EU News from Yahoo . . .
Fears of 'two-speed Europe' still exist
By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer
Mon Oct 16, 5:29 AM ET
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Miroslav Fasik is an EU citizen by chance and a chauffeur by choice, and he's frustrated at being stuck in Europe's slow lane. After emigrating from Serbia a decade ago, Fasik, 40, had high hopes of prosperity and opportunity when his adopted Slovakia joined the European Union. Two and a half years later, he feels duped.
"I'm still a second-class citizen," he said. "I don't have euros in my pockets. I don't have the right to move my business to Germany or get a job in Austria. This is not the Europe I had in mind."
Fasik's grumbling underscores a rekindled debate over a "two-speed Europe": the yawning gap between major EU powers such as Britain, France, Germany and Italy - the continent's undisputed political and economic engines - and the poor, ex-communist newcomer nations of Eastern Europe.
The EU took in eight former Soviet-bloc countries, plus Malta and Cyprus, in May 2004. Bulgaria and Romania will join on Jan. 1, widening the bloc to 27 nations and 480 million citizens.
Yet despite gaining access to millions in lucrative EU subsidies and the potential of billions more in increased foreign investment, the new states have not been granted all the privileges of their hard-won membership.
They're not part of the euro zone, although in January, tiny Slovenia becomes the 13th country to use the common currency. They're still shut out of the 15-nation Schengen visa system that allows passport-free travel, and might not get in until 2009. Their citizens can't get jobs in some Western European countries, and their leaders lack the clout to do much about it.
"The EU says it practices equality, but some countries are more equal than others," Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, complained recently, accusing Europe's established powers of treating newcomers "unfairly."
"I sometimes have the feeling that the new member states don't have the same rights as the old ones," he said.
In key foreign policy matters, the new EU members routinely are muscled aside.
A dramatic example came in 2004, when the leaders of Germany, France and Britain held a summit to which no smaller countries were invited. The snub helped widen the rift between "old Europe," which opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and "new Europe," whose defiant newcomer nations sent troops.
But Eastern Europe's restricted access to EU job markets has provoked the loudest complaints.
Of the 15 core EU members, only six - Britain, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden - have eased work force restrictions. The other nine include countries like Germany and France, where unemployment and fears of an influx of cheap labor both run high.
Some say the entry of Romania and Bulgaria could even lead to a "three-speed Europe," because their workers may be shut out of labor markets in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Despite lifting obstacles to jobseekers from the 10 nations that joined in 2004, Britain, Ireland and Sweden are expected to set the strictest conditions for Romanians and Bulgarians.
The two Balkan neighbors, struggling to lift themselves out of poverty and eradicate corruption, are being admitted under the toughest terms ever imposed by the EU, which is likely to halt enlargement for a few years. Both will have to report back every six months to prove continued progress in eliminating graft, cracking down on organized crime and money laundering, improving justice and making food and aviation safer.
Romanian President Traian Basescu, a former sea captain who often meets with Cabinet ministers and advisers over gourmet meals, quips that entering the EU "is like going to a five-star restaurant."
"You sit with people who are very well-dressed, and you, too, are well-dressed," he said. "But you have to be careful what you order and whether you can afford it."
Is a two-speed Europe really cause for concern?
Leaders like French President Jacques Chirac insist it's not. The EU, they say, should be a 25-speed bloc - an open alliance where members are free to integrate as slowly or as quickly as they wish.
To some degree, it's already worked like that for years. Spain, for instance, faced a similar period of restrictions when it joined in 1986, preventing Spaniards from working anywhere in the EU. Those obstacles eventually were lifted.
Even so, newcomers like Maria Tarta, a sales clerk in Romania, already are tempering their expectations.
"I'm afraid we'll still get the same salaries, and prices will be like in the rest of the EU. Then it will be difficult for the average person," said Tarta, 43.
"Our children are enthusiastic about joining," she said. "We're hopeful that there will be a better future for them, because it's too late for us."
___
Associated Press Writers Alison Mutler in Romania and Aleksandar Vasovic in Slovakia contributed to this report.
