What is Europe?
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, Europe is, “A person born, raised or living in Europe; while also being a native or resident in the continent of Europe. Europe is a continent based in the Northern + Eastern Hemisphere and has a census of 741.4 million people. When you look at Europe through a geographical lenses, it is commonly referred to as the western part of the Eurasian landmass. The continent starts in the Atlantic and ends as the Urals amd Caucasus mountains, which is deemed problematic because of the issues that will arise from Russia and Turkey.
A major group in Europe, the EU, is an organization which prides itself as a political and economic union comprised of 28 countries, with the goal of being more competitive in the global market place. When it comes to joining the EU, two problems arise. The first problem stems from the uncertainty over Europe`s boundaries, which because of the boundary issue, makes it unclear which countries have the right to become apart of the European Union (Glencross 2014,14). For example, Turkey and Russia are two countries that have territory in both Europe and Asia, but are not apart of the EU. The ability to identify a geographical boundary between Europe and Asia is problematic and due to the inability to define this, the expansion of the EU is unlikely. The second problem is through the accession process, which states, any European state which respects TEU 6(10): “ the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for HR and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law” (Fabian PowerPoint, 2018). Though many countries may believe they check all the boxes, it has been seen that countries have been rejected from joining the EU because of either their political regime, economy, posing a threat and geographical limitations.
Case Study Relate to Europe?
When looking into the roles countries play within the EU, one can see how beneficial the joining of this institution was for Lithuania. By Lithuania joining the EU, they were able to emerge as a country that could enhance their economic status, join the new single market place and enhance their business opportunities by having the resources of the EU. During the Eurozone crisis, which was a time when several European countries were hit with high structural deficits, which led to expensive bailouts and a slowing of the economy. During this time, Lithuania was one of these countries that was hit with this deficit, and in turn, adopted the euro in effort to actively participate within the EU and help rebuild their economy. (Vitkus 2016, 1.)
Though joining the EU has benefitted Lithuania greatly, the integration came at a steep cost. One example would be the Ignalina nuclear power plant, a plant that was the biggest Chernobyl-type atomic power plant in Europe. One of the conditions of joining the EU is adhering to the European Commission, a committee that deemed the safety level of the plant would not attain to their standards (Vitkus 2016, 2). Though the safety issue was a major concern, a real concern for Lithuania was that the plant was a major source of cheap electric power, which adherently produced 80% of electric power nationwide. Though Lithuania took a significant hit by closing this plant down, the realization of the benefit the EU brings to their society compared to the keeping of the plant and leaving the EU was outweighed with what the EU brings to the table.
Before Lithuania was integrated in the European Union, Lithuania was struggling with notion of being a post-communist, poor and poorly run governed state. Lithuania used the integration to elevate themselves as a country that could prosper under a political system that their elites deemed fit. These political elites see the strengthening of the EU has a national interest because, “Lithuanians believe that the very existence of the EU completely changed the geopolitical environment and made it friendlier for smaller states” (Vitkus 2016, 3).
Work Cited:
https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/vitkus.pdf
Gediminas Vitkus.2016.” A Case of Confridence in the European Project”.
Andrew Glencross.2015.” THE POLITICS OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION”. WILEY Blackwell.
I liked how you analyzed two potential problems instead of the typical geography issue when it comes to being considered a European state. Your point about political regimes being a basis for rejection from the EU was a salient point. Moreover, with your point about Lithuania and the Eurozone debt crisis, I wrote about a similar situation with Ireland. Both countries were alleviated from severe poverty through the work of the EU.