卓越学院国际课程研修报告
姓名 | 陈昕朋 | 班级 | 国际组织人才实验班 | 专业 | 翻译 |
国际课程修读国家 | 荷兰 | 修读学校 | 马斯特里赫特大学 | 修读日期 | 2018.6.29---2018.10 |
修读课程 | 西欧研习、欧盟法律与政治 | ||||
研修报告正文：
①研修报告正文请按照以下内容撰写：a.课程学习情况及学习成果（500字左右）；b.针对某一课程内容或相关课题的论文、调研或专题性学习报告（2000字以上）；c.学习期间的心得体会，遇到的问题和困难，建议和意见等（500字左右）。
②纸张不足，可另附页。
③鼓励多附照片，照片要求清晰，并在下方注明照片内容。
I. 课程学习情况及学习成果
在本次马斯特里赫特大学暑校学习活动中，我选修了西欧研习和欧盟法律与政治两门课程，通过一个半月的学习，我了解到西欧国家的政治、经济状况。在西欧研习课程中，我参观了欧盟的主要机构。在欧洲银行中了解到欧盟在调节欧盟各国经济发展中所做出的努力和欧元产生的原因及影响；在欧盟议会中感受到欧盟各国对人民声音的重视以及在民主推进过程中遇到的阻碍和危机。西欧研习共涉及五个国家，在行进的途中，经常能感受到当下最热门的课题。面对难民巨潮，比利时和德国政府犹显捉襟掣肘、疲于应对；脱欧的余震仍不断冲击英国的经济与政治。如何在一体化与主权中取得平衡，使我们在这次研习中所了解的。
在第二门课程中，我的视角从宏观的西欧政治经济微观到欧盟的政治以及法律，通过研究具体课题来体会欧盟法律对整合、规范欧盟各国法律制定所起的作用。同时，我也通过研究课题了解到欧盟扩大过程中遇到的困难、障碍和解决其矛盾的措施与努力。这种微观的角度让我能更加深入的学习欧洲联盟的政治运作制度，并了解到当下课题对欧洲各国的影响。
两门课程共48天，考核方式为论文+期末考试形式。西欧研习满分10.0, 得分7.8, 为4学分。欧洲法律与政治满分10.0, 得分8.0, 为6学分。
II. 心得体会
尽管欧洲的商业活动非常活跃，但其缺少初创精神所带来的生气。由于历史、社会等原因，欧洲社会对待新兴企业的宽容度远小于美国和中国，这极大抑制了初创企业在欧洲的发展。为了改变这一困境，欧盟与各国政府制定了有利于初创企业的相关措施。这次考察向我展示了欧洲更真实的一面，那里发生了严重的社会和经济问题，但都相对得到了解决。在解决方案中应用的想法对整个世界来说都是一次宝贵的经验。我了解到政治是如何产生的，同时也通过深入企业来了解公司是如何在欧洲运作的。对我来说，这是一次开阔眼界的经历。
除了学业上的收获，我还结识了来自世界各地的伙伴。我们肤色不同，信仰不同，却能求同存异地在一起生活一个半月的时间，这不仅需要掌握语言的艺术和对彼此国家的尊重，更需要对自己的国家拥有理性的立场，在与人交流时做到不抹黑、不夸大。绝对的客观，是跨文化交流的基础。
论文——以欧盟扩大为例
Further EU enlargement
I. Introduction of the enlargement
In 2014 in the European Parliament newly elected president of European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker stated that negotiations would continue but “no further enlargement will take place over the next five years.” This controversial statement brought up a question of whether further enlargement of the EU is necessary.
The EU has expanded six times throughout its history by the way of the accession of the new member states to the Union. The idea of the EU has started as the European Coal and Steel Community with six founding members, which are Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy, Western Germany and France. The biggest expansion in the history of EU happened when central and eastern European countries, such as Poland and Hungary, entered the EU membership. And after Croatia joined the Union in 2013, the number of member states has increased to 28. The EU Global strategy annual report 2018 states that “a credible enlargement policy grounded on strict and fair conditionality is an irreplaceable tool to enhance resilience within the countries concerned, ensuring that modernization and democratization proceed in line with the accession criteria. A credible enlargement policy represents a strategic investment in Europe’s security and prosperity, and has already contributed greatly to the peace in formerly war-torn areas.” It means that the EU has been strengthening its resilience and capacity to maintain stability and security not only within the EU but also in neighboring territories.
