Introduction
The future of the European Union Today the European Union has 25 Member States. Since the accession of Austria with Sweden and Finland in 1995, Switzerland is almost entirely surrounded by EU States. The EU was further enlarged on 1 May 2004: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Cyprus joined the Union on that date. The EU enlargement in 2004 increased the population of the European Union by 75 million to around 450 million citizens.
Bulgaria and Romania with which accession negotiations have been in progress since February 2000 are expected to join the EU in 2007. In the case of Turkey, which has been an official candidate country since 1999, the heads of state and government of the EU have chosen 3 October 2005 as the date for the launch of negotiations. Accession negotiations cannot begin until experts from the Commission have compared Turkish legislation with the EU’s acquis communautaire. Furthermore, the European Council has decided to open accession negotiations with Croatia (an official candidate since June 2004), provided the Commission delivers a positive recommendation. Cooperation with the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague is one the specific parameters Croatia has to fulfil.
The enlargement of the EU to include ten new members represents a historic step towards a definitive end to the division of Europe separated by the cold war period. Thereby, the EU is making a central contribution to the promotion and safeguarding of peace, security, stability and prosperity throughout Europe. However, differences in prosperity between the old and new EU members remain substantial; catching up with the current EU members is a process which calls for a considerable effort and political sensitivity.
In addition, the enlargement of the EU represents an enormous institutional challenge. The question as to the future structures of the EU now arises, because the Union must safeguard its ability to function and take decisions effectively even with 25 or 27 Member States. In December 2000, the EU therefore proposed the necessary institutional changes to enable the enlargement by adopting the Treaty of Nice which entered into force on 1 February 2003. New provisions were adopted on the distribution of seats in the European Parliament, the weighting of votes in the Council of Ministers, representation in the Commission and the extension of qualified majority voting to other areas.
The Constitution, which the 25 Member States agreed on during the European Council meeting on 17 and 18 June, represents a considerable improvement on the Treaty of Nice. It stipulates the EU’s aims and simplifies its legal foundations substantially. In order for the new EU Constitution to enter into force, however, it must be ratified by all 25 Member States in accordance with the national procedures in place.Expansion and strengthening are two sides of the same coin. The question whether the future EU will develop into a “Europe of Fatherlands” or into a federal State comprising the “United States of Europe” is today more open than ever.(6)
Restriction on labour market
Restriction on labour market is the mainest restriction for new members of European Union that has joind on 1 May 2004.
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary signed a document and voiced their common stand on the issue. The main purpose of the document is to remind the EU that those restrictions hinder the workers and businesses of the new EU members from providing services on EU's internal market.
The document stressed that all EU members should abide by the principles of the equality of citizens and open market, which are protected by the law of the EU.
Regrettably however, some member states still adopt discriminatory mechanisms to protect their domestic markets and treat the workers of the new members unfairly.
The document called the European Commission (EC) to take necessary initiatives to put an end to the discrimination against workers and businesses of new members of the EU, as such discrimination is not in compliance with the EU common values and will also restrain the common economic growth of the member states.
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