"A day will come when all the nations of the continent will merge strictly in a superior unity and will constitute the European brotherhood" it will have been necessary more than a century so that this premonitory speech of Victor Hugo pronounced in 1849, pass from utopia to the reality. The process of European integration came true around a logic of common market passing of the ESCS (European Community of the Coal and some Steel on 1951) to the Treaty of Rome (in March 25th, 1957), in the Single European Act in 1986 which widened the skills of the EEC and insures a better functioning of the European institutions.
The Treaty of Maastricht was adopted in February in 1992 and it creates the EMU (Economic and Monetary Union) and fixes the conditions and the calendar of the monetary realization. The Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998 completes the construction by perpetuating the Pact of stability and growth. These treaties so strengthen the economic and monetary integration. The Treaty of Nice signed in 2001 which opened the way of the EU enlargement and set up an institutional reform, the objective of which is to allow the effective functioning of Europe while the members almost doubled.
The Treaty of Lisbon signed in December, 2007 by the leaders of the E.U is intended to revise the institutions of the Union, further to the failure of the project of Constitution. This text plans to reform the European institutions by giving them a bigger visibility, a bigger stability while preparing its future extensions. Initially constituted of six countries, the European community extends in 27 countries today and negotiations are opened for the entry of Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia.
The integration of the countries of Europe was expressed by a tremendous development of the exchanges intra European. Today they concern approximately 70 % of the exchanges of the community. These exchanges made a positive contribution to the development of the international exchanges. They are also one of the explanations of the fast growth of the zone: every country having served as outside outlet for its partner and the increase of the markets' size allowed to convey economies of scale and productivity gains.
However, since 1989, the geopolitical environment and geo economic of Europe have been profoundly modified. The EU opened its frontiers to the European countries on the basis of a membership in the "acquis communautaires" (community acquits) (treaties, legislation) and the question which settles then is to know if the borders of the EU are political or economic?
If they are economic, the Balkans, Turkey, Ukraine, the Belarus' entry can be defended. It is nevertheless necessary to keep in mind that the entry of an increasing number of countries transforms the union itself and creates a situation of heterogeneousness which will be difficult to manage. If they are geographical, they exclude number of regions and not necessarily on the criteria of the "acquis communautaires" (community acquits). Our problem will be to study which extension is possible for Europe and with which consequences.
[...] As we know, this is not a simple process, but indeed a long and complicated one. There are also some other problems the EU has to cope with, for example the number of members allowed by the treaties, which right now is up to 27 thanks to the Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania (2005). This Treaty increased the number of Member States of the European Community from 25 to 27, and there have been many treaties with the same purpose of enlarging the quantity of associates, even though some countries might use it as an obstruction for the enlargement. [...]
[...] Bulgaria and Rumania are going to receive direct help as the ten other member states admitted in 2004 and those helps will be gradually awarded, passing from 25% to over the period 2007-2016. Globally, this extension does not modify for the moment the current conditions of the member states because the European budget is already closed, and the set of regional aids are already fixed for the 2007-2013 period. Communal budget 2007/2013 The European council of Brussels of December 15th and 16th allowed establishing a budget of the European Union for period 2007-2013. [...]
[...] It has a large number of competencies in the monetary area, commercial area, environment and energies thanks to which the Union is potentially able to face the globalization's challenges and integrate new members. Bibliography Websites: - http://europa.eu/ - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/default_fr.htm - http://www.ecb.int/ecb/html/index.fr.html - http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_fr.htm - Source: Report of the Commission on the Social Situation 2008. -http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/countries/index_en.htm -http://www.abhaber.com/english/ozelhaber.php?id=248 -http://en.trend.az/regions/met/turkey/1556525.html -http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/027-51429-068-03- 11-903-20090310IPR51427-09-03-2009-2009-true/default_en.htm -http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/treat ies_eec_en.htm -http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/press_corner/key- documents/reports_oct_2009_en.htm -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Turkey_to_the_European_Union -Ministère des affaires étrangères : http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/ -http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/budget_glance/what_for_fr.htm -MINEFI-DREE/TRESOR Books: - "L'Europe des Européens", Henri Mendras, Paris, Folio/Gallimard - “The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream”, Jeremy Rifkin (Jeremy P. [...]
[...] Our problem will be to study which extension is possible for Europe and with which consequences. I. Until where can Europe be extended? The European continent is characterized by a very strong variety. Besides the members and states in negotiation, it includes countries which signed agreements with the EU such as Ukraine, Moldavia and countries of the Caucasus. We can also add States associated to the Union for the Mediterranean and doubtless forward Russian Federation. Hence the "neighbourhood" of the EU is important and heterogeneous. [...]
[...] European Union is an international organization that has the vocation to have a land base consistent and continuous. It thus constitutes a territory in the sociological sense, ownership in economic, ideological and political (social, so) of space groups that give a particular representation of themselves of their history. Deteriorating social climate in Europe "Social relations in Europe are deteriorating," reiterated European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which believes that "many governments to address workers' rights by revising downward, unilaterally, the legislation and existing social protections. [...]
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