The Between European And Eastern And Western Europe As The Eu Expands

However, Europe faces a regression in economic terms. The economic stagnation shadows the success of Europe’s past, and fear for becoming a relic run rampant among citizens (101). Fear also creates an uncertainty in the states future, and as a result, the identity crisis is maximized, creating a need for internal stability. The states internal stability is achieved by preserving their already established norms and customs, further alienating themselves from the other. The phenomenon is exemplified in France, Netherland, and Ireland when they voted no on joining the European Union. The lack of confidence promotes the desire to stay isolated from the others. Enforcing barriers against outsiders ensures that state traditions will remain the same and limits the threats from entering. Turkey joining the EU incorporating a Muslim population into the

The European Union (EU), since the initial foundation in 1952 as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and throughout periods of development, has been considered one of the most advanced forms of regional integration. It, based on numerous treaties and resolutions, has strived to promote values such as peace, cooperation or democracy, and in 2012 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for having “contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe” (Nobel Media AB, 2012). Despite its struggle for promoting democracy, the EU itself has long experienced scholarly criticisms that it suffers the democratic deficit, from which its democratic legitimacy is undermined by observable problems in

While early EU history is marked by efforts to abridge political and economic gaps between formal enemies, recent EU enlargement is a one of tensions between established and new member interests and broader interests of the organization itself. In recent decades, the most prominent issue of EU integration is the ongoing discussion in established member states on expansion prospects. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War opened the possibility for immense political and economic transformation for Eastern European states. The result of this transformation brought the unprecedented possibility for many post-communist states to join the EU. This possibility, however, is met with hostility on domestic level in some of the

As previously discussed, EU accession can be more broadly understood as a uniform membership approval process guided by the Copenhagen criteria for all prospects, applicants, and members. At a deeper level, the EU is dedicated to resolving uncertainties in the relationship between European states that fueled ages of conflict and mistrust in the past through the creation of a supranational European institutions guided by common European norms. Since the dynamics of these institutions are driven by common values and goals as outlined in the Copenhagen criteria above, norms drive contemporary trends in governance and EU integration.

In the midst of an influx of migrants and an ongoing Euro crisis, the disunity of the current European union has become apparent. The implementation of a “United States of Europe” - a partially federalized system with a popularly elected president - has been proposed. The alternative to this system is the potential abandonment of the Euro, and consequently European integration altogether. In contrast, some argue that deeper political and fiscal integration is impractical, and that the existence of a United States of Europe is not within the political reality of various European states. The European Union as it currently exists is a half-hearted attempt at integration; both arguments ultimately advocate change. The existence of a United States of Europe would result in a detrimental loss of state sovereignty and presents an insurmountable challenge of unification on political, societal, and cultural levels.

Discourse regarding the European Union and democracy, is often paradoxical. EU is, on one hand, often accused of being undemocratic. On the other hand, others praise EU for reinforcing democracy. Many argue that the EU is undemocratic, as national parliaments lose some power after joining the union (Zielonka, 2007). EU membership also complicates the structure of democratic decision-making. However, simplifying the process requires centralization of power, which is opposed by all members. A counterargument to this, however, is that all members voluntarily and enthusiastically joined, and the majority of citizens supported EU membership (Zimmermann et al. 2012).

Initially, in the period of membership negotiations until the EU referendum in 2003, opinion poll reveals that Czechs are not Eurosceptics (Riishøj, 2007). Prior to 2004, EU accession was supported by the majority of Czech citizens with 77.3 per cent support EU accession (Bönker, 2006; Čábelková et al., 2015). However, decades later the perspective of EMU integration has reversed remarkably (Čábelková et al., 2015).

