The Advantages And Disadvantage Of EU Membership By Menezes Bandumba Enfraim Chilongo May 2010 In the period before the second World War, Nations were not opened for cooperation but after the II World War, the world faced an economic and political crisis. According to Watts (2008) and Boston (2005) in this period, Nations became more united and more opened for cooperation, that is, countries have joined with one another in search of mutual benefit. This enables them to start working together and in doing so, many international organizations were formed, the G8, the Western European Group and the World Trade Organization are given as example of many of them. McCormick (2005) defines international organizations (IOs) as those that consist of a group people who work together with a purpose of bringing peace and harmony between people. Today, we have many International Organizations (IOs) and the actual European Union is one of those organizations that were formed after the World War II in 1950 s. According to Goodson (2009) at the beginning, when EU was formed, it was called European Economic Community (EEC) but after four decades of growth, the European Union finally came into its own in 1993. He also states that there are 27 countries in Europe which are member of the European Union today and Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherland, and West Germany were the original members. Then other countries joined in 1973, 1986, 1994 and 2004. Bulgaria and Romania were the last countries accessing to the European Union in 2007.
In an ideal world, the policies are created to by anyone that has the authority and the permission. According to McCormick (2005), in the European Union policies are also adopted and developed rationally by different commissions as parliament, the Council of Ministers, etc, and these policies exist at different levels. Furthermore, he states that the policies are made for those who share the same interests. The EU s regional policy gives more chance to countries less developed so that they can improve their living standard. Apart from that, EU s regional policies provide its member with plans which may help them to offset economic disparities in the region. It is obvious that the EU is a big organization and there is an obvious appeal for many European states to join the EU, however, joining EU is very controversial subject. Yet much can be said in favor and against it. That is why this paper will concentrate on EU membership and attempt to answer the following reaserch question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a member of EU? A variety of articles written on European Union and its membership have concentrated on the advantages and disadvantages that the EU provides to its member states. Most of them which were written on the advantages of EU membership claim that: the European Single Market which enables companies to trade in an international market, a Monetary Union, environment protection and war prevention as the main advantages. However, there are also some disadvantages to be considered. The disadvantages that are usually mentioned are the loss of national sovereignty and little influence that small states have. To begin with, the European Single Market is the first advantage of being a member of EU. According to Europa (2009) the EU member states have formed a single market with more than 500 million people.this enable companies to trade in the international market. In addition he mentions that without this platform, competing individually and
making products and services in the EU states would be more expensive and difficult. Derhan (2010) in his article, European Union: Risk-Benefit Analysis, says that both EU citizens and businesses have the benefits of the single market. According to him, 2.15% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from the money that citizens get from the single market which was approximately 708 EUROS per person in 2006. In addition to this, the single market has contributed to reduce the number of unemployed. According to CEC (2008) as a result of the Lisbon Strategy, more than six million jobs were created in the last decade and the European industry has contributed a lot to increase the number of jobs within European Member States. Another advantage of European Union membership is a monetary union. Monnet (2005) claims that a unique currency makes the trade easier because any alteration in the prices is noticeable. Furthermore, he mentions that the buying and the selling prices are equal in different countries which shows transparence and makes a single market in Europe. What is more, a monetary union brings many facilities. According to Ilskovitz, Dierx and Sousa (2007) a single currency facilitates not only customers but also businessmen in their transitions costs as there is no need to use different currencies. In addition they mention that with the introduction of a new currency (EURO), EU member states have the same prices and this make the trade between them easier. By eliminating the national currencies, EU member states have been forced to reduce the prices of their products so that they can stay at the same level. Another advantage of European Union membership is the environmental protection and war prevention. The health of the environmental is important for human being so it is important to preserve it. Derhan (2010) states that the EU has created policies with a purpose to protect the environment. Apart from this, EU has created policies to prevent people
from turning to terrorism. Council of the European Union (2008) states that these policies are concentrated on the radiation of the terrorist group like Al Qaeda and the groups that it inspires. The treaty of Lisbon (2007) also states that the EU s priority is to ensure the safety and security of its members. As a result, EU has been working with the regions that are across its borders like the Balkans, North Africa, the Caucasus and the Middle East, all together with its allies. The European Single Market, monetary union, environmental protection and war prevention are the main advantages of being a member of EU; however, there are some disadvantages as well. The first disadvantage is the loss of national sovereignty. According to Derhan (2010) when new members join the EU, they agree to obey all the regulations even if it is against their national rules and by signing or joining they put away some of their national sovereignty. Moreover, Curia (2010) also states that when the member states are found in fault, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ask them to take care of the situation in control. The members pay a penalty if they fail to fix or take the situation in control. Derhan in his article claims that the legal system provides the most evidence of national sovereignty being eroded at the national level and replaced by control. The ECJ is the enforcer of EU law (p.6).that is, the national sovereignty is reduced gradually as the member states follow the EU law. Another disadvantage of EU membership is little influence of small states. Denti (2007) says that for what concerns policy areas, it can be seen that the influence of small states has been weaker on security issues (e.g. the case of the contact group for the Balkans, a directorate of the big states in the EU), while they have proved to be pathfinders on the other fields (p.4). In other words, it can be understood that the small states have less participation on security issues. In addition to this, Derhan (2010) claims that larger member like France
