Friday, September 20, 2013

The European Crisis and the accession of Croatia


First Greece -- then Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal: The European common currency has come under pressure from large national debts and the effects of the global financial crisis.
The 2013 enlargement of the European Union saw Croatia join the European Union as their 28th member state on 1 July 2013.  Croatia's accession to the EU comes at a difficult time for the union. 
From an economic point of view, the EU is now shouldering a new burden by taking Croatia into the fold. The country's economy has been in recession for years and unemployment is at about 20 percent.
EU entry will not make Croatia prosperous overnight. But according to Croatian´s Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic small nations must be open and the European Union has granted Croatia a great opportunity. The opportunity includes financial support.


What does accession mean for Croatia and the EU? And what are the incentives for the EU by the accession of Croatia?  Why has the EU still the power to bring about change in countries willing to join and why does it remain attractive to outsiders? 

3 comments:

  1. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/18/us-eu-croatia-idUSBRE98H0BY20130918

    It seems that Croatia is already in trouble with the EU and still has a long way to go before it is actually accepted completely in the inner circles. Croatia is not amending its extradition laws that could allow other EU members to bring felons to trial who have fled to Croatia. The EU is threatening to immediately stop promised funds to help its financial system. This is most importantly affecting its border system which now does not meet code for an EU passport free zone. This means that traveling to Croatia is still more difficult than other EU countries and could potentially divert trade, business and travel to other countries. This of course will go no where to help stimulate the country.

    ReplyDelete
  2. From a small country standpoint or a Croatian standpoint, joining the European Union is a high achievement. This nation has only celebrated few events such as this one. The accession of Croatia to the European Union is a demonstration that each and every one of them belongs to the European Democratic and cultural set of values. Joining the European Union for many countries in Europe is looked at as pragmatic way to achieve optimal goals, or the next best step. As many small countries strive toward the west, their ideal is to join the EU. Moreover, be advised that in the 1990, Croatia was a big industrial nation; it only declines due to wars. They also used to trade very well with Eastern Europe countries. Although the EU is going through a critical time right now, I believe joining the European Union will help Croatia reestablish those trades among Eastern Europe countries and establish new to help boost their economy and other countries that are part of European Union.

    ReplyDelete
  3. From a small country standpoint or a Croatian standpoint, joining the European Union is a high achievement. This nation has only celebrated few events such as this one. The accession of Croatia to the European Union is a demonstration that each and every one of them belongs to the European Democratic and cultural set of values. Joining the European Union for many countries in Europe is looked at as pragmatic way to achieve optimal goals, or the next best step. As many small countries strive toward the west, their ideal is to join the EU. Moreover, be advised that in the 1990, Croatia was a big industrial nation; it only declines due to wars. They also used to trade very well with Eastern Europe countries. Although the EU is going through a critical time right now, I believe joining the European Union will help Croatia reestablish those trades among Eastern Europe countries and establish new to help boost their economy and other countries that are part of European Union.

    ReplyDelete