European Union Enlargement - Essay Example

Introduction The European Union was formed immediately after the Maastricht treaty signed in 1992. Initially, the union had twelve members, which included, Greece, France, Denmark, Italy, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Portugal, Luxembourg, Ireland, and Spain. These were the first members of the European Union until 1995 before Austria, Sweden and Finland later joined (Manu, 2003). Currently the union has twenty five members after an additional ten were added in 2004. Bulgaria and Romania later joined in 2007. Approximately five hundred million people are under the prominent union membership in Europe. The Union decided to go for a monetary and economic union in 1992 that included the use of a single currency in Europe (Therborn, 2000). The move however took ten years to become a reality and in 2002 national currencies were replaced by euro notes. In recent years, the Union has established itself as a pace setter and a mega competitor in the global business market. Due to the increasing integration, the European Union has established strategies to enhance their performance. The strategies include welfare reform, social convergence, decentralization, enlargement and monetary unification. The European Union has started expanding admirably outwards in a bombastic manner (Wailer, 2002). This was evident when the chairman of defense and foreign policy in Russia, Mr. Sergei Karaganov, claimed that Europe was replacing America as its economic partner. The two partners had a common interest in geopolitical and economic issues. Turkey is most prospective country to join the Union with the aim of proving that Islam is compatible with western values and culture. All Balkan nations are also eligible enough to become potential members of the union. The move is aimed at ensuring peace is maintained. All this activities prove that the union is becoming very powerful. This enlargement however may cause the splitting of the union due to various social economic and political challenges facing it (Coughlin, 2002). European Union, however, has been torn apart by two conflicting visions. One of the ideas is the Euro-nationalism or multi polarity that Tony Blair intensely opposes. Some members want the European Union to be an independent actor and lock out the United States. The other idea is referred to as Atlanticism, where the western alliance is maintained fully (Wailer, 2002). When polls were conducted results showed that many members wanted the EU to be a super power like America. A few activities by the increasing size of the AU members are causing the European Union to fall behind economically (Kotler, 2002). They involve the supervision of the Euro, the argument on Iraq and the constitution. The foreseeable constrain that seems to be facing union has given the union a wakeup call to cautiously evaluate the challenges and risks of trying to expand and increase more members. Experiences that were observed from the previous expansions are being analyzed from 1986 during the southern expansion Portugal and Spain sought admission in the European community. The two were weak economically and the procedure of admitting them was made problem bearing and very lengthy. Matters of agricultural overproduction seemed to be the most disastrous due the burden the problem would cause on the European budget (Archibug, 2004). The greatest worry among top officials is the eastern expansion and the economic consequences that will be experienced. Communist heritage has taken over and many states have their concentration on the industrial sector rather than on the tertiary or agricultural sector. The Union will incur a severe financial burden of about €6 billion every year (Hedley, 2005). This money will be used to boost the underdeveloped agricultural sector in the new member states especially in the area of technological advancement. The financial constrain will cause discontent among the existing old members. Existing member countries will face a mega financial load beginning with budget cuts since new members will be payees rather than payers (Hedley, 2005). Italy and Spain all from the Mediterranean are predicted to cause the cuts. Another problem presumed to have a major consequence socially after the enlargement is the rights the new members will gain after gaining citizenship of the European community. The fresh members will have the right to work and settle almost everywhere in the community. This could result to a situation where many people transfer into the original member states in order to secure jobs. Most European countries are also struggling with high unemployment levels, thus the idea of bringing in a new population would worsen the situation (Falk 2006). This would prove to be a huge liability especially to countries like Italy, Britain and Neo-Nazis in Germany. The number of communication languages is expected to increase as additional countries join the European Union. The languages would obviously have to be more than the current twelve for effective communication and unity. The effect of this would be training and hiring extra translators. This can be beneficial since it can lead to cultural diversity. However, it would automatically mean that the number of administrative bodies would be increased, leading to additional costs of operating the union due to huge wage bills and bigger management responsibilities (Swift, 2002). The historic event should not be viewed as tragic since a few positive results would be noted. First, ethnic integration would be achieved; ethnic