EU expansion

By Molla Mohammad Shaheen, Dept of English, DU
6 May 2004, 18:00 PM
From May 01, EU has become a 25-member family. Ten new countries have joined the bloc with high ambition. The new members have joined it to energise their economies.

Most of the countries are from the former Soviet block. Their economies are not stable yet. The EU expansion may alter the global order a little bit. It may America to downsize its political and economic hegemony. On the other hand, the Russian oligarchy may be marginalised. But, pragmatically, the LDCs must lose something from EU. They will lose trade incentives like MFA. EU will have to prioritise the Baltic and Balkan states. So, Asian and African countries will be deprived of economic facilities. But in future, the vast EU should become a large market for the LDCs.