Transition economy to the IMF, Iran is in transition to a market economy, demonstrating early stages of a transition economy. The eight first-wave accession countries, which joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) and the two second-wave accession countries that joined on 1 January 2007 (Romania and Bulgaria) have completed the transition process. According to the World Bank, "the transition is over" for the 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007. It can be also understood as all countries of the Eastern Bloc. "Transition economics" is a special branch
European Democratic Union European Democratic Union The European Democratic Union Group was a Gaullist political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1965 and 1973. The French Gaullists split from the Liberal Group on 21 January 1965 and created a new Group called the "European Democratic Union", ("not" to be confused with the association of Conservative and Christian Democrat parties founded in 1978 called the "European Democrat Union" or "EDU", nor the Conservative Group called the "European Democratic Group" founded in 1979). The Group was renamed on 16 January 1973 to the "Group of European Progressive Democrats" when the Gaullists were joined