CIAO DATE: 04/2008
Volume: 1, Issue: 1
January 2005
Priorities of New European Commission for 2004 – 2009
Enlargement of the European Union – the Tasks and Challenges Ahead (PDF)
Olli Rehn
2004 will be remembered in the history books as the year of the European Union’s biggest single enlargement. Ten countries joined and two others finished their accession talks.
But this is not a one-off event. In its half-century of existence, the Union expanded five times, and this process will continue. In the following I will look at the work-programme that lies ahead of the European Union during the mandate of the Barroso Commission.
I will first describe in more detail the conclusion of the 5th enlargement round with Bulgaria and Romania aiming to join in 2007; secondly I will refer to the state of play with regard to Croatia and Turkey; and thirdly, I will outline what we have in mind with the other countries in the Western Balkans. As of now, there are no plans on the EU side to prepare other countries in our neighbourhood for accession in a short or in a medium term. Finally, I will refer to the challenges that enlargements may bring to the future EU.
Slovakia's EU Negotiation Experience and Future EU Enlargement
Lessons Learned from the World Bank's Assistance in New EU Member Countries (PDF)
Ingrid Brocková
For some of the countries that became part of the European Union on May 1, the EU membership did indeed appear to be a long way off. For example, Lithuania and Latvia still had major restructuring of their economies to undertake from a relatively low income base, or Slovakia, which at that point had a government that was isolated by its regional partners and globally. But for other countries like Slovenia with its steady, gradualist approach to reform from a quite high income base and location and other advantages the EU membership seemed a readily achievable goal in the not too distant future. There was also a group of countries somewhere in between, the Czech Republic and Hungary and Poland to some extent, where the rhetoric was that accession would come soon, but the reality was that while the path was well marked, it would take a little while longer to make all the adjustments needed to align with EU rules and regulations.
Challenges of Croatia and EU Integration: Is the Fast Track Approach Possible? (PDF)
Visnja Samardzija
The starting point of this paper is the fact that launching of negotia tions for membership is a cornerstone for the future long-term re lationship between Croatia and the European Union and therefore requires deep and organised preparations. Croatia started successfully the preparations for integration and the status of the candidate for the EU membership, achieved in 2004, gave the country the attribute of a forerunner in the integration process among the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP). According to the economic development and the overall achieved level of preparations for the EU integration, Croatia is above the average of the SAP countries. However, the EU requirements for the integration are demanding and there is a number of further steps to be undertaken on the path towards an accession to the Union. The aim of this paper is to give a brief overview of the achievements, but also to present the challenges and potential threats in the next stage of the EU accession process. The paper also focuses on Croatia’s progress in developing institutional and legislative capacity in line with EU requirements in the area of internal market.
Does Culture Matter? (PDF)
Mensur Akgün
Those of us who still believe virtues of rational calculation in protec ting national interest owe a lot to Cardinal de Richelieu, the First Minister of France from 1624 to 1642. He coined the term reason d’etat to justify the French “heresy”. His ideas were later adopted by the other European states and emulated by the non-Europeans including the Turks. With his wisdom and practice, not only the balance of power replaced the nostalgia for universal monarchy but we also learned the futility of pursuing cultural causes as state interests. Since then fewer and fewer wars have been fought for purely religious or cultural reasons.
Why the EU and Turkey Need Each Other?
Bitter–Sweet Freedom
Pramene k začiatkom zahraničnej politiky Slovenskej republiky v Archíve Svetoslava Bombíka
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