European Union Integration Advantages And Disadvantages

The Advantages and Disadvantages of E.U. Enlargement

European union integration and much more the euro are much-debated topics, however, with this there are two different sides that discuss the issue, euro sceptics and the pro Europeans who are for integration have quite different views. The advantages of enlargement are as follows; enlargement is necessary to avoid what is known as a 'two-tier' Europe (rich and poor countries); if and when the 13 new members join in 2004, it will create the biggest single market (which means no quotas or tariffs) in the world, bigger than that of Japan's and America's combined which means that trade between countries would become an easier challenge for all members.

Firstly, most European nation states are too small and if European integration was introduced, the smaller countries can pool resources to create a powerful bloc and this will also help bring economies of scale to the smaller countries. All new members will have to adopt EU policies in order to maintain stability but also to help fight of illegal immigration, bring down the number of drug crimes and national crimes in general. Existing members already provide a great wealth of cultural, economic and political diversity with in each country and with the addition of new members this can be increased by being able to understand new kinds of cultures, the exchange of ideas leads to bigger multi cultural societies. The European union will also now have a stronger role in world affairs, which is strengthened dramatically every time a new member joins. Such areas will include foreign policy, trade policy and in other parts of global governance. The economy of each country will be boosted and latest research shows that

It will furthermore become difficult for countries to create consensus with others, as they will both have the power of veto for example in areas of security and trade.

All countries will suffer after joining because it means they no longer have that power of veto especially in areas of agriculture and trade. A flood of cheap workers from the east will come to the western markets looking for work thus increasing demand for jobs, critics believe that even though over 2 million new jobs will be provided, this will not cope with the number of citizens who will be looking for employment in the long term. It will become ever difficult to control asylum seekers mainly because of open borders that allow free movement. The poorer countries will seek financial aid and this will come from the existing members budgets. Lastly, there have been several occasions where inefficiency and corruption have occurred; like money being wasted unnecessarily within the