European Union Expansion - Essay Example

The question if the European Union should expand is very relevant and worth discussing. For a long time, the process of expansion has been considered positive for European prosperity. Thus, during the last eight years, the European Union has expanded from 15 to 27 states. Given that the process of expansion is properly implemented, it promotes the transformation of many European countries into democratic and prosperous states. However, many people still consider the process of EU further enlargement to be harmful to European welfare. The given paper will prove that European Union still should expand, but it is necessary to stop this process on time. The European Union should include only those countries, which meet the EU membership criteria with no exceptions.
According to Archick “Croatia has currently considered an acceding country and is expected to become the EU’s 28th member in July 2013. Five other countries are recognized by the EU as official candidates for membership: Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey” (Archick, 2012). The European Union needs to grow, but the enlargement should be stopped straight after Turkey enters the EU. The inclusion of Eastern states such as Russia, Israel, or Ukraine can be harmful to the EU. Moreover, it may hurt these countries and intensify the crisis. The trouble is that many countries in Eastern Europe can’t meet the EU membership criteria. The requirements for EU membership are sometimes very strict and unnatural for many Eastern countries and their attempts to fulfill them only worsen their political and economic situation. According to Salzmann, ‘the population in Eastern Europe has already suffered an enormous rise in poverty and unemployment, wage cuts and the devastation of social provisions to fulfill the criteria for EU membership” (Salzmann, 2004).
The fact is that there are a lot of differences between Western and Eastern European countries. Eastern European countries suffer very high levels of unemployment and the wages in these states are about 10 times lower than those in Western Europe. If these states are included in the EU, all these differences can provoke conflicts between Eastern and Western states that will negatively influence the political and economic situation of the EU countries and intensify the crisis in Eastern Europe. Salzmann states: “the progressive unification of Europe is possible only in the form of the United Socialist States of Europe. The EU is expanding eastwards in the interests of the European financial elite, which sees a reservoir of cheap labor and new markets in the accession countries” (Salzmann, 2004).
The current financial crisis in the EU makes some scholars think that it would be easier to overcome the difficulties if the territory of the EU is smaller. For example, some politicians offer to exclude Greece as a country with a severe financial crisis. The proponents of such an idea admit that it would be easier for Greece to resolve its problem outside the EU, also it would improve the situation in the EU itself. However, the opponents argue against this idea. According to Pascal Lamy, the head of WTO, “if Greece was to leave the eurozone, the problems of Greece wouldn’t be easier to solve. I don’t believe breaking up the eurozone is a proper solution. On the contrary. I believe that strengthening euro discipline at the EU level is the right way out” (Euronews, 2012). The General Secretary of OECD Angel Gurria supports this opinion and states that nobody should be excluded from the European Union, it is just necessary for the EU to do its best to overcome the difficulties: “I believe nobody is going to leave the euro and nobody should leave the euro and I believe some other countries are going to be joining the euro in the future” (cited in Kotseli, 2012).

However, the inclusion of Russia, Ukraine, or Israel can overload the EU and even break it. These countries have their own political and economic situation, so they should stay separate. Read More