and Germany have more geo-political influence than small states, i.e., small states have less of voice. Furthermore, they are overruling because of their size without respect their citizen s concerns. From what have already been written above, it could be concluded that the European Union membership has many advantages such as the European Single Market, which enable companies to trade in an international market, a monetary union, environment protection and war prevention. On the other hand, of course, there are some disadvantages like the loss of national sovereignty and little influence that small states have. It is obvious that the EU is a big organization and there is an obvious appeal for many European States to join the EU, however, joining EU is a very controversial subject. Turkey has been trying for EU membership since the 1950s and now Turkey s relations with the EU entered a new era With the start of accession negotiations. European Union should accept Turkish membership taking account of its remarkable progress in economy and Turkish s strategic localization. Those opposed to Turkish membership in the European Union point out several issue. First, they claim that Turkey is large in terms of population and small in economic size. Hughes (2004) claims that Turkey is a country with a huge population and very small in economic terms with political and economic implications. He further states that in economic terms, Turkey will have a small impact on the European Union Market. Hughes might have a point; however, the reality is very different from what he states. Turkey s population is not adults now, most of them are children. This means that they will contribute to the progress of Turkish economy in the near future. What is more, Turkey s economy has been growing significantly if we compare with some other countries which are already members of European Union. Domaniç (2007) claims that 20% of the Turkish population is children now but as some studies show, by 2020 they will reach their working age and will contribute to the
development of the country. Furthermore, he states that Turkish economy has been growing at any significant rate and this has contributed to the stability of the macro-economy as well. As a result of this, not only the inflation but also the public sector deficit and debt have reduced. Second, those opposed to Turkish membership to the EU claim that there is not a good relation between Turkey and its neighbors and EU security will be in danger. Gasparini (2007) claims that Turkish accession to the EU will bring negative impacts as it will increase the area and the border of the EU touching areas with a lot of conflicts such as Caucasus and the Middle East. Apart from this, he further states that Turkey has been involved in conflicts with its neighbors so they need to resolve and take control of it in order to maintain its border safe. Gasparini may have a point, but Turkey has solved most of the problems with its neighbors, in fact, Turkey has now a good relationship with countries like Greece and Armenia that used to be enemy. Ünluhisarciklı (2010) claims that although Turkey has some unsolved problems with its neighbors, Turkey has given an important step to resolve those conflicts. Turkey improved their relation with Greece, they are no longer adversaries. Apart from this, Turkey and Armenia have established a diplomatic relation. He further states that Turkey has a new foreign policy and with this policy, Turkey will better improve the relationship with its neighborhood and will play the role of mediator in regional conflicts contributing to the peace and stability between them. In security terms, Turkey has already a good experience in this area. Domaniç (2007) claim that in 1952, Turkey joined NATO and since then Turkey has been contributing to the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) so EU can take this advantage and Turkey s strategic localization to stabilize the highly volatile regions. The Opponents also mention the Cyprus problem. Gasparini (2007) claims that the Cyprus problem is a big issue and has serious implications for the negotiations between the EU and Turkey, the possibility of any integration is out of question if the Cyprus question is not answered. Yet, this idea cannot be more than just a claim,
because Turkey actually voted for the reunification and it was the Greek Cypriots who did not accept it. ABHaber (2008) claims that the current situation between these countries is the result of EU s faulty strategy when they accept Southern Cyprus as a member representing the whole of the island. In addition to this, Hannay (2006) states that Greek Cypriots voted against by rejecting the reunification of the island in April 2004, in fact it was the Turkish Cypriots who voted in favor. The last claim of those opposed to Turkish membership in the EU is that Turkish culture and value are different. Rosenberg (2008) claims that Muslim and Christian culture are not alike. He further states that Turkish population is 99% Muslim and the Europe population is based in Christianity. However, he might get it wrong because the integration of Turkey in the EU not only will strengthen the dialogue between Christian and Muslim but also bring democracy between them, That is, their integration would enrich religious freedoms in the EU. Domaniç (2007) says that Turkey will contribute positively to the unification and the intercultural dialogue between the Christian and the Muslim population. Moreover, it would strengthen Turkish Democracy and shows that Islam and democracy can coexist. The number of Muslim living within the borders of EU has been increasing daily so it is safe to say that Islam is already a part of the European Culture. The integration of Turkey would show that Muslim culture is accepted in the EU. In addition to this, İnaç (2003) claims that Turkish s accession to the EU will enrich religious freedoms bringing Muslim and Christian together. All in all, the proponents of Turkish accession to the European Union should rethink their points and claims, taking account of Turkish remarkable progress in economy and Turkish strategic localization, without any biased and subjective thoughts. On the other hand, Turkish authority should convince the opponents of their integration to the EU that their
integration to the EU will provide valuable benefits to the organization. Once they do this, the opponents will understand the importance of the Turkish membership in the EU and start to support their integration to the organization.
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