Following the largest enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 Member States many people are asking the question: where does Europe end? The Union has already made political commitments to additional EU members: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia & the other Balkan countries & in spite of the European Neighborhood Policy further thinking of the EU enlargement also includes Ukraine & Moldova. But the French & Dutch rejection of the constitutional treaty has made the future EU enlargement uncertain & the EU adopted a new comprehensive enlargement strategy based on consolidation of the EU. References. Adapted from the source document.
Following the largest enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 Member States many people are asking the question: where does Europe end? The Union has already made political commitments to additional EU members: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia and the other Balkan countries and in spite of the European Neighbourhood Policy further thinking of the EU enlargement also includes Ukraine and Moldova. But the French and Dutch rejection of the constitutional treaty has made the future EU enlargement uncertain and the EU adopted a new comprehensive enlargement strategy based on consolidation of the EU.
Constructive and cooperative European Union and NATO relations are very important for global stability. But today transatlantic relation are in crisis and there is some evidence that the growing number of the disputes, including over Iraq, the Israel-Palestine conflict, dealing with "rogue states" and terrorism, are having a major impact on European foreign and security policy, and even the process of European integration. NATO adapted well after the end of the Cold War but since September 11th, however, NATO has faced something of an existential crisis. The US chose to fight the Afghan and Iraq war largely on its own, alongside European allies. Many American are stressing that NATO can only remain relevant if it is prepared and able to tackle pressing international terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. To safeguard NATO's future role the US has proposed that the European allies should help to develop a Rapid Response Force inside NATO. It wants the EU to provide troops that would be able to operate alongside America's forces. European, meanwhile, have their own set of concerns. The EU has no concept of how to deal with the world's only superpower. Too often there is a preference for bilateral as opposed to EU channels, and because of that the EU urgently needs a security strategy. The lack of a coherent EU foreign policy also inhibits the ability of the EU and if the Europeans can build a more coherent foreign policy, the US will have a greater interest in listening to what they say. EU leaders also need to assess the suitability of the EU's military doctrine and institutions for the challenges it faces. The transformation of transatlantic co-operation requires changes on both sides. Differences between the US and Europe exist but they should not be exaggerated. What is needed is to broaden the transatlantic dialogue to include the critical security challenges for both sides.
The successful conclusion of accession negotiations at the Copenhagen summit on December 13th 2002 means that ten countries will join the European Union in its biggest-ever enlargement. After eastward enlargement, the EU will contain 25 members and nearly half a billion people. The accession treaty will be signed at a special EU summit in Athens on April 16th, 2003. After that, the candidates and member-states will have about a year to ratify the treaty and to joint EU as planned on May 1st, 2004. This enlargement is quite an extraordinary challenge for all the parties involved. For the European Union, it is maybe the most ambitious endeavour in the whole history. The accession of ten new members makes it essential for the EU to reform its institutions, decision-making processes, as well as its policies for agriculture and regional aid. Meanwhile the successive challenge to European Common Foreign and Security Policy have highlighted its weaknesses. Newly formed Convention on the future of Europe is struggling with many fundamental questions and proposed a new constitutional treaty, which described the new European identity. The Convention makes several proposals to reshape Europe's institutions, according to several basic principles: the institution should become more effective - meaning that they have to be able to take decisions more speedily; EU institution tend to be cut off form national political systems and the national parliaments scold therefore become involved in the institutional workings of the EU; it is important to preserve the balance between the institutions dominated governments and the "Community" institutions; the structures of the institutions should be simplified. With just five months before the conclusion of the proceedings, and in parallel to the difficult exercise of drafting the new Constitutional treaty, a major effort is necessary to ensure that the various alternatives are explored, and that a final package can be agreed by a considerable majority of the member states.
