Eight more countries join the EU in May, 2004 (Czech Republic; Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania; Hungary; Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia); soon after, Malta and Cyprus are welcomed into the EU. In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania were welcomed as members of the EU.
In October, 2004, the now twenty-five EU countries sign a "Treaty Establishing a European Constitution" which is "designed to streamline democratic decision-making and management" of the EU (http://europa.eu). The constitution states that the EU is "open to any European country that fulfills the democratic, political and economic criteria for membership"; when a new member asks to join, that member must be approved unanimously by the other 27 states.
Currently there are several countries that are being considered as potential members of the EU; they are Turkey (that is now a member of NATO), Croatia, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (http://europa.eu). The "Copenhagen Criteria" (rules that must be followed prior to admittance into the EU) lays out three specific criteria a country must prove it has accomplished: a) it must have "stable institutions" that guarantee democracy, "the rule of law," human rights and "protection for minorities"; b) it must have a "functioning market economy" and it must have the "capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the union"; and c) a country must have the ability to assume the "obligations of membership," and that includes "support for the aims of the Union" and having the administrative competencies to be capable of "applying and managing EU laws in practice" (http://europa.eu).
Several countries are potential candidates for admission into the Union, but are not applying for membership because public opinion is opposed to membership; they are: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The specifics of how the EU government works: a) the Council of the European Union represents all the member states and is the principal decision-making body; b) the European Parliament represents the people...
European Union - Business in Europe European Union * Competitive advantages of a European area in a chosen Industry and Porter's Five Forces * Personal impressions and reflections on what was learned? The European Union is made up of several countries, and all these countries have one single aim, which is to promote and develop business relationships within Europe and also with the rest of the world, in today's world of globalization. When one wishes
"Lingering concern persists about the incorporation of 10 mostly East European countries last year, which some feared would dilute EU prosperity" (Rice-Oxley 2005). When Turkey desired to join the EU, member nations questioned its ability to be integrated into the common culture of the other member nations (Rice-Oxley 2005). Turkey's human rights record made it controversial as did its: "striking difference from the European norm in terms of economics,
political framework of EU and OCT European Union (EU) and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) are in association with each other via a system which is based on the provisions of part IV of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), consisting of detailed rules and measures which are laid down in the document issued on 27th November 2001 title Oversees Association Decision. The expiry date of this
To achieve these various purposes, NATO embarked on a series of interlocking efforts during the 1990s that were intended to provide some aspect of an overall concept of security. A series of initiatives resulted in NATO accepting new members with the possibility of still further additions in the future, crafted the Partnership for Peace and created the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council; entered into a Founding Act with Russia and a Charter
(Jordans, 2008) "Europe's unilateral approach will only lead to legal battles and trade wars," Bisignani also stressed. (Jordans, 2008) a hint of this contention occurring in the future was evidenced recently when 27 nations, including the U.S., China and 25 other countries, registered opposition to the EU's attempt to include commercial airlines in its cap-and-trade program by supporting an ICAO-run program. This signal confirmed united opposition to the European
These reasons and the opposition met in the public opinion must be taken into consideration by the governments of each members state and so there is a great impact over the admission of new members, such as Croatia. The date of the accession of Croatia in the European Union seems to provide great debate, not only because the country is not considered ready to join the Union, but most importantly
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