For people that for decades have been experiencing nightmares over concepts given to us by books and movies with titles like "A Brave New World" and "Soylent Green" what took place today may be seen as the beggining of the end.
For the eternal dreamers this may be seen as the undeniable proof that humans can do without wars, poverty and hunger.
For me there is a stark reality, Europe has become an economic and trade behemoth. Anything that big is bound to deal with big issues, if they succeed they will be a force that will inspire awe. If they fail one can only imagine the free fall and the magnitude of the crash.
It worries me that the ugly face of fascism shows here and there in that "peaceful and unified" Europe; Heyder in Austria, Le Pen in France. It troubles me that they accepted a divided country in Cyprus and that the UN actually tried to extend the occupation of northern Cyprus by Turkey with a referendum that was rejected by the majority of the Greek Cypriots and high numbers of the original Turkish Cypriots, a referendum that disregarded the efforts by the Cypriot society on both sides of the island to achieve a unified nation that includes both nationalities and cultural identities, the fake border manned by UN troops remains, and too much of the old Europe was exposed by this botched attempt at appeasing Turkey, a state that will not be allowed to enter the EU until it ends the occupation of northern Cyprus.
And how is this giant going to deal with the little nations? What is going to happen to the self determination dreams of Basques, Catalans, Bretons and Corsicans?
Last night I saw pictures of Czechs embracing Germans across a border that is gone, why can't the Basques embrace Spaniards and French across three former borders that today are still standing?
In the mean time the USA stands alone, with a good partner to the north and a troubled partner to the south. Both the USA and Mexico are now outsourcing to India and China because a real deal that would unify the economic power of the three North American giants has not been able to be put in place. Mexico is on a crash course, the country is about to implode politically and the economy couldn't be in worst shape, and the only country that could get it out of the hole is busy obsessed in bringing democracy to an area where Sheiks, Kings and Sultans go around in black limousines while the bulk of the population starves. The Middle East is half a world away, Mexico is across a long long border, if Mexico collapses guess which country will be left to deal with the consequences? Ironically enough it will be the country that could have avoided the collapse from the beginning.
Will this new Europe be an inspiration to Canada, the USA and Mexico? Or are we going to wait and hope that the European Union fails? And what about the Pacific Tigers?
Here is a not about the European Union at Berria English
For the eternal dreamers this may be seen as the undeniable proof that humans can do without wars, poverty and hunger.
For me there is a stark reality, Europe has become an economic and trade behemoth. Anything that big is bound to deal with big issues, if they succeed they will be a force that will inspire awe. If they fail one can only imagine the free fall and the magnitude of the crash.
It worries me that the ugly face of fascism shows here and there in that "peaceful and unified" Europe; Heyder in Austria, Le Pen in France. It troubles me that they accepted a divided country in Cyprus and that the UN actually tried to extend the occupation of northern Cyprus by Turkey with a referendum that was rejected by the majority of the Greek Cypriots and high numbers of the original Turkish Cypriots, a referendum that disregarded the efforts by the Cypriot society on both sides of the island to achieve a unified nation that includes both nationalities and cultural identities, the fake border manned by UN troops remains, and too much of the old Europe was exposed by this botched attempt at appeasing Turkey, a state that will not be allowed to enter the EU until it ends the occupation of northern Cyprus.
And how is this giant going to deal with the little nations? What is going to happen to the self determination dreams of Basques, Catalans, Bretons and Corsicans?
Last night I saw pictures of Czechs embracing Germans across a border that is gone, why can't the Basques embrace Spaniards and French across three former borders that today are still standing?
In the mean time the USA stands alone, with a good partner to the north and a troubled partner to the south. Both the USA and Mexico are now outsourcing to India and China because a real deal that would unify the economic power of the three North American giants has not been able to be put in place. Mexico is on a crash course, the country is about to implode politically and the economy couldn't be in worst shape, and the only country that could get it out of the hole is busy obsessed in bringing democracy to an area where Sheiks, Kings and Sultans go around in black limousines while the bulk of the population starves. The Middle East is half a world away, Mexico is across a long long border, if Mexico collapses guess which country will be left to deal with the consequences? Ironically enough it will be the country that could have avoided the collapse from the beginning.
Will this new Europe be an inspiration to Canada, the USA and Mexico? Or are we going to wait and hope that the European Union fails? And what about the Pacific Tigers?
Here is a not about the European Union at Berria English
Europe of the 25 on the road
It will bring together 455 million people in the world's biggest trading bloc and in the most densely populated area: in other words, in the EU
Kristina Berasain
The European Union has opened its doors to the east and from today onwards it will be made up of 25 countries. Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Malta, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Cyprus, but only the Greek Cypriot southern part of the island, will be joining the organisation, which until yesterday had brought together fifteen countries. Today's is the fifth and biggest enlargement since Belgium, West Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands created the European Common Market in 1958.
There are 75 million inhabitants in the ten new member states; this expansion will therefore lead to a 20% increase in the EU population: it will now bring together a total of 455 million citizens. In this respect it will be the world's first trading block and the third biggest area after China and India with respect to the number of people. The surface area will be 25% bigger.
Economically there will also be changes. The expansion will only lead to a 5% increase in the EU's gross domestic product, while the average per capita income, on the other
hand, will fall by 13%. The GDP of the new members is 40% lower than the average of the current members. So until 2006 the EU will be spending 69,500 million euros to put the new members on a par with the rest.
In recent years, however, the ten countries have had to implement numerous reforms to satisfy the conditions for entering the EU. But some feel that the process has not been completed. In this respect they point that that eight countries used to form part of the former communist bloc. Fraser Cameron, the Head of the European Policy Centre, doubts whether there is "genuine democracy" there: "They are countries with different cultures and traditions and not just because they've had 40 years of communism: they have had little contact with democratic behaviour and a restricted view on human rights and the rights of minorities."
So the situation between the countries of the east and those of the west is very different. Cameron went on to explain: "I think that the coming years will witness some kind of tension between the countries of the east and the west: the old members will adopt the standpoint of educators and the new ones, on the other hand, will be on the defensive."
He also held the view that the process to adapt to the new situation brought about by the enlargement would take a long time: "From now on we will be changing the legal, economic and social systems and that will cause a kind of tremor in all levels of society."
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