The current agenda for the EU is its enlargement to the Western Balkan countries. In 2003 the European Council summit set integration of the Western Balkans as a priority of the EU expansion. The EU’s relations with the Western Balkans were moved from the “External Relations” to the “Enlargement” policy segment in 2005. At this moment, Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro are all officially recognized as candidate states, Serbia and Montenegro have already started its process of negotiation.
The treaty on the European Union states that any European country may apply for membership if it respects the EU’s democratic values and is committed to promoting them (Article 49, TEU). However, becoming a member of the EU is a complex procedure which does not happen overnight. Once an applicant country meets the conditions for the membership, it must implement the EU rules and regulations in all areas.
Any country that satisfies the conditions for membership can apply. These conditions are known as the ‘Copenhagen criteria’ and include a free-market economy, a stable democracy and the rule of law, and the acceptance of all EU legislation, including of the euro. A country wishing to join the EU submits a membership application to the Council, which asks the Commission to assess the applicant’s ability to meet the Copenhagen criteria. If the Commission’s opinion is positive, the Council must then agree upon a negotiating mandate. Negotiations are then formally opened on a subject-by-subject basis. Due to the huge volume of EU rules and regulations each candidate country must adopt a national law, the negotiations take time to complete. The candidates are supported financially, administratively and technically during this pre-accession period.
This paper is to shed the light on the reasons for the EU’s further enlargement and the challenges that are often encountered from both the EU and the candidate countries in the process of accession by examining Serbia as an example of one of the candidate states to EU membership.
II. Factors that support the enlargement
Article 21 of the TEU says, “the Union's action on the international scene shall be guided by the principles which have inspired its own creation, development, and enlargement.” Since the first enlargement took place 40 years ago, the EU has witnessed its enlargement for 6 times, expanding its membership from 6 to 28. As the applicant countries have changed during the time, it is a growing tendency in EU enlargement policy that it has been proceeding eastwards since the fifth one. It is also clear that the EU has determined to involve more members from Eastern European and West Balkan countries. Despite some negative opinions on the enlargement policies represented by Junker, the EU-joint negotiations between the EU and these applicant countries have never actually been affected. The reasons why it is able to continue can be seen in the expectations of each other from both sides, for the policy is supposed to be a win-win project.
From the EU side, involving members from Eastern Europe means that a more stable and democratic environment for economic and political development can be expected.
First, the enlargement guarantees the stabilization in Eastern European and Western Balkan areas. Historically, wars and conflicts happen constantly in these areas due to the complicated social and national reasons. Most of the countries, after World War II, were formally affiliated or deeply influenced by the Soviet Union, after whose fallout the economic and political situations have damaged severely. Low expectations of the local economy, high rate of corruption and unemployment, the tumult national situations make the future of this area unpredictable, which constantly serves as a potential threat to the EU and European integration. As one of the ways to ease the issue, the enlargement provides economic aids for Western Balkans and Eastern European countries, reducing one of the factors that may cause instability. Take Turkey, for instance, it is a significant regional power which requires the EU to be in good relationship with it. According to Carl Bildt, Swedish foreign minister, [The accession of Turkey] would give the EU a decisive role for stability in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, which is clearly in the strategic interest of Europe. (Ekman, Ivar, 11 December 2006)”
Second, the enlargement brings political benefits to the EU. As it is distinguished from the previous four times of enlargement, the fifth one happens in countries whose political systems are different from those in Western Europe. In order to enter the Union, applicant countries have to make political system changes to meet the criteria. When involving Eastern European countries into the Union, the EU will improve the systematic reforms in those countries and foster its political influence in Europe by achieving the goal of “ Harmonized Governance” (Chao Liu, 2003), which would to some extent ease the potential turbulence caused in this area. For instance, Hungary has made significant reforms of government and government administrations under the EU instructions after applying for the EU membership. The reform includes 10 areas which cover almost all the government institutions. The most significant changes are the settlement of the rule of law and the realization of political diversity.
