The EU Expansion Challenges - Essay Example

Globalisation The world is becoming increasingly smaller and smaller and the globalisation phenomenon has radically transformed the ways in which states interact. Accordingly, globalisation has had a variety of ramifications in the economic, social, political and cultural realms (Held, 1993, 4). The spread of capitalist inspired consumerism and the forces of economic globalisation have paved the way for the introduction of the Euro, the continent-wide currency of the European Union (EU), as well as the global economic interdependence of much of the Western world. While the United States, Canada and Mexico share NAFTA, the North American Free-Trade Agreement, much of Western, Central, and now Eastern Europe subscribes to the tenants of economic and political integration through what is arguably one of the most potent transnational organizations in the world, the European Union. The EU today has more than two dozen members and is in the process of further expansion. Will Turkey one day join the European nation of families? Will Serbia, the largest state of the former Yugoslavia, regain the favor of Western Europe and one day become a full-fledged member of the European Union? To what extent has the European Union been successful in providing a regional response to the problems arising from globalization? Globalisation has provided increased political pressures for the EU to expand and this arguably is the major challenge that it has faced over the past 20 years (Fierke & Wiener, 1999, 44-46). Seeking to analyse the EU’s pressures to expand in a globalised world, the following aims to address how the EU has responded in a holistic fashion to expansion in an era globalisation. European Integration in the Face of Global Change Created following the tumultuous events of the Second World War, the European Economic Community was an important precursor for the establishment of the European Union. Accordingly, the European Union is an international organization which is estimated to generate 30% of the worlds total Gross Domestic Product (Almond et al, 2002, 100). As an economic powerhouse with significant stature on the global stage, the European Union is presently in the process of increasing its membership and aims for near total European integration in the political, judicial, economic and social spheres (Almond et al, 2002, 101). The evolution of the European Union has occurred in tandem with the globalisation of the world community and the EU has fundamentally changed in composition since its inception. Accordingly, since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the EU has responded to the challenges emanating from its eastern borders and has evolved dramatically, undergoing multiple stages of expansion. Today, nearly all countries in Europe with the exception of perhaps Russia, and a few other stalwarts, are actively seeking EU membership. Presently, there are 27 member countries and they share a unifying democratic political culture as well as social, economic, and political integration. Important challenges arising with globalisation include the fall of the Soviet Union and the worldwide spread of liberal democracy and capitalism. While this is obviously a good thing, it also posed challenges for the European Union because in an era of globalisation this organization has had to accommodate the needs and wishes of the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe who now aspire to EU membership. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, new challenges faced the EU particularly with respect on how to accommodate the new capitalist and newly democratic states of the former Soviet sphere of influence. While the countries of Eastern and Central Europe represented opportunities for growth for the EU, they also represented new challenges. The biggest enlargement to date occurred in 2004 with the introduction of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia into the European Union (Warleigh, 2004, 198). This represented an attempt to embrace the former socialist countries of the Soviet bloc as the EU sought to integrate the former socialist countries into the modern, developed and western-oriented economic and political community of the EU. Following the establishment of the Copenhagen criteria in 1993, new problems were posed by the enlargement of the European Union and the ascension of Bulgaria and Romania on January 1, 2007. It is to these problems that we now turn (European Union, 2008). Challenges with Enlargement Bulgaria and Romania officially joined the European Union on January 1, 2007 and they represented important challenges for the EU as a regional bloc in an era of global change. Prior to entry, both countries had to adhere to certain prerequisites for membership such as democratic credentials, free markets reform, the existence of a free media, and a series of checks and balances on the police services as well as the armed forces. Bulgaria received financial aid from the European Union and a series of goals to obtain prior to full-fledged membership. In the Bulgarian context this included a strategy to combat organized crime, strategies to strengthen Bulgarias judicial capabilities as well as a focus on economic development. Crime and corruption were also important issues which were addressed by the EU prior to ascension. In order to bring its economy up to speed with the rest of the European Union, Bulgaria was an important recipient of financial aid from the EU’s Phare program and received approximately €1.54 billion between 1992 and 2003 (European Union, Bulgaria, 2008). Romania also represented an important challenge