Anguilla News covers Anguilla
 |
|
Anguilla News
Bridging
Gaps & Expanding Horizons. |
|
|
|
|
|
Anguilla News covers Anguilla and the wider
Caribbean.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
x |
|
|
|
The Greater Caribbean This Week -
The European Union: An Example to Follow |
By Dr. Rubén Silié Valdez,
Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States.
May 17, 2007: IN 1957, to
speak of a half century was to refer to a notion of a long
period of time, a distant future. In that respect, the
pioneers of European integration during the mid twentieth
century, who conceived the idea of building the European
Union, having operated under the old notion of the future,
did not visualise the materialisation of their efforts
within a relatively short period of time, that is, in less
than half a century. However, social changes and
technological transformations were shortening the notion of
the future, which historically speaking, occurs when there
is a change in situation that marks a difference from what
existed previously.
There’s no denying that the demands of globalisation were
the factors that most influenced the speedy advancement of
the unitary European utopia. Following the two major wars,
their dramatic results compelled governments to do
everything in their power to break the wave of massive
destruction. Thus, countless treaties and agreements were
signed that put an end to the confrontations; nevertheless,
the resource to ensure compliance with the agreements
continued to be based on war logic, since the arms race
pressed on and each state understood that the guarantee of
peace was to be prepared for a possible nuclear war. This
responded to the implausible nineteenth century notion of
Karl Von Clausewitz: “if you want peace prepare for war”. |
Advertisement - Article continues
below
|
Around the middle
of the twentieth century, the Cold War was established as
the norm of international relations. The Cold War failed
however, in the sense that the confrontations expected never
came to pass. Although the ideological contradictions
intensified to the extreme, excessive military expenditure,
apart from being destructive, must have made an impact for
many to think, especially the Europeans, that a bipolar
world would not be the best approach for achieving the
development goals being pursued. Thus, they began the quest
for the means to ensure a suitable alternative that would
distance them from the two super powers of the era: the
United States and the Soviet Union. With respect to the
former, this would be done through an alternative
integration and development plan based on their own
institutions; as for the latter, they would establish
themselves as a dissuasive economic force.
The Europeans defined a peace consolidation strategy,
anchored in the strengthening of their economies and a
political system established on strong democratic bases.
That gave rise to the start of the internal process of
persuasion to move forward with regional integration. The
early arguments revolved around the economy; thus, the first
agreements were established to strengthen the steel and coal
industry, creating the European Coal and Steel Community,
cognisant of the fact that this would be an initial step in
working toward the consolidation of a more far-reaching
agreement that would have greater political strength. This
first step was taken by the founding countries, namely
France, Germany, Belgium Luxembourg, Italy and the
Netherlands.
However, along the way there were steps forward and steps
back, since the European Community of Defence and
subsequently the European Political Community could not
withstand the reluctance of some. Nevertheless, even though
there were obstacles, there were never regressions in this
project since the idea was growing among the European
countries to create a common market that would expand the
possibilities of each country, with the free circulation of
goods and factors of production, such as companies, workers
and capital. There were also expectations of establishing a
political structure above the state-nation that would
respond to those common problems that could not be resolved
by each state individually.
The integration project moved ahead with increased speed,
after which the European Economic Community was created
through an agreement signed in 1957. That agreement provided
for the suppression of customs; a common external customs
tariff; a common transport and agriculture policy; the
creation of a European Social Fund; the European Investment
Bank and the pursuit of closer ties among the members.
Initially, the agreement was only signed by the same six
founding countries, after which Great Britain, Denmark,
Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Spain were incorporated.
Together, the first twelve began the work of the European
Councils, where discussions were held on the differences and
details regarding what would be achieved through the
Maastricht Agreement, when the European Union Treaty was
signed, which launched a process of creating “an ever closer
union among the peoples of Europe”.
From 1993, when that treaty entered into force, the European
Union became the first model of global government.
We could say that Europe is keeping up with the times, since
globalisation requires a world order that goes beyond the
specific interests of nations and which would better respond
to the progressive international interdependence that we are
experiencing.
Fifty years of community experience make it clear that this
is a better approach for the advancement of the peoples;
therefore our region must believe that every year of
progress for the European Union represents one of regression
for us.
The views expressed are not necessarily the official views
of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to:
mail@acs-aec.org |
|
Anguilla Business Quick Links
|