Third, the enlargement enhances the EU’s position in global markets. From the expansion of the Single Market, the enlargement will raise a more competitive EU markets’ position globally. As the Eastern European countries join the EU, there will be a free trade area for manufactured goods into the Single Market. The success of eastward enlargement guarantees a Europe with over 450 million people and 9.3 trillion euros in GDP, a milestone which marks the transformation of Europe becoming one of the greatest powers in the world. Additionally, the enlargement of Eastern European countries will be beneficial for the European economic growth by adding over one million consumers to the single market, which will create many new jobs in both the applicant countries and the EU member states. As for the European companies, they are willing to see more states get involved in the EU market, which would “possibly reduce the risk of doing business in the other half of Europe”. (Elif Nuroglu, 2012)
However, as explained in the introduction, becoming a member of the EU is a complex procedure which takes time to achieve the agreement. During the process, candidate states have to make efforts to meet all the standards that the EU defines which sometimes means a limitation on sovereignty. Nevertheless, the idea of a united Europe and the profound meanings within continue to attract more countries. Economically and socially speaking, the joint in the EU is more beneficial from the applicant side.
First, the joint guarantees greater influxes of foreign investment, which will boost the process of economic structural reforms in these newly-accepted countries. According to the European Commission, the enlargement will bring direct effects on the economic growth of these applicant countries. During the first ten years of involvement, the GDP in newly accepted countries will gain 5% to 9% extra growth thanks to the EU enlargement.
Second, the acceptance of the EU promises a more friendly climate to improve the free trade between the EU and the Eastern European countries. Since these new member states fully participate into the single market, the restrictions and tax barriers of goods produced in these countries will be reduced, thus the cost of products will get lower, which is good news for the expansion of multinational companies in this area. Additionally, the free movements of labors and goods will increase the technical communications between two parts, which will improve the quality of products in these countries, thus enhancing their competitiveness in the EU market.
Third, the process of enlargement does not only have appeal to the government of the member states, it is also expected to have an influence on an individual basis. After joining the EU, member states should catch up with the living standard in the Union, which requires an improvement in the social welfare system. As they get more accesses to welfare construction in the EU, the welfare systems in Eastern European countries can be well improved by the overall welfare effect of enlargement. Also, there are distributional implications, which serve to better the systematic conditions in those countries. By imitating the welfare model in Western European countries like Germany, the applicant countries can follow the successful cases and patterns to raise up the living standards in their own countries to meet the EU criteria. Additionally, the improved welfare systems are essential to stabilizing the situation in these areas, which is likely to create a more economy-friendly environment for the future investment in Eastern European and West Balkan countries.
Take Spain as an example, the Spanish economy had been strengthened immensely as a result of admission into the European Union.The country that started as a lower-income member state has developed into a middle-income economy whichis expected a continuing growth. With the help of the Cohesion Funding, Spain has succeeded in raising its GDP, lowering its public debt, reducing inflation, and decreasing its unemployment rate by 10 percent (US Department of State)…From 2000 to 2004, Spain has received nearly a quarter of the European Union’s cohesion funding and the cohesion funding has led to strong economic growth in the county and has helped Spain assimilate with other European Union member states. Although its journey to European integration didn’t always undergo smoothly with some backtracking experienced over the years, massive funds from the EU helped Spain transform its economy and gain the status of a middle-income country with the Union. When traditions of a country contradict EU regulations, a member country has to give up some of its sovereignty and to change them in order to meet the EU standards. However, in the case of Spain, it helped the state maintain competitiveness in the EU market and also encouraged it to conduct necessary reforms for innovation.
III. Challenges during the process
Although the European Commission suggested at its findings of a comprehensive report (2009) that the first five years of the enlargement were a major success, the growing significance of Euroscepticism and right parties in EU countries implies that there are problems happening in the eastward enlarging process. For the EU, the enlargement has drawn not only benefits, but it has also brought economic and social challenges into the applicant countries and the Union.