integration is a social benefit and a critical step towards fighting racism in Europe. Due to the inter mingling of diverse cultures, strong bonds of affection and understanding would be established. This would cause peaceful coexistence that is beneficial in the human society (Stubb, 2004). The competitiveness of the EU globally would prove to be unique against Asia and America, thus improving the general economic status of the EU members. Crucial institutional reforms have to be undertaken for the sake of the decision making process. The process is proving to be very lengthy and tedious (Archibug & Held, 2004). The possibility of arriving at a common agreement is proving to be virtually impossible. There are high risks that an increase in members would intensify competition among individual states, and result in the formation of new coalitions in the union. This may spur cases of breaking out from the EU, leading to additional costs of reunion. Assumptions also speculate that an eastern expansion would cause a power shift towards the reintegrated Germany. This is as result of heavy reliance and bondage between Germany and the prospective members (Coughlin, 2002). The agricultural policy in Europe should, however, be reviewed since it affects both the existing members and the prospective members. The policy of subsidies and milk quotas that handles overproduction in many areas should be reviewed to avoid infuriating farmers. This is because most of the farmers cannot operate without the subsidies (Swift, 2002). The issue should be dealt with well even before considering the issue of adding more members to the European Union. Another economical consequence resulting from the expansion of the EU is the loss of sovereignty. The existing members have already been absorbed by the move and it’s clearly visible where complete severe erosion of sovereignty even in the social sectors such as the education and health sector is unmistakably visible. The EU clearly states that there is to be a complete loss of sovereignty in the currency politics and economic sector in accordance with the Maastricht treaty as soon as a country joins the Union (Hedley, 2005). Most of prospective new members, however, are willing to surrender their sovereignty in order to be accepted by the EU. This could be because the joining countries have identified the economic and social benefits associated with union membership. The most controversial move by the EU was on the adoption of the Euro. The move had its own share of success, but still had disappointing results. Positive critics pointed out that the use of a common currency in Europe was still one of the most tremendous inventions by the union. Many people are up concerning its ability to establish itself firmly in a period of ten years. In the United States of America, it took 53 years just to have a common currency (Archibug, 2004). The risk of exchange among member countries has been eliminated through the use of the Euro. The main aim of developing a common currency was to boost economic growth and trade. Expanding and enlarging may assist the Union especially when a country has made a financial mistake and all other members have to pay for it. If the union has many members, the risk will be spread, increasing the chances recovery from the ordeal. The Euro, however, has shown some disappointing results. Twelve of the countries that embraced the Euro still indicate an unemployment level of up to 9%. This could be as result of economic growth stagnation in Europe (Kotler, 2002). When the economic growth was compared relatively to other countries such as China and America, a much slower growth rate was noted in Europe. Even though the productivity per worker in both countries is similar a difference is observed. Germany is to be blamed for the affliction due to its financial constraints. Recent study has also proven that enlargement of the EU is also causing the fall back (Coughlin, 2002). When more members were added to Union, more glitches involving unemployment, single mothers, the disabled and the retired seemed to add more consequences to the economy. The high public expenditure and the slow growth rate also seem to be unsustainable. Critics presume that if the problem persists, political tension may develop among the European Union members. The enlargement of the Union will generally affect the constitution making process. If more countries enter the union then disputes on constitutional bases will arise (Wailer, 2002). A keen investigative research will inevitably prove that member countries had to actually amend their constitution to conform to the European law. In Netherlands, for example, the ladders used by window cleaners were very long and needed to be shortened. This made people insinuate that the programs operated by the EU were wasteful and corrupt. To illustrate how the matter on enlarging the European Union should be handled on a serious note, terrorist threats have been made by extremists arguing the EU is invading the political rights of certain groups (Therborn 2000). The new members fall way behind the older members substantially in competitiveness and innovation. Among the countries that joined the European Union in 2004, Slovenia is ranked to be the best innovator (Therborn, 2000). This is followed closely by Estonia, Romania, and Bulgaria respectively as ranked by the index ranking carried out by global competitors. Some new members resolutely oppose any move to harmonize tax policies and stubbornly favor a national veto in social policies and tax. Their fear lies on the fact