDP per capita is now just 1/3rd of Poland's. It's difficult to imagine how Eastern European countries would have fared better had they not joined the EU. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-maddison-2020?time=1968..2018&country=ESP~PRT~GRC~FRA~ITA~POL~CZE~UKR https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-maddison-2...