Economic arguments for further enlargement of the EU Essay

Economic arguments for further enlargement of the EU - Essay Example The paper tells that the enlargement of the EU is one of the most debated topics presented to relevant councils. When the European Union was first formed in 1952 there were only six member countries. Today, there are 27 member countries in the European Union, and this number is scheduled to be increased in 2013. The European Union has been inducting newer countries into its council on an irregular basis since 1952, after subjecting applicant countries through a long process requiring pre-accession treaties, assessment conditions and a set of criteria – the Copenhagen criteria – that must be met before membership is granted. The process can take a number of years and after the induction of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, Croatia is set to become a member of the EU in June 2013. Other countries like Turkey, Iceland, and the Western Balkans are in accession negotiations to follow suit. Membership generally offers great benefits to member countries, particularly those struggl ing to make the move from being developing nations to being developed ones. The European Union provides an economic and political support that smaller countries, or at least countries with smaller economies, can use to enhance their global standing, both within and outside Europe. But what is the impact that this expansion has, whether on the currently existing members of the European Union, the European Union as a whole, or even, in fact, Europe in general? Surely there must be certain economic and political impact such a membership must have, and economic advantage is generally gained at the expense of another party’s disadvantage. While that may be true, and in fact is to a certain point, it is not quite as limited as that. The results of many surveys, reports, and inquests have shown that the general perception among Europe’s public seems to be that membership offers great benefits to newer members while offering little to no benefit to older members. This percepti on might not be in the majority – with statistics varying from country to country – there is no doubt that it is a sizable portion of the public, any country or sample considered. Evidence supporting this matter is given further in the report, built generally upon information provided by the British Parliament in 2006. As negative as general perception might be, however, expansion has always shown to result in positive economic and political impact. This is true of any series of expansion, but this report will particularly center its focus on countries inducted in 2004, as they have had sufficient time to determine the effect of membership on their economy, as well as the impact of their membership on the European Union members in general. In fact, not only are the arguments brought forth against expansion generally baseless, with little evidence to support their claim, inverse evidence shows that economic arguments supporting the expansion of the European Union are la rgely misunderstood, or otherwise overlooked.

JULIO CORTAZAR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

JULIO CORTAZAR - Essay Example The picture that evokes several meanings in Roberto’s mind becomes an obsession. Roberto becomes confused, he said, â€Å"Nobody really knows who is telling it, if I am I or what actually occurred or what Im seeing... or if, simply Im telling a truth which is only my truth† (Liukkonen). Cortazar’s ‘Las Babas Del Diablo’ discovers the uncertain difference between realism and its representation, illustrating to his readers that the two are merely the mind’s perception of the experience (Coupe). The 1966 movie ‘Blow Up’ by Michelangelo Antonioni, stirred worldwide curiosity when shocking sex scenes and smoking-pot vistas were featured (Waldman). The successful movie creatively questions reality and imagination. Thomas (David Hemmings) blows up the photo of the lady (Vanessa Redgrave) and the middle-aged lover in the park and finally discovers or perceives that the lover was actually lying dead on the ground and not so far away was a man in the shadows, holding a gun. Thomas believes that he actually witnessed a murder. He is able to expose pieces of reality, however, he resists searching for the truth (Waldman). Antonioni made it clear in this film that reality is non-existent if perceived objectively. Viewers have to find out for themselves the strength of their personal understanding of the film. The movie ends with scenes wherein Thomas chooses to be with the team illusionists instead of lingering in his secluded reality (Jardine). The extensive gap between the movie and the short story ranges from the theme, the setting, the protagonist’s profession, to the message (Huddleston). Cortazar’s story which happens in Paris, tags on phantasm and passion, whereas Antonioni’s film which takes place in London, speaks of the superficial faà §ade versus realism and build around it a puzzling story of murder which is left unsolved and open to the