A Profound Tilt to the East.

On May 1, the Czech Republic and seven other former communist nations, along with Malta and Cyprus, will join the European Union (EU), marking a stunning historic transition that began with the rise of Poland's Solidarity movement in the mid-1980s. Scientists across Europe are hailing this year's May Day as a milestone for science. There are recent debates about the creation of a European Research Council that would make quality its main criterion when doling out money, rather than, say, equity among European regions. At the same time, researchers in the 15 current member states worry that bringing a clutch of cash-strapped countries into the EU will siphon money from the top-notch research that could help Europe gain a competitive edge against the United States and Japan. INSET: Outwitting TB on the E.U.'s Eastern Frontier.