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Schwan · 06-14-2003, 09:23 AM

Most of the people here are American and probably don't give a rat's ass about the EU, but I guess some of you have some knowledge on the topic. It's a big deal in Europe. People in my country - EU citizens-to-be in less then a year, are looking forward to this. Since the enlargement seems to be well on it's way, it would only seem fair to ask this question: will the EU actually gain anything from this, or will it become more chaotic?

The problem is that the EU has been growing very slowly throughout the last fifty years (member-wise, not economically), inviting one or two countries at a time very ten years or so. This time around, there's ten countries coming in at the same time. These countries are poorer then the current EU members - for example, an average Polish citizen earns 48% of what his European counterpart does. On the other hand, the western countries have an aging population, whilst most of the new member countries have a lot of young people entering the job market (the early 80's population surge).

So... enlargement: good or bad for the EU? More money or bankruptcy? Success or failure?

06-14-2003, 09:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
Schwan A boy and his dog Location: EU!	The Ewwww... I mean the EU Most of the people here are American and probably don't give a rat's ass about the EU, but I guess some of you have some knowledge on the topic. It's a big deal in Europe. People in my country - EU citizens-to-be in less then a year, are looking forward to this. Since the enlargement seems to be well on it's way, it would only seem fair to ask this question: will the EU actually gain anything from this, or will it become more chaotic? The problem is that the EU has been growing very slowly throughout the last fifty years (member-wise, not economically), inviting one or two countries at a time very ten years or so. This time around, there's ten countries coming in at the same time. These countries are poorer then the current EU members - for example, an average Polish citizen earns 48% of what his European counterpart does. On the other hand, the western countries have an aging population, whilst most of the new member countries have a lot of young people entering the job market (the early 80's population surge). So... enlargement: good or bad for the EU? More money or bankruptcy? Success or failure?