By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer
Mon Oct 16, 5:29 AM ET
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Miroslav Fasik is an EU citizen by chance and a chauffeur by choice, and he's frustrated at being stuck in Europe's slow lane. After emigrating from Serbia a decade ago, Fasik, 40, had high hopes of prosperity and opportunity when his adopted Slovakia joined the European Union. Two and a half years later, he feels duped.
"I'm still a second-class citizen," he said. "I don't have euros in my pockets. I don't have the right to move my business to Germany or get a job in Austria. This is not the Europe I had in mind."
Fasik's grumbling underscores a rekindled debate over a "two-speed Europe": the yawning gap between major EU powers such as Britain, France, Germany and Italy - the continent's undisputed political and economic engines - and the poor, ex-communist newcomer nations of Eastern Europe.
The EU took in eight former Soviet-bloc countries, plus Malta and Cyprus, in May 2004. Bulgaria and Romania will join on Jan. 1, widening the bloc to 27 nations and 480 million citizens.
Yet despite gaining access to millions in lucrative EU subsidies and the potential of billions more in increased foreign investment, the new states have not been granted all the privileges of their hard-won membership.
They're not part of the euro zone, although in January, tiny Slovenia becomes the 13th country to use the common currency. They're still shut out of the 15-nation Schengen visa system that allows passport-free travel, and might not get in until 2009. Their citizens can't get jobs in some Western European countries, and their leaders lack the clout to do much about it.
"The EU says it practices equality, but some countries are more equal than others," Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, complained recently, accusing Europe's established powers of treating newcomers "unfairly."
"I sometimes have the feeling that the new member states don't have the same rights as the old ones," he said.
In key foreign policy matters, the new EU members routinely are muscled aside.
A dramatic example came in 2004, when the leaders of Germany, France and Britain held a summit to which no smaller countries were invited. The snub helped widen the rift between "old Europe," which opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and "new Europe," whose defiant newcomer nations sent troops.
But Eastern Europe's restricted access to EU job markets has provoked the loudest complaints.
Of the 15 core EU members, only six - Britain, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden - have eased work force restrictions. The other nine include countries like Germany and France, where unemployment and fears of an influx of cheap labor both run high.
Some say the entry of Romania and Bulgaria could even lead to a "three-speed Europe," because their workers may be shut out of labor markets in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Despite lifting obstacles to jobseekers from the 10 nations that joined in 2004, Britain, Ireland and Sweden are expected to set the strictest conditions for Romanians and Bulgarians.
The two Balkan neighbors, struggling to lift themselves out of poverty and eradicate corruption, are being admitted under the toughest terms ever imposed by the EU, which is likely to halt enlargement for a few years. Both will have to report back every six months to prove continued progress in eliminating graft, cracking down on organized crime and money laundering, improving justice and making food and aviation safer.
Romanian President Traian Basescu, a former sea captain who often meets with Cabinet ministers and advisers over gourmet meals, quips that entering the EU "is like going to a five-star restaurant."
"You sit with people who are very well-dressed, and you, too, are well-dressed," he said. "But you have to be careful what you order and whether you can afford it."
Is a two-speed Europe really cause for concern?
Leaders like French President Jacques Chirac insist it's not. The EU, they say, should be a 25-speed bloc - an open alliance where members are free to integrate as slowly or as quickly as they wish.
To some degree, it's already worked like that for years. Spain, for instance, faced a similar period of restrictions when it joined in 1986, preventing Spaniards from working anywhere in the EU. Those obstacles eventually were lifted.
Even so, newcomers like Maria Tarta, a sales clerk in Romania, already are tempering their expectations.
"I'm afraid we'll still get the same salaries, and prices will be like in the rest of the EU. Then it will be difficult for the average person," said Tarta, 43.
"Our children are enthusiastic about joining," she said. "We're hopeful that there will be a better future for them, because it's too late for us."
___
Associated Press Writers Alison Mutler in Romania and Aleksandar Vasovic in Slovakia contributed to this report.