THE EUROPEAN UNION – A CRITICAL REPORT

Maria Negroponti-Delivanis
Additional contact information
Maria Negroponti-Delivanis: Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Salonik, Greece

Romanian Journal of Economics, 2005, vol. 20, issue 1(29), 22-35

Abstract: In its first part, this study deals with some issues that have amassed within EU, practically in all fields of activity, especially after the last wave of enlargement, thus the fears of deepened distance between EU and its population being brought up to light. EU undergoes an identity crisis with multiple facets: geographical, socio-economic, moral, ideologic, and strategic ones, etc. The main goal of EU for the last three decades is no longer population welfare, but “competitiveness” , and the chief means of increasing it is production costs’ diminution that occurs by massive layoffs and wage decreases. EU enlargement and in-depth processes have created new issues such as enterprises relocalisation, immigration, social protection system, and foregoing the chance to dominate the world. The second part analyses the consequences related to the turmoil within EU: co-existence of welfare and poverty (increased unemployment, growth of discrepancies between countries); massive absence at the latest polls; lack of confidence in political personalities; risks of enlargement without previous operated in-depth changes, etc. Despite its flagrant shortcommings it is less probable that the EU would dissolve. It amassed a lot of red-tape (bureaucracy) and embodied so many interests, so that the most likely development seems to be an even greater enlargement, until it will become completely ineffective. The single means of improving EU is that populations become aware of the other side of the medal.

Keywords: competitiveness; welfare; poverty; EU enlargement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F59 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.revecon.ro/articles/2005-1/2005-1-2.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ine:journl:tome:20:y:2005(xv):i:1(29):p:22-35

Access Statistics for this article

Romanian Journal of Economics is currently edited by Institute of National Economy

More articles in Romanian Journal of Economics from Institute of National Economy Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Valentina Vasile ().