For the applicant countries, which has just established the market economic systems and has not been able to handle the huge trade gap between the well-developed market system of Western European members. With the high criteria of products, the Eastern European countries do not have any competitiveness compared with countries from the west side. For instance, the accession of Croatia to the EU makes it difficult to maintain the same prices of products whose quality is expected to be improved. This high threshold in trade generates doubts and complaints in Croatia, as Croatian media once said, “If Croatia joins the Union, it would become a small, politically and economically unessential province among giant European countries. (R.I., 2012)”
Consequently, the entrance of Eastern European countries brings huge changes in the EU existed mechanisms, for the EU’s multilateral trade network will be affected by the new accepted countries from the eastern side. To look the EU single market outside, its scale is growing due to the eastern enlargement. To look inside, however, the market needs many works to catch up with the status quo. As for the decision-making procedure in the EU, the efficiency of it is likely to be dragged on due to the increasing number of member states in the multilateral trade patterns. According to Article 207 of the TFEU, “The Commission shall conduct these negotiations in consultation with a special committee appointed by the Council to assist the Commission in this task (The Common Commercial Policy).” The special committee appointed, which is composed of trade officials from the member states, is the major decision-making institution in terms of exercising the Common Commercial Policy. The policy is always hard to exercise because of the variously different opinions among the member state. After the acceptance of more countries with totally different interests, consequently, the due time will be seriously prolonged. Apart from the mechanical problems, the EU is also facing the increasing migration issues. After the integration, it is predicted that a huge influx of migrants will come to the Western European countries according to the free movement of labors, a situation which would worsen the rate of unemployment and add burden to the states’ welfare systems in the west side.
IV. Possible solutions
To solve the issues mentioned, solutions should be done on both outsides and inside the EU.
For the external solution, the EU should reiterate the significance of the accession standard to the Union. Since the fifth enlargement, the Copenhagen Criteria have set the standard for candidates countries before they can be accepted. The rules require the candidates to have adequacy in terms of economy, politics and legislative alignment. The Copenhagen Criteria, along with the Amsterdam Treaty, have contributed to the stability of the EU economic and political environment. They focus a lot on the defense of the EU value including freedom, human rights, the protection of minority groups, etc. For instance, the sanction was made by the EU when the Austrian Freedom Party, the extreme right party, participated in Austrian government administration. And Turkey has been rejected the application due to the violation of human rights afterward. With such strict criteria applied, the EU is more likely to reduce the potential risks caused by political reasons in the Eastern European countries. Additionally, the prerequisite of a functioning market economy can also narrow the gap between EU countries and the candidates, which does well to the construction of free trade areas and the stability of the EU’s single market.
Internally speaking, the EU should make systematical reforms vertically rather than horizontally. As there are 28 member states in the EU with candidates from Western Balkan, the political, economic mechanisms are greatly influenced by the ever-changing situation inside. It is thus necessary for the EU to make systematical changes concerning all aspects. For instance, the budget for funding changed significantly when the eastward enlargement took place, entailing more funds for the infrastructures in Eastern European countries. Also, the areas of the funding should be carefully considered. For Eastern European countries, the financial need is fundamentally different from the one in Western European countries. This requires specialized funding aims for this area. For example, the Copenhagen Summit raised the structural funds to €117 per person in 2006.
V. Case study: Take Serbia as an example
In order to fully understand the reasons why Serbia aims at joining the EU, it is necessary to take a look at the history of the country at first. Serbia had been internationally isolated for a while after the Kosovo war broke out and it led to the intervention from NATO. However, the fall of the Milosevic dictatorship ended the international isolation and opened up the path to the European integration. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was split into and renamed Serbia and Montenegro, the EU opened the negotiations with the country for Stabilization and Association Agreement afterward. Since then the government of Serbia has been considering the entrance to the EU as one of the priority policies. At the beginning of 2014 Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic told reporters that he hoped his country would be able to complete the accession process, which typically takes between six and 10 years, by 2014. He also stated that this was the most momentous, the most important event for Serbia ever since the end of World War II, adding “This is formulating the values we wish to implement, this defines the society we want to have. (DW, 2104)” These statements not only manifested his confidence, but also his determination in going further with the accession procedure.
