Will European unification strengthen Europe?
351399
I doubt it, you have to check out the inner interests, some countries will have a great benefit, some others a big come down
625360
It can, but only if we first fire our corrupt-ass politicians who have defamed our nation for ages.\n\nHaving said that, we have to aim to catch up with Europe first & later on China, Japan and the USA. It's because we still don't have the massive manufacturing power that the latter three have at the moment. This whole process could easily take like 50 years or more.
882157
I'm currently reading a book called "United States of Europe" by T.R. Reid.  This book is thin and very easy to read even if you don't have a lot of interest in the subject.  It covers European attitudes about the new EU and about Americans in the preface and first chapter.  In fact the attitude of the citizens of Europe is the main focus of this book.\n\nIn general, Europeans, specially the younger generation are excited about the EU and feel themselves to be EU citizens.  The fact that political and economic borders have also disappeared creates a situation that people can live and work anywhere they choose.  \n\nI think it's great that you are looking into doing a paper on this as European unification will be marked as one of the greatest turning points in the history of mankind and we are alive at the time of its formation.  It's kind of like being there in the early days of Rome.\n\nI don't have any links, but the book I recommended is cheap to buy used from amazon and will answer many of your questions.\n\nGood luck.
894227
No. Turkey is not ready to join the European Union. Many people think that Turkey is ready because they have been in Istanbul and they have seen a modern city, but if you travel 30 kms away from Istambul you are again in a 3rd world country. Dont forget that the BIP is about US$ 2500.00 per year (only for your info:\nthe BIP of Germany is US$ 27000.00) which is nothing in compare to the countries of the European Union. I dont think that Turkey is ready for Europe. They are still denying the massacre that they did to the Armenians on 1915 ( more than 1 million were killed). I think Europe has too many troubles in handling the Muslims that already are living in Europe. If Turkey joins Europe, the face of Europe will change forever. I dont say that Turks are bad but they have a different culture than Europe. The Islamic Civilization (yes Islam is not only a religion is also a Civilization has a different view of the world than "Christian" Europe).
1158373
Europeans seem to have their act together in a lot of ways. America lives in the dark ages. Just look at the Neanderthal who first answered this question.
854412
I don't think so but..I don't want to become a member of the EU, as a Turk.\n\nWe're fed up with the lies..\n\nAnd I don't want east too..They are so religious.\n\nTurkey isn't a Europen country but it isn't a eastern country..We have our own culture and life style. And we are happy for this (or I'm happy for this).
112731
Croatia will join EU in the next round after it cleans its act up. They've had a few internal political hiccups along the way, but I think they will come out fine. Croatia will have positive economical effects, and I would say tourism will become one of its main industries. Political, will be interesting.. Especially if Serbia decides to apply for EU. Not familiar enough with Barry's theory to comment.
782231
Within this decade, not likely. Yet, within a generation, based on immigration patterns allowed by European nations, and the prolific breeding patterns of Muslims (especially when compared to Europeans), then yes. It will be interesting to watch the 'social democracies' of Europe deal with it, as they are bred and voted out of existence. As all of their hard work and investments go into the wealth redistribution programs they now champion, and then are filtered away by the very political state they created, it will be laughable. They denounce the US, and its current actions, but they are a scant few years away.
765365
Yes,it does,and its set to get worse!!! Funny,I do not recall asking the EU for anything,but looks like I'm going to get it!!!\nMay 2006.\nThe EU Commision Citizen's Agenda\nThe Commission has published a Communication to the European Council with the title "A Citizen's Agenda - Delivering Results for Europe".\nThat Communication speaks for Europe's citizens. It says that citizens want this or that.\nHowever, the Commission has no mandate to speak for Europe's citizens. Nor are the far-fetched assertions in the Communication backed up by any polling data.\nThe last time citizens had an opportunity to speak for themselves, they made it clear in the French and Dutch Constitution referendums that they are not interested in even more European unification. The Commission should listen to the citizens, instead of making up statements of "what citizens want".\n\n*******The Communication that citizens want more EU activity in the field of Freedom, Security and Justice. The Commission wants to abolish current requirements of unanimity and give European legislators a blank check to meddle in Member States' criminal law with majority decisions.***********
441867
It's heading that way.  Since BeNeLux was formed (back in 1959 I think) it's been expanding ever since.\n\nBeNeLux was the joining of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxumbourg and since then it has expanded to become the European Union of today which has 25 countries - pretty much all of Western Europe and much of Eastern Europe.  Several countries that aren't members are wanting to join but are currently barred for various reasons - Turkey for example won't be allowed to join until it cleans up its human rights act.\n\nOver the years there has been a conformity by the separate countries in many areas including trade, immigration, law, currency and so on.  There's already a European Parliament, European Courts and so on. In time I'm sure that more and more individual sovereignty will be relinquished to a central control so that effectively Europe will become the Unisted States of Europe - we're already half way there as it is but I think thre's some way yet before was see a US of E.\n\nOn the basis that it will happen, then the USE will become the worlds biggest superpower having a population, assets, military power etc far in excess of the USA.