for the EU in an era of globalisation. Romania faced a series of challenges prior to being accepted as a member of EU and the primary objective of the European Union in responding to Romanias quest for membership was dealing with organized crime, economic liberalization and improving the Romanian economy so that it is up to par with other European countries. Financial support was also provided by the Phare program and between 1992 and 2003 Romania received €2.1 billion in aid from the European Union. Due to the belief that corruption was endemic in this country, much of the money went to strengthening the judicial and administrative capabilities of Romania. As with Bulgaria, Romania posed a significant challenge to integration to the EU with respect to the increased demands for complex interdependence in a new global world. An additional challenge facing the EU which is directly tied to the globalisation phenomenon is the increased pressures from immigration. How has the EU responded to these pressures in the 21st century? (European Union, Romania, 2008). Immigration and the EU’s Dublin System Immigration to Europe, especially to some of the wealthier EU countries, has been a topical issue for many years. Directly tied to the globalisation phenomenon and increased economic and political interdependence within Europe, the EU has faced a series of significant pressures from both economic migrants and refugees seeking asylum across the European peninsula. In response to these challenges, particularly with respect to refugee seekers in the EU, the European Union has devised the Dublin System which is a law which seeks to create a coherent process for refugee applications throughout Europe and the UK. While refugee seekers must apply under the Geneva Convention, the Dublin System exists to provide a comprehensive system Europe-wide to streamline asylum seekers and asylum claimants. Created in 1990, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Dublin system was established with the understanding that border states face an unnecessary burden when it comes to processing asylum seekers since historically speaking, it is the country of first contact which is responsible for handling a particular refugee claim. Often times these are the states which are least able to offer support and thus the burden seems unnecessary as well as unfair. Thus, countries such as Spain receive many migrants and refugees from the shores of Africa and feel burdened by the refugee influx. The Dublin Convention is an attempt to streamline the process for refugee seekers and represents an important regional success in the realm of immigration interdependence. Accordingly between September 2003 and December 2005, 17,000 refugee claimant claimants from third-party states were transferred from one European Union member state to another in order to have their asylum claim investigated. From this respect than this represents European Union regional coherence on the issue of immigration (European Union, 2007; Warleigh, 2004, 20-55). Concluding Remarks Globalisation has been the driving force behind the creation of European Union but it is also post a series of challenges to this important multinational organization. Globalisation has an economic basis and it is played important role in the continent-wide distribution of the Euro currency and has facilitated economic integration as well as integration in the political, social, judicial, and cultural sphere spheres. Despite this, globalization is has also posed a series of challenges to the European Union and this essay has sought to address whether or not the EU has been successful in providing a regional response to some of the problems associated with globalisation. As has been demonstrated, the EU has successfully integrated many countries of the former Soviet bloc and underwent its most substantial and enlargement in 2004. In 2007, both Bulgaria and Romania were welcomed into the Union and as we have shown significant funds were allocated to help bring the standard of living in these two countries up to par with the rest of Europe. In this respect then, the integration of Eastern Europe, a direct result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the pressures of globalisation in a new world, has been a success of EU. Looking at the Dublin System of immigration, EU has proven that is able to streamline refugee applications and has thus been successful in providing a regional coherent response to some of the problems arising from globalisation. Bibliography Almond, G.A, Dalton, R.J & Powel Jr., G.B., European Politics Today, 2nd edition. (New York: Longman, 2002). Fierke K.M. & Wiener A., Constructing institutional interests: EU and NATO enlargement, Journal of European Public Policy, (1999), 2-22. Held, D. et al, Global Transformations (Cambridge; Polity Press, 1999) European Union, Report on the Evaluation of the Dublin System. 2007. Last Accessed November 6, 2009 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/227 European Union, Partnership for the Ascension of Bulgaria, 2008, Last Accessed November 6, 2009, from the European Union Portal Web site: http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/e40101.htm European Union, Partnership for the Ascension of Romania, 2008, Last Accessed November 6, 2009, from the European Union Portal Web http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/index_en.htm Portes, A. & Merton, R.J, The Economic Sociology of Immigration: Essays on Networks, Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship (London: Russell Sage Foundation, 1998). Warleigh, A, European Union: The Basics (New York: Routledge, 2004). Read More