Two years after: What has the eastern enlargement brought to the European Union?

Résumé du document

"The future of Europe never appeared so dubious. Neither did some of its possible futures appear so promising" affirms Jean-Paul Fitoussi in his book devoted to the problems of the conflict between the national interests and the requirements of convergence in Europe1. In fact, for the eastern countries including France, Germany and the other countries in the historical European Union, EU-enlargement represents the result of a political and economic transition that started in the beginning of the Nineties. But the integration of the eastern countries, achieved in May 2004, caused (and till today continues to cause) new prospects and strong concerns among the populations and the politicians to rise. And that is why so many people stress today this question: what has the eastern enlargement really brought to the European Union? Thus we will make an assessment of what this enlargement brought to the EU and support finally the idea of a future positive role of these countries in spite of all the current critics.

Extraits

[...] Two years after: What has the eastern enlargement brought to the European Union? Table of content Introduction The EU-enlargement has brought a modernization of the EU A new political organisation of the European Union A deep questioning of the common budget New politics for regions and new dynamics of development But this enlargement brought new issues and fears too A complete questioning of the European Union Upheavals in the Single Market The fear of a redistribution of the roles in Europe The future: are the eastern countries the new motor of the EU? [...]

[...] A new hope for democracy Finally, this EU-enlargement brought lessons. First of all, all that constitutes a revival for the democracy in Europe. Indeed, the debates are now numerous and follow-ups attentively by the population, as one can clearly see in France (for instance, with the referendum in 2005). Europe is certainly called in question but it needed some to renew and consider another future. The new empowerment of the eastern countries The new empowerment of the Eastern European countries can also be to consider as a good thing insofar as the political transition can now take a larger importance. [...]

[...] Of course, the EU-enlargement is not the only argument against the Constitution but it played a significant role that shows the impact of this enlargement in the minds and way of thinking in Europe. Thus, in France, the "Polish plumber" had thus been one of the large actors of the election campaign of the referendum. And the analysis can go further and even question the future of the European Union. Upheavals in the Single Market This EU-enlargement brought a complete reorganization of the economic system in Europe. And these changes mainly explain the fears felt by “historical” Europeans. For instance, we can take the example, like Hubert P. Janicki and Phanindra V. [...]

[...] And that is why so many people stress today this question: what has the eastern enlargement really brought to the European Union? Thus we will make an assessment of what this enlargement brought to the EU and support finally the idea of a future positive role of these countries in spite of all the current critics. That is why, in this study, we will see first that this EU- enlargement did bring a great number of changes and positive progresses but also brought fears and issues all over Europe. [...]

[...] And it is the French president, Jacques Chirac, who summarized this situation best. It has effect to throw faintness very deep among the countries entering while affirming about the crisis resulting from the conflict in Iraq which they "had lost a good reason to keep silent". That shows indeed well that France, and the other countries also are not very any more powerful in Europe since the arrival of these new countries. The future: are the eastern countries the new motor of the EU? [...]