A major goal of many Europeans today is?
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You want to limit my answer to one particular point? Can I place a little comment as I have the vantage point to be raised and presently I live in Europe.\na. Do you think it is possible each European country to maintain an independent economy? Definitely, we are more than ever thrown in one "bunch" after the establishment of the EU ( European Union), so there are mostly demerits than merits as per economy.\nb. If that is true ( I must confess that you have point) and unofficially the Cold War is continuing,then it is one great failure and proof that Europeans are not tolerant at all and haven't learned the bitter lessons. Therefore, it cannot be a gaol.\nc. It is stated to be the major gaol, but I am not sure what will happen in the long run.\nd. European market should reply to rivalry and somehow to cope with its pending problems.\nWhat left..Emmm, either there are No major gaols or it could be accepted answer "C" as compromising.\nNice question!
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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
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Either a Scandinavian or Balkan group. Hopefully Finland.
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Europeans, because they have a culture.
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Yes we are Europeans, the Americans regard us as Europeans, the special relationship is only one way and is mostly in our imagination (Iraq proved that).
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It could be for the majority that society has pushed it to that extent!
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There should be an European Union Style community, not totally joining the two countries...
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Europe, they have the largest number of member and therefore the most number of participants.
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The current EU economy is in crisis already. Personally, I think if they enlarge it, it's only asking for further strain on Europe, it's individuality, and it's economy...
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MORE MOTIVATED!\n\nImmigration will be one of the biggest factors I think also!
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it all started with a set of agreements on coal and steel production, which was desperately needed if all these countries were going to rebuild their industrial economies after the war.   the way stalin ruled eastern europe, it was also pretty clear to europe that the old days when they ruled the world were over and they would have to work together if they were going to stand up to anybody.  then a small free trade bloc developed between the netherlands, belgium, and luxembourg.  as more and more agreements were made, one of the goals became preserving many of their common social democrat values of modern europe.\n\nwhat they're really after is an economy that's large enough to consume it's own production, so that democratically elected governments don't have to adjust their policies to suit the multinational corporations.  and one major advantage in joining europe instead of nafta, is that the european union invests heavily in new members.  the goal is to improve the economies of new members so there isn't this huge stampede of cheap labour in one direction, and jobs in the other, but rather create an actual market for west european goods.  an especially attractive offer for southern europe, and the former soviet bloc that often had neither goods, or money to buy them with before the checks from brussels began arriving.\n\nthen there is turkey.  turkey raised a few eyebrows because it's the first coloured country to join europe, and some europeans were openly apprehensive about the idea given their previous experience wtih turkish immigration.  but its the geo-political implications that are most interesting.  turkey had little choice really but to move to europe after her economy was ruined by the sanctions on iraq.  the way things are going i don't know what country would want anything to do with that part of the world.  but the EU has grown quite a lot and is basically finding itself in the backyard of the former soviet union, and the near and middle east.  the case of ukraine's shift to the west is also very interesting, because it shows how eastern european nations are starting to see the eu as a good defence against russian, even american hegemony
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it is slowly starting to happen.\n\nboarder laws and visa laws are relaxing\n\nEU is contently allowing more member countries soon most of Eastern Europe will have free movement, rights to work anywhere in Europe, access to health care.\n\nAlthough Wales, England and Scotland are different countries there are no boarders stopping the movement of people between them.\n\nI guess it is taking so long because counties whom consider them selves better (normally economically) then others are not always willing to share as it may decrease their average standard of living or economic strengths
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Is part of what is taking place world wide..there are presently 20 some countries involved in this same process.
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Europeans are not interested in that other wise it would have happened a long time back.I think the mood in Turkey is also changing now.{THEY DO NOT WANT TO JOIN EU}
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Or maybe 20 years of economic growth will provide them with the strong economy coupled with their strong military to pursue their imperialistic ambitions westward once again into Europe.\n\nTurkey should stay poor and drown in its own vomit, and it is already happening.
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Basically money. There is generally more money available in the UEFA comfederation than in South America, Asia, Africa....etc.\n\nThats all it boils down to really.
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Its the long term goal of Microsoft.\nThey are working on it