Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Government & Politics A Changing World A Changing Union A Changing World A Changing Union In recent years the European Union has began taking a new shape, positioning itself as a major competitor in the global market. With economies becoming increasingly integrated and globalization creating a new playing field for trade, new strategies have been necessary to grow with and beyond other world markets. Some of these strategies have included monetary unification, decentralization, enlargement, welfare reform, and social convergence. In the following essay I will address of these strategies and convey my thoughts and concerns surrounding them. In my opinion the introduction of the Single European currency has been a tremendous feat for the European Union. Ten years ago very few would have said it could happen, especially in such a short time. The United States took 53 years to establish its single currency and the EU is doing it in about nine. By using the Euro the Union has been able to eliminate the exchange risk between participating countries. At the same time giving up domestic currencies has been a hard pill for some countries to swallow. Despite the efficiency of a common currency, tradition and pride has kept some nations such as Sweden and Britain from joining the EMU. Others, including candidate nations, are ineligible for the currency. One of the largest barriers for the EU is overcoming the centralized individual governments of European countries. National pride and lack of interest have kept many nations from accepting the idea of giving up power for a greater good. This is especially true in countries that have historically functioned under more socialistic policies. The EU promotes democracy and entrepreneurship, ideas that in some cases scare individual citizens, despite their government’s economic interest. The same problem exists to an extent with ethno-centralism. Pride in culture and history threaten the potential of ever achieving a united states of Europe. A good example of this is the language problem. Inability to decide on a common language has created vast inefficiency in the EU’s proceedings – costing money and time. The EU’s agenda is still to be the world economic leader by the year 2010. Centralized European governments as they stand make this goal impractical and unreachable. Another reason may be skepticism over the future of the EU. To an extent I feel this is why the UK has shielded itself from extended involvement. I think they are waiting for the EU to become more established before giving up any more independence. For them if the EU does not live up to their standards they can always look to the US and Canada for a possible alliance. This is not so far fetched when you consider their roots are more extended to the overseas English speaking democracies than most of their European counterparts. England is also most interested in the well being of England. That is, they will consider their policy and economy over the interest of anyone else’s, explaining why the European Union is still a risky partner for them. It is my opinion that the decentralization of these governments will have to be a priority before economic superiority may be acquired. THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE EU AND CANDIDATE STATES Enlargement of the European Union may be viewed as a double-edged sword. While new countries would bring added resources to the community, developing those less developed nations into something that may return economic profit is a difficult task. It is not just money that needs to be invested, but also education and entrepreneurship. These will be necessary to overcome, what is in most cases, centuries of ignorance, poverty, and bigotry. And doing this is harder in reality than on paper, for even if the EU gives the people the tools needed to create success, there is no assurance that the people will use them to the benefit of the EU’s interest. It is expected that the EU will see 13 new members arriving in the next several years. I feel the EU needs to be cautious of being over ambitious. Allowing all these prospect nations to join too soon could be a logistical nightmare and an overwhelming financial burden. The social policies of the European Union have been a central area of much recent concern and debate. This mostly has to do with the vast amounts of the EU’s funding being spent on the programs already and the additional amounts that will need to be spent in the case of new members joining. How can the European Union afford to train these nations when it is lacking its own skilled labor? Europe has not been able to effectively train its current unemployed labor segments to fill the employment positions that are now available. This primarily has to do with older work forces that have been doing the same jobs their whole life and are now having difficulty grasping new skills. With deregulation and the elimination of government monopolies the EU will encounter a lot more of this in new member states. Another reason, I may add, to take the enlargement processes a bit slower. Naturally the member candidates are anxious to join with all of the social subsidies that will be available with their belonging. Current improvements and new social policies, in collaboration with time, will be necessary in order to overcome this vast cost and potential misuse of the programs. The social convergence of European countries is an issue that I find most interesting and most important. And why not, how can a community expect to gain economic ground when its citizens cannot live in harmony? I feel it is for this reason that the EU’s ten-year goal for economic supremacy is a bit far fetched. In fact I predict it will take ten times that long. Even though political leaders and governments may be able to work out some vital differences in the foreseeable future, I think the social population will take much longer to accept its position. Not only do deep-rooted cultures and histories prevent this, but also the sheer fear of conforming to a homogeneous image that is presented with the idea of a “united Europe”. I think the EU needs to concentrate on letting this transformation take a more natural path, otherwise more distrust and social reluctance will result. As most will agree the EU is not a perfect institution, but it has, for the most part, been able to swing the pendulum in the right direction. When I think of all that has occurred in the past ten years and all that is planned for the next ten, I find myself very impressed. Who knows, maybe I will find myself wrong about Europe’s future and see it as the world power in my lifetime? One thing is for sure; the EU is going through a major developmental period right now. One can only hope they will be able to sustain this momentum. The EU’s initial objective was to sustain peace; I believe that objective needs to be focused now on the people. Give them peace of mind and good things will follow. I also feel the EU needs to slow down, otherwise it is sure to overextend its resources and encounter trouble. At any rate it will be an interesting process to watch in the years ahead. Bibliography: Word Count: 1219
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