"European Union hopefuls should join the euro first
By Björn Wahlroos
Published: June 5 2006 19:31 | Last updated: June 5 2006 19:31
With the constitutional treaty stuck in limbo and enlargement apparently stalled by xenophobia and populist opposition to an expanding union, it is time to consider new ways forward for Europe. To do that, identifying the success stories of the past 50 years of integration and building on them seems like a good idea.
But that is not what the greatest minds in Brussels seem to be interested in. Instead, enlargement is largely seen as a linear extrapolation of present efforts to build a stronger political union, however much opposition those efforts meet within member countries. After the French and Dutch referendums, securing a popular vote in favour of south-eastern enlargement appears rather a distant possibility."
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