The EU's Expansionism - A Viable Strategy?

The EU Commission in Brussels

by Thomas Ricard - Blog I

The European Union Commission is an intriguing part of an incredibly complex system. Overall, what the European Union (EU) has accomplished, and hopes to achieve in the future is very impressive and ambitious.

On a continent where every country has grown to have its own individual and unique culture, it is simply astounding that they have been able to unify and work together. However, due to this reason many compromises were made in the structure of the EU. The process the EU is required to go through in order to institute change throughout Europe is incredibly complex, and confusing. Consequently the EU is also incredibly slow in implementing anything. This seems to caste the EU in the same image most of the world have of the United Nations, which is that the institution ultimately is of very little use considering the amount of money it uses. However, standardizing the Euro and allowing easier passage throughout Europe for citizens are still quite remarkable achievements even if they weren’t completely adopted by all EU members.

What the European Union hopes to achieve in the future however, I start to doubt and frankly am curious as to why they would imagine some things. It was mentioned that the European Union Commission hopes to bring in Belarus and Armenia in the future. While Armenia seems possible to me, despite the backlash it would most likely receive from Russia and its returning President Vladimir Putin, I can’t believe the Commission has any true hope of bringing in Belarus. This is after all, a country that for some time appeared as if it might join Russia, and its ruler Alexander Lukashenko, has been in power for well over a decade now. Even thinking of a Belarus joining a series of treaties focused on encouraging and preserving democracy throughout Europe is slightly absurd to me.

While I think that is it pretty remarkable what the EU has done so far, I do believe it is rather limited now due to how diverse its members are. Trying to solidify a continent to prevent future wars and other conflicts is admirable and appears to have been achieved very effectively by the EU. However, starting to unify social policy among so many different cultures seems like a poor decision, and also simply impossible. Cultures have distinct aspects that individuals use to separate themselves from others. When you begin to unify social policy among so many different cultures it would begin to contribute to a loss of identity. It’s no longer being German, French, or Spanish. Rather they begin to drift towards just being European, and criteria used to differentiate themselves begin to become far more challenging to find and sustain.

Overall, the achievements by the European Union and its member states are very impressive and I believe a good example to the rest of the world for unification. I look forward to seeing how well the EU succeeds.