When Poland and six other former communist countries entered the EU last year, many feared they would lose their most talented and skilled denizens to Britain, Ireland and Sweden

When Poland and six other former communist countries entered the EU last year, many feared they would lose their most talented and skilled denizens to Britain, Ireland and Sweden - richer EU countries that have opened their labor markets to new EU members. At the same time, British tabloids warned of the impending onslaught of Slovak and Hungarian Gypsies willing to work for low wages. And France and Germany, along with most of the old EU members, imposed a seven-year waiting period on opening up their labor markets, fearing a mass migration of workers from the East would threaten jobs and bring down wages at home. Ten months after the EU's historic expansion, very few of the fears have materialized. Those most intent on working abroad long ago found ways to do so, while for groups such as the impoverished Gypsies, or Roma, finding jobs abroad is still too expensive and complicated. In Poland, the feared brain drain hasn't occurred despite a jobless rate that hovers near 20 percent - the highest among the ex-communist countries that joined the EU last year.