that they could lose foreign investment due to low wages and low taxes (Manu, 2003). The situation might foster a destructive environment rather than a reconstructive environment. Enlargement is also predicted to suffer a structural draw back in comparison with the older members who are way ahead in GDP per capita (Stubb, 2004). The transition challenges involve improving the infrastructure, developing the service sector, solidifying both the judicial system and the market structure. This structural drawback is estimated to slow down the pace of converging GDP. There is a huge enlargement fatigue especially where social issues are mentioned, destructive consequences are to be expected on matters of how to access social welfare such as health. There is a prediction that the European social model will be eroded (Coughlin, 2002).There is intense fear especially among old members that another enlargement will pose widespread poverty disparities ranging from energy poverty, child poverty and health poverty. Below is a statistical analysis of the countries with the highest GDP in the year 2011. Country GDP value United States 15078 China 7322 Japan 5897 Germany 3807 France 2778 Brazil 2493 United Kingdom 2432 A study made by the United Kingdom council, however, was required to prove that economic results of enlargement were actually successful. The council noted positive results in both the new member countries and the existing members. Extensive study concludes that the 5th enlargement had acted as a catalyst for economic modernization and dynamism for the European Union. Both members were well equipped to tackle globalization challenges (Falk, 2006). The research also confidently stated that the asymmetries were taken into account. The assumptions revealed that the economic impact of enlargement on the new states was approximately twenty times far much better than the older ones. This is because the new states were able to create innovative business environments almost similar to those found in existing member’s countries (Kotler, 2002). This is because they were able to attract more foreign investors in both the private and the public sector. Researchers sometimes conclude that it may be difficult to speculate the fate of the European Union’s enlargement policy (Falk, 2006). Basing its evidence on the firm position taken by France while handling Turkey and the premature admissions made in signing in Romania and Bulgaria in 2007. EU’s capability to engross new members is in serious doubt too (Wailer, 2002). Further research claims that enlargement has led to the prosperity of Europe’s economy. The economic and social prosperity of Europe will no longer be a dream if the member countries decide to nurture the union ambitiously. The situation, however, should be handled cautiously considering various economic and social consequences associated with increasing member countries into the union. Europe has several diverse cultures and ethnic groups; a firm establishment of the union would mean a common monetary unit, a common bank, and more importantly a single unitary government (Swift, 2002). This would result to a super power almost similar to the United States. Therefore, the European nations should be permitted to join the Union if they meet the set standards. The decision making process also seems to be affecting the Union. The NAFTA model, therefore, should be fully implemented to tackle the problem. Reflective Diary I agree with various researchers that adding more members to the European is both advantageous and disadvantageous to the member states. Joining of additional members is actually similar to globalization, which comes with merits and demerits. The economic benefits associated with additional members include use of a single currency and opening up of markets to benefit producers from the member countries. I think this is desirable for financial gains; however, there are environmental challenges associated with increased cross-border trade that most researchers have not addressed. I think it is unfair to make it difficult for those countries that are unstable to join the European Union. I have realized that economically unstable countries are subjected to tedious procedures before they get admission; for example, Portugal and Spain found it difficult when they sought admission to the European (Manu, 2003). One factor that countries interested in joining the European Union should accept is decreasing their sovereign power. Some components of their political, social, and economic powers fall under the control of the union. This decision is desirable because countries cannot boast of belonging to the union and each is operating in its own ways. References Archibug, D. & Held, D. 2004. Cosmopolitan Democracy: an Agenda for a New World Order. Cambridge: Polity Press. Coughlin, D. 2002. European Union enlargement. Brussels. Retrieved June 11, 2013, from Falk, R. 2006. On Humane Governance: Toward a New Global Politics. Cambridge: Polity printing press. Hedley, B. 2005. The Anarchical Society. London: Macmillan press. Hirschey, M. 2003. Tech stock valuation in Europe. Amsterdam: Academic Press. John, P. 2007. “Marketing Management, Regional Free Trade Zone.” Designing global market offerings, U.S.A. 12 (9) 200- 371. Kotler P. 2002. Marketing Management in Europe. New Jersey: Business expert press. Manu , M. 2003. “The Economic Constitution of the European Community: From 'Rome' to 'Maastricht',” European Law Journal, 3(1), pp. 5-30. Neal, L. D. & Weidenmier, M. D. 2003. 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