The European Integration
Submitted by: Roy Garin Submitted to: Professor Rinaldi
th Friday October 13 2006
The European integration process is a highly positive initiative and clearly the benefits outweigh the shortcomings. Europe has been edging towards interconnectivity since the creation of the EEC in 1947 with the Treaty of Rome but momentum really started to pick up after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. The last 17 years have shown tremendous strides being made in old nations shedding their entrenched nationalism and embracing the reality of continental interdependence. So far the integration process has encountered some challenges particularly in merging the powerful western democracies with the still developing former soviet satellites. However, bearing in mind that achieving harmony is a longterm project, I believe that the overall social economic and cultural evolution has been positive; after all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
While Canada has not been terribly affected one way or the other by European integration it does underscore the modern trend of a rapidly expanding global village of which North America is a key part. Politically Canada has always had an amicable
relationship with the Western European countries through NATO but now because of the EU integration that diplomatic friendship extends much further east. In reality EU integration has had a negligible effect on Canadian prosperity and the Canadian economy. Europe contributes only an insignificant percentage to our imports and consumes an even smaller percentage of our exports.
I believe that EU integration faces two serious challenges. The first point being persuading the wealthier western countries (UK, France, Germany) to give up their nationalistically fueled selfinterest and willingness to protect domestic companies from foreign takeover. For example, when the French government intervened to block Italian company Enel’s efforts to acquire French energy company Suez last year. As long as national governments continue to interfere with the free market full integration cannot be achieved. The second obstacle is ensuring that lesser developed eastern European countries live up to their economic commitments and not become a longterm burden on the wealthier members. Likewise, due to widespread corruption and organized crime in several eastern member states, it is a reasonable concern that EU money allocated for infrastructure development in these countries is being spent appropriately.
I feel that the European Union benefits most of its members and in the long term it will increase prosperity among all the member states. The obstacles facing the EU are
significant but certainly not insurmountable. It will take a concerted effort on the part of ALL members to guarantee that the union reaches its full potential. In recent years the language barriers have started to diminish but still pose significant challenges in order to move forward.
Before I arrived in Europe, I viewed the EU as an organization, which was very modern and multicultural. I also thought that the Unification of the member states was built on mutual cultural respect, economic viability, and a collective desire to make Europe a world leader. Historically old Europe has been characterized by conflict, ethnocentrism, and ideological divisions but by looking at how the EU is developing its obvious that we’re looking at a new Europe.