EU Expansion
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On May 1, 2004, the European Union will expand its markets and community to include 10 new members, mainly former Eastern Bloc countries: Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta and the Republic of Cyprus (European 1). The expanded EU will encompass the world’s largest trading bloc with more than 500 million people (Towards 1). In a recent two-day summit in Brussels, final arrangements were concluded to merge the ten applicant countries into the EU by May. A major obstacle, differences over the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) were finally hashed out when France and Germany agreed to terms arrived at during the summit. Despite the intent to expand the EU to 25 member nations, there are many obstacles and potential challenges to overcome for the existing EU members and new member states if the trading bloc is to experience a smooth transition into the world’s largest trading bloc. From skepticism in the Midlands about the impact of membership to hostilities against foreign dominance in other states, there are a host of potential problems that still threaten the successful merging of the new member states into the existing EU. This analysis will discuss the agreements of the proposed expanded EU, including specific issues pertaining to existing and new member states. Under the terms of the deal hammered out at the recent summit in Brussels, the following arra
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th in this accession group will keep outstripping the west by 70% this year and 90% next year” (1). Member nations warned new members at the treaty signing in Athens that unity was important to ward off the looming threat of organized crime and to create a powerful market with strong potential for growth.
The current member nations and U.S. and European companies hope that as the economies and incomes in the new batch of 76 million consumers in the ten new countries grow, so will the demand for goods and services. The combined GDP of the new nations will only add 5% to the current EU GDP, but analysts argue the fate of success will be in the hands of other than the new members, “Ultimately, the fat of eastern Europe is partly in the hands of American and European companies that must decide how—or whether—to knit these countries into their broader regional and international strategies. German companies have been the biggest investors, followed by the Dutch and the Americans” (Reichlin 1). Still, as incomes grow rapidly in the new member countries, consumers will experience an increase in the quality of life and begin to purchase homes, cars and travel more.
Despite rosy predictions about the impact of the new members on the
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Approximate Word count = 1955
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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