According to the case of Spain, what attracts Serbia to the EU is mainly an economic benefit that the country possibly could receive after joining the EU. As Spain successfully transformed its economy into a middle-size strong economy in the EU, Serbia, with the hope of gaining a founding from the EU, are very eager to further proceed the accession negotiations. In general, by joining the EU, a candidate state can earn membership in a community of stability, democracy, security and prosperity, stimulus to GDP growth, more jobs, higher wages and pensions, growing internal market and domestic demand, free movement of labour, goods, services and capital and free access to 450 million consumers. In the process of making an effort to meet all the EU standards, a candidate state can expect micro-economic effects, such as growing inflow of FDI due to increased business confidence, reduced risks, more mobile workforce and so forth.
Despite the attracting factors, there are currently disconcerting social resistance in this country. Serbia still faces a lot of challenges on the way to the accession to the EU. In 2018, the European Commission published the commission staff working document on Serbia. It stated that since the opening of Serbia's accession negotiations in January 2014, 12 out of 35 chapters have been opened, two of which provisionally closed. The overall pace of negotiations will continue to depend on Serbia's progress in reforms and in particular on a more intense pace of reforms on rule of law and in the normalization of its relations with Kosovo.
Overall, Serbia has made some progress, in particular, in the areas of public administration reform and fight against corruption, however, with the regard to fundamental rights and freedom of expression, Serbia still has an issue with the implementation of the set goals and targets. Regarding the normalization of the relations with Kosovo, which is considered to be the biggest obstacle to the accession process, Serbia has remained engaged in the dialogue. However, Serbia needs to make further substantial efforts on the implementation of existing agreements and contribute to the establishment of circumstances conducive to the full normalization of relations with Kosovo, to be defined in a legally binding agreement.
As regards the economic criteria, Serbia has made good progress and is moderately prepared in developing a functioning market economy. Some of the policy weaknesses, in particular with regard to the budget deficit, were addressed. However, government debt is still high and the budgetary framework and its governance need to be strengthened. Major structural reforms of the public administration, the tax authority, and state-owned enterprises remain incomplete. Informal employment, unemployment, and economic inactivity remain still very high, particularly among women and youth. The private sector is underdeveloped and hampered by weaknesses in the rule of law and the enforcement of fair competition.
VI. Conclusion
Overall, this paper introduces the history of the EU enlargement policy, analyses the factors which support the process to continue, points out the potential and existing issues along with the enlargement, and raises the possible solutions to the emerging issues. The factors can be both found in the EU’s and candidate countries’ sides. From the EU side, the eastward enlargement can bring the stabilization, growth of political influences and opportunities of a more competitive market economy in Europe. From the candidates' side, more benefits can be found, including the increase in foreign investment, a more well-constructed market economy, and a better national welfare system.
Nevertheless, the issues are as important as the benefits coming along the enlarging process. For the newly accepted member states, they are likely to face a huge trading gap between the EU single market and their national markets. The situation may cause the unbalanced economic development in these countries which makes more burdens to their economy. On the other hand, the increase in member states makes systematic burdens on the EU where the policy-making procedure would be prolonged. Apart from it, the increase would also cause the potential crisis of migrants due to the free movement of labors.
Concerning the emerging issues, solutions are raised both externally and internally. The external way is to impose the EU accession criteria on every applicant countries. The Copenhagen Criteria remain the decency of being a member of the Union and make the national differences among the Union states on a controllable level. From the internal side, the EU should focus more on the mechanical and systematical improvement rather than unplanned expansion.
At the last part, the paper uses the case of Serbia to illustrate how all the theories mentioned above have been applied. It analyzes the preferential reasons for joining the Union and the current challenges, illustrating that there are still unsolved problems hindering the process of getting involved in the Union.
Overall, the EU would not stop expanding its influence to other European countries, as the change from fives years ago to these days illustrates. However, the process would be more sensible and the criteria would be more austere. Also, the policy may transfer from the actual inclusion of new member states to foster relations with non-EU countries. The recent enlargement cannot be the excuse of delaying the deepening process of the EU functions., neither can it be the reason for rejecting new candidates. It requires more external and internal solutions to improve the influence of the EU value and ensure an efficient and orderly development. Only in this way can the EU possess a rather safe position in the ever-changing world, and ensure the common interest and inner security of Europe.
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