Around the turn of the millennium political leaders around Europe were challenged by two antithetical developments within their societies. On one side, the European citizens rely on them to handle and solve the major contemporary political issues (e.g. unemployment, peace- and safekeeping). On the other side, increasing distrust and indifference concerning politicians, politics and institutions (on the national and European level) leads to a growing legitimacy issue for the European Union and its institutions. As a result the incumbent president of the Commission of the European Communities, Romano Prodi, announced “promoting new forms of European governance” (Prodi, 2000:4) as a key strategic objective of his Commission from 2000-2005. Consequently, the European Commission published the White Paper on European Governance in 2001, introducing steps to a more democratic Union.

Second, the article by Eichenberg and Dalton (2007) "Post-Maastricht Blues: The Transformation of Citizen Support for European Integration, 1973–2004" takes a macro-economic perspective. They try to solve the puzzle why public support for the EU has decreased despite the positive economic conditions of the 90s (ibid.: 129). The political scientists report a cross-national convergence in public opinion (ibid.: 137). Moreover, Eichenberg and Dalton point out that economic factors do not influence citizen support as much as prior research suggested (ibid.: 135). Besides, inflation and trade concentration do not reveal any impact after signing the Treaty of Maastricht (ibid.: 137). In addition, the authors view the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) as well as its budgetary consequences as the cause for the decline in support during the 1990s (ibid.: 140). They state that the citizens of the EU are more concerned about the distributive effects of integration than real aggregate economic performance of the EU (ibid.: 129).

The main contribution the book is making is that the European Union can be easily understood by analysing each aspect of it. ‘The main argument of this book is that to help understand how the EU works, we should use the tools, methods and cross-systematic theories from the general study of government, politics and policy-making’ (Hix, 2005 p2). The book is split into different parts and each part assesses certain bits of the European Union, which is what this review will do. For example in one part, the focus is on the legislative branch of the European Union, the executive branch and the judicial branch. In another part the focus is on the political side of the European Union and looks at for example how the interests of citizens are represented to and throughout the European Union in addition to how democratic the

This study will investigate the role of normative theories about EU integration in contemporary EU research, how it is possible to employ these in quantitative empirical research and how they influence the choice of an empirical research design, as well as the interpretations of statistical inference. The goal is to understand whether or not empirical subjectivity is a valid approach to quantitative analysis conducted in a normative setting.

Stability, security, and prosperity are qualities every individual desires, yet achieving such conditions may be a struggle in certain parts of the world. In Europe where two world wars have erupted, multiple wars/battles have broken out between countries, and where the Black Plague swept through; causalities are high and resentment is established in some cultures. Yet the continent is beautiful everlasting landscape from the green rolling hills of Ireland to the snow-capped mountains of the Alps, every country has its beauty. A group of nations desired to keep European states safe and preserved, so they established the European Union (EU). Objectives of the European Union is to have respect for liberty, democracy, human rights,

Czech Republic has gone through two major transformations in less than eleven years. In 1993, what was formerly known as Czechoslovakia, split into two separate countries. Both Czech Republic and Slovakia joined the European Union in 2004 along with eight other nations. Two EU policy issues that affected or continue to affect Czech Republic were the adoption of the euro and ratification of the Lisbon Treaty of 2009. Czech Republic’s president is anti-EU and this plays a significant role in showing that it is important who is in power.

European Union represents economic and political partnership of 28 states, with population more than 500 million people who can travel within its territory without considering internal borders. It operates as a single market with standardized laws and guaranteed freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital. As such, European Union is attractive destination for all kind of immigrants, from people in search of a better life from unfortunate and unstable regions to highly qualified work force who are looking for greater business opportunities. As European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in an interview for Time Magazine (Oct. 24,2007) “Europe is an

Diversity is one of the main features of European Union (EU). This realises in various national states, in different languages and cultures, in distinct democratic political systems and in contradicting development of EU’s numerous regions. While EU tries to preserve differences which make EU Member States special, disproportions in economic and social development have been seen as a major challenge for stability of the Union. The existence of Cohesion policy rreflects the political agreement on the part of all of the Member States of the European Union on the principle that the process of increasing economic integration in Europe must be