From the 1st of May 2004 forth, ten new countries have been admitted into the European Union. These ten countries are: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, and a split Cyprus. What does this mean for Europe as a whole? Will this help stimulate European econimies, or further damage them? I say only time can tell, but the pace of this enlargement does seen rather drastic.

The BBC devoted a section for it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/...nt/default.stm

Immigration will be a problem: with all the former Soviet Bloc populations surging west for work, in Germany specifically. Apparently strict immigration policies are being enacted, but time will tell... I have also seen quite a few more Arabs and blacks around Prague lately, and this could just be a sign of the relaxed immigration policies [from countries like Romania and Poland].

Prices on goods in the Czech Republic, where I am now, have gone up at least 20%, and overall economic growth is strong, but the general distribution of wealth is somewhat limited. Poverty is still pretty high, especially with minority populations [i.e. Roma, Arabs].

Land. The Czechs especially are seriously concerned about German companies and private investors flooding in to gobble up Czech land. Whether this will be a significant problem, well, we will see.

Overall changes, well there a quite a few, but hopefully most will be for the best...

Darken

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Walk down the right back alley in Sin City and you can find anything...

Show your kids you love them by buying them the No. 7 brand.

...devoted an issue to exploring this. Once I finish reading it, I'll post something interesting.

There are a number of pressing isssues facing the EU, not only because of expansion but also just with EU cooperation in general.

Immigration of course is a very pressing issue, also issues with citizenship. Many countries, such as eastern european countries and ireland had very relaxed immigration and citizenship policies because they were traditionally emigrant countries. Now they are finding themselves with more immgrants than ever before and have to change laws occordingly. For example, Ireland has had a policy where children born anywhere on the Irish Isle (including Northern Ireland) would automatically qualify for Irish and thus EU citizenship. Therefore parents would be able to live anywhere in the EU with an EU citizen child.

Understandable the situation in Czech Republic will be what many newly adopted EU countries will face. Prices have to come more inline with other EU countries. However, prices on Food, basic supplies, and public transportation are still much cheaper than in countries such as France. The same occured in southern countries like Spain or even Ireland for that matter when they first joined the EU. However, the GDP and household income gains were much faster than the EU area as a whole, and generally people are much better off than they were even 10 years ago. The issue at hand is how to deal with the misplaced and unequalities that will inevitably occur during the transition. Issues such as welfare, unemployment, tax rates, monetary policies, government spending etc. will become ever more pressing and will require closer monitoring and adjustments.

Social Security will become a major issue, as well as pensions, and how these things will be effected as citizens move more freely between countries.

Common defense polcies and criminal court system will be as controversial as ever.

However, maybe one of the most pressing problems, largely effecting eevry other issue, will be logistical problems. In the newly enlarged EU, getting 25 countries to come to agreement could quickly become a nightmare. The new EU constitution attempts to solve many of those issues, by making the voting process easier. (the EU constitution has many other issues in itself that may be even too much to type here now).

The next 2 years will be an especially trying time for the EU. They have many big problems to tackle, including convincing a continuingly growing euro-population that the EU is good for them.