675345
Two Economists Look at Europe's Economic Slowdown\nEconomic growth and labor productivity have been slowing in Europe as workers take more leisure time. Two experts look at why.\n\nBy Leslie Evans\n\n\n\nFor thirty years Western Europe has consistently turned out a Gross Domestic Product 70% that of the United States. Why hasn't Europe caught up? And curiously, European hourly productivity is much higher than GDP figures would imply, at 90% or better of that of American workers. Why the gap, and why did labor productivity, Europe's best indicator, begin to slide after 1995? Two economists, one from Europe and one from the United States, probed the persistent thirty-year differences between living and earning patterns in Western Europe and the United States at a November 4 UCLA forum.\n\nGianni Toniolo of the University of Rome, who holds a joint appointment at Duke University, was joined by Barry Eichengreen of the University of California at Berkeley in the History Conference Room of UCLA's Bunche Hall for a discussion on "Europe in the Age of Globalization." The meeting was sponsored by the UCLA Center for European and Eurasian Studies and chaired by the center's director, historian Ivan Berend. Both speakers compared the United States to the EU-15, the original 15 Western European members of the European Union before the accession of 10 East and Central European states to the EU last May.\n\nGianni Toniolo: Europeans Place a Higher Value on Leisure\nGianni Toniolo began by lamenting the growing rift between America under the Bush presidency and the European Union. "The Atlantic has never been as wide as it is now, at least in my lifetime, which is postwar. And I am deeply concerned about that. I am deeply concerned about the cultural, political misunderstandings, the lack of understanding that seems to appear on the two sides of the Atlantic."\n\nA History of Economic Convergence -- Followed by Economic Divergences\nBack in 1820, Toniolo said, Western Europe and the United States had about the same per capita GDP. "By 1870 the Americans were ahead of Europe and the gap in GDP per capita continued to grow all the way until 1950." In 1870 Europe produced 82% of the U.S. per capita GDP. After the ravages of two world wars this fell to only 50% in 1950. But in the rebuilding and modernization of European industrial plant from the 1950s onward Europe took large strides toward closing the gap. By 1970 Western European per capita GDP reached 70% of the U.S. and has pretty much frozen there.\n\nBut this did not mean that European industry was as far behind as those numbers suggested, both economists agreed. Productivity, or output per hour worked, has come much closer to U.S. rates. Barry Eichengreen in his presentation reported that the EU-15 average GDP per hour worked in 2000 was 90.7% of the United States and four of the fifteen, Belgium, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, have higher labor productivity than the U.S.\n\nGianni Toniolo summarized some of the institutional arguments used by various economists to explain why the U.S. has remained ahead. These include a history of cheap land but expensive labor, which encouraged investment in labor-saving machinery; a more technically oriented educational system; and the unified American market compared to the multiple smaller states of Europe. Most of these U.S. advantages were strongly reduced after World War II, by the end of the American frontier, moves toward European economic unification, and common advances in technology.\n\nEuropeans Begin to Work Fewer Hours\n"The story, however, becomes interesting when we look at why, in spite of being so productive or equally productive as America we poor Europeans are 30% poorer that you Americans," he said. "And the answer is very simple. From the mid-seventies onward Europeans began to work fewer and fewer hours over the life cycle. There was less participation in the
206306
believe me Poland will join EU b4 turkey :D
99957
each other countries in the EU have their own army.  THey could never form a EU army their are to many view points for it to work.  Look at Iraq Britian Poland Beligum and Spain supported the US. France and Germany opposed it and hurt the US.
884813
In his speech to the inaugural session of the Intergovernmental Conference in Luxembourg on 9 September 1985, Delors said: ‘For we must face the fact that in 30 or 40 years Europe will constitute a UPO—a sort of unidentified political object—unless we weld it into an entity enabling each of our countries to benefit from the European dimension and to prosper internally as well as hold its own externally.’ (Bulletin EC 9-1985:8). \n\ncc
247510
Spain, France, and Britain?
926080
I personally think not..Turkey hasn't a lot to offer the EU and would be a rather expensive appendage...
1169501
i think it is way more complicated then Europe and here is why. European nations have the advantage of being so close together- asia is much more spread apart. European countries are smaller- think Iran, China, India, Vietnam, Indoneisa,Japan..some of those are about or bigger then all of Europe. We are talking about so much more money,cause the economies in these countries is so much more then that of europe. Nope, dont think it will happen or that it would be a good thing if it did.