EU-Enlargement: New Members – Old Periphery?
Two days before the Economic and Finance secretaries of EU-member countries met in Vienna (ECOFIN), the Alternative ECOFIN in Vienna (April 4th-6th, 2006) had focused on and critically assessed the financial and economic policies of the European Union (EU), and tried to work out alternative policies and political actions for a political change.
The seminar in Bratislava shall take up this discussion and use eventual results in order to assess consequences of the EU policies for the new member states in Central and Eastern Europe. The controversy on the EU budget 2007-2013 has once more shown the fatal development perspectives of even those countries that managed to adapt and comply with EU conditionalities.
It had been long evident that the new members would not face the comparatively favorable conditions of Greece, Portugal, and Spain (southern EU-enlargement).
The situation of 2006 reflects a completely different picture. On its meeting on December 15 and 16, 2005, the European Council decided on a compromise budget that cut the means for the Cohesion Funds, the responsible EU commissioner Danuta Hübner had considered necessary for a reasonable regional development policy. Hübner and the EU-Commission backed down in favor of a compromise but the European Parliament had blocked the budget, arguing against the cut in development funds. (January 18, 2006) A "compromise" was negotiated and decided upon on May 17, 2006 (in the EU-Parliament). It brought, however, only a tiny increase in the budgetary lines. All in all the EU25 will have to live with a budget of about the amount the EU15 had to its disposal.
The seminar in Bratislava is dedicated to the situation of the new Central and Eastern European member countries of the EU. Emphasis will be given to the room to manoeuvre left to national governments by the stability and growth pact (Maastricht Treaty) and an eventual membership of these countries in the European Currency Union. What kind of policy can national governments still formulate and shape? Starting from an assessment of the conditions for membership and transformation, the different transformation experiences shall be discussed. Do the conditionalities of the EU for new members in Central and Eastern Europe ("closed transformation") differ from the widely known conditionalities demanded by the International Monetary Fund ("open transformation")?
An important issue will be the question of financial stability that supposedly comes with the currency union. The seminar will draw on Latin American experiences. Is it likely that a financial crisis as in Latin America will occur in Central and Eastern Europe as well? Will the Dollarization of the Latin American experience be followed by a Euroization in Europe? What are the similarities and what the differences of the experiences during the risky transition period?
Finally the EU policies do have severe impacts on the population in Central and Eastern Europe. The growth and stability pact hits hardest the poor. The decision making processes of the European Union seem to take place with little participation of popular vote. Is the growth and stability pact compatible with democracy?
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