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Submitted by: Roy Garin
Submitted to: Professor Rinaldi
Friday October 13 2006
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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.