Europe: Time of change

The national flags of the 15 states of the European Union

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The European Union, an economic and political alliance of 15 -- soon to be 25 -- European states, is changing faster than at any other time in its 50-year history.

The launch on January 1, 1999, of a single European currency and the admission of 10 mostly ex-communist eastern bloc states in May 2004, have not only presented it with enormous opportunities, but also placed it under immense strain.

"It is a time when crucial decisions have to be taken," says Gaston Thorn, former prime minister of Luxembourg and president of the EU Commission (1981-85).

"Decisions about what Europe is, where it is going, how its institutions are to be developed. It's not just about enlarging the union. It's about deepening and strengthening it."

Two-speed Europe

French President Jacques Chirac, who spoke of the special relationship between France and Germany in a recent speech to the German Bundestag

In principle, the EU's 15 current members are united in their vision of Europe's future. In practice, however, levels of enthusiasm for the changes currently under way vary markedly from country to country.

Fears about the economic effects of admitting new members -- most from the impoverished ex-communist eastern bloc -- and suspicions that union is inexorably leading to amalgamation have caused some member states to view the process of integration and enlargement more coolly than others.

"We now have a variable geometry arrangement in Europe," explains professor Yves Meny, director of the Robert Schuman Centre in Florence. "This recognises that different countries have different needs, and EU policies are adapted to fit those needs."

The single currency is a good example. Twelve of the union's current 15 states now belong to the "eurozone." Britain, Denmark and Sweden have yet to set a date for adopting the euro, if indeed they do at all.

This divergence of approaches has led to concerns about the development of a two-speed Europe, with some states forging ahead with integration while others lag behind.

In a speech to the German Bundestag on June 27, 2000, French President Jacques Chirac spoke of a "pioneer group" of states that wish "to go further and faster" than their EU fellows.

Not everyone believes that Europe will inevitably divide into fast and slow tracks.

Sir Edward Heath, the prime minister who took Britain into the European Community, told CNN.com: "I think it is perfectly possible for all countries in Europe to move forward at the same speed."

Others, however, are not so sure. Thorn thinks a two-speed Europe is unavoidable.

"It's the only practical way forward for the union. Otherwise Europe will always be moving at the speed of its slowest member and nothing will ever get done."

Towards a European Union

Many different people have broached the idea of a European union at many different times, in many different forms.

As early as 1846 the novelist Victor Hugo was urging the governments of the main European powers to "form a fraternity of Europe."

It is only since 1945, however, that the concept of European union has gained practical expression. The need to rebuild after the disaster of World War II and to ensure that such a conflict never occurs again has provided the impetus for a far closer degree of pan-European cooperation than had ever been known before.

The basis of this cooperation lies in the Treaty of Paris of 1951.

Signed by West Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland and Italy -- "The Six" -- the treaty created the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), an organisation in which the coal and steel resources of member states were pooled and placed under the control of a single supranational authority.

"Coal and steel were the two industries fundamental to the waging of war," says Meny. "The basic principle of the treaty, and hence the European Community as a whole, was to make war between the major states of Europe an impossibility."

Six years later "The Six" signed two further treaties in Rome, one creating the European Economic Community (EEC) -- generally referred to as the Common Market -- and the other the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC).

It was out of these three communities, whose executive branches were subsequently merged, that what is now known as the European Union developed.

"The Six" have since been joined by nine other European nations -- Denmark, Britain, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland and Sweden -- bringing the current number of members of the European club to 15.

Gradually these states have inched closer together, signing a succession of further treaties -- the Schengen Agreement (1985), the Single European Act (1986), the Maastricht Treaty (1992), the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) -- that have bound them into an ever-tightening ring of mutual economic and political cooperation.

In December 2002 at the Copenhagen European summit it was agreed that ten more members would be admitted to the Union. From May 2004 the Union will swell to 25 members with the accession of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus. The EU's population will grow 20 percent to 450 million people.

Growing Pains

Ministers from "The Six" sign the Treaties of Rome on March 25, 1957

The problems of squaring a pan-European agenda with the national interests of 15 -- and soon 25 -- separate countries have made the process of integration a slow, complex and at times divisive one.

"The union no longer has a common goal," says Thorn. "Back in the 1950s the idea was to move towards a federal Europe. As new countries have joined, however, they have had a different vision and the founding ideal has been lost."

So many different outlooks has made the formulation of EU legislation a complex process, with treaties drafted in minute detail to take into account the peculiar needs and concerns of member states.

In Denmark, for instance, when the Maastricht Treaty on European Union was put to a national referendum, it was rejected by 50.7 percent of the population. Only by appending a series of complex opt-out clauses was the treaty made sufficiently acceptable to be ratified in a second referendum (by 56.8 percent of the population).

The Schengen Agreement of 1985, which removed border controls between signatory countries, proved similarly problematic.

Thirteen states eventually signed up. The union's two island nations, however, Britain and Ireland, have retained border controls.

Eurosceptic sentiment is vocal in all member countries, with a recent poll showing support for the EU to be at an all-time low.

And in Austria, the dramatic increase in support for Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party in 2000 was partly explained by the party's staunchly anti-European campaigning rhetoric.

France and Germany

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

Despite such popular scepticism -- and the complexity of formulating legislation that brings member states together while at the same time respecting their individuality -- the European Union has nonetheless continued to develop.

"One should not attach too much importance to negative polls," says Thorn. "People might not always like or agree with the EU, but very few would want to give it up. The fact is that no country can face the economic and political changes of our time alone. We have to stand together."

Such is the kudos now attached to EU membership, and such the perceived economic benefits, that no fewer than 13 countries recently said they wanted membership. As well as the 10 joining in May 2004, Romania and Bulgaria have been given a date of 2007 and Turkey's application will be reexamined in December 2004. Ankara has been told entry talks can begin then providing the country improves its human rights record.

The union's continued growth, often in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, is in no small part due to the influence of its two most enthusiastic and economically powerful members: France and Germany.

"From the very beginning France and Germany have been the key players," says Thorn. "Without a certain harmony between these two countries you cannot build up Europe."

Says Sir Edward Heath: "The whole idea of a united Europe was and remains a Franco-German initiative."

Their closeness was emphasised by President Jacques Chirac in a speech to the German Bundestag:

"Franco-German cooperation, emulation and synergy have been one of... (the EU's) most powerful driving forces. Today, at a time when we're seeing the formation of groups capable of outperforming their international competitors, the Germans and French are looking quite naturally to each other."

Both Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are careful to emphasise the continued unity of the EU's 15 states.

It seems clear, however, that France and Germany, who 50 years ago were locked in the bloodiest conflict in European history, now form a union within a union at the heart of Europe.

"Increasingly it seems that they are not simply the key members of the EU," says Thorn, "they are coming to dominate it, with other member states just having to say yes to whatever they want."

Europe is sailing into increasingly uncertain waters. One thing all experts agree on, however, is that it is France and Germany who are at its helm.