Central and Eastern Europe Soviet Union; the independent states in former Yugoslavia (which were not considered part of the Eastern bloc); and the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (which chose not to join the CIS with the other 12 former republics of the USSR). The CEE countries are further subdivided by their accession status to the European Union (EU): the eight first-wave accession countries that joined the EU on 1 May 2004 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Slovenia), the two second-wave accession countries that joined on 1 January 2007 (Romania and Bulgaria) and the third-wave accession country that
Lebanon–European Union relations Lebanon–European Union relations Lebanon–European Union relations sees substantial ties through the EU's European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). The EU is the largest trading partner of Lebanon. Lebanon concluded negotiations on an association agreement with the European Union in late 2001, and both sides initialed the accord in January 2002, the accord becoming known as the EU-Lebanon Association Agreement. The EU-Lebanon Action Plan from 19 January 2007 gave a new impetus to bilateral relations in the framework of the ENP. Lebanon is one of the main Mediterranean beneficiaries of community assistance and the EU through its various instruments is Lebanon’s leading donor.