Advantages and Disadvantages Associated with Irish Membership of the
European Union
The European Union stands on the threshold of unparalleled change over the coming years. The next waves of enlargement will be unprecedented in nature and continental in scale. This process has gained so much political momentum that it is now irreversible.
The EU will grow by the decades end to at least 27 member states comprising the largest economic bloc in the world, accounting for 25% of global GDP and incorporating 500 million people within its borders. Of these 500 million people, approximately 3.4 million of them will hold a passport stamped with the word Éire.
These are very exciting times for our country, we are now part of the largest economic community the world has ever seen, opening the doors of opportunity for us, the Irish citizens, everywhere we look. Ireland's membership of the EU is seen by most to be of great benefit to the country as it will solidify the foundations of our economy as well as increase the awareness of Ireland as an investment opportunity for multi national companies; however, some will argue that the change would be detrimental to our nation in the long run.
The beneficial aspect of Irish membership can, in most cases, be easily seen in three main areas:
· Economical
· Social
· Political
Economical
The economical advantages are those that are most evident in our nation these days. Consumers want products, products need delivering, deliveries require logistics, and logistics cannot be performed without the proper road network. It is here that EU grants have helped, being instrumental in the upgrading of our road infrastructure, allowing them to cope with the increased flow of traffic create...
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...arter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, which strives to bring social security systems in line with each other, vital when it is considered that the per capita social expenditure of a country like the Netherlands is twice as high as that of Portugal.
The European Union members speak together with one voice on such matter as energy and pollution and the research budget for the community is so great that it will lead to great advancements in technology.
Europe is the envy of the world,
and I am glad that Ireland is a part of it.
Bibliography:
References:
In completing this assignment, I gained information from the following sources:
European Investment Bank Internet site
http://www.eib.org
European Union Internet site
http://www.europa.eu
Business and Finance
Dated 11th January 2001
http://www.businessandfinance.ie
The benefits of the European Union outweigh the costs. Ever since the end of World War II, countries in the EU have been helped economically, politically, and culturally.
In conclusion, the benefits of the UK’s membership in the EU outweigh the costs. The most significant benefit is the access they have to the single market as this has managed to benefit quite Access to single market is aiding this inward investment
Tiilikainen, T. 2011. The empowered European Parliament: Accommodation to the new functions provided by the Lisbon Treaty. The Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
Thomassen, J. 2009. The Legitimacy of the European Union after Enlargement. In: Thomassen, J. Eds. The Legitimacy of the European Union after Enlargement. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 67-86.
The EU is a union of sovereign European states who share sovereignty based on treaty. The union also possesses competences in policy sectors with exclusive jurisdiction in the area of Economic and Monetary Union while others are shared with Member States (MS), the other powers belong to MS as derived from the conferral of powers art 5(2) TEU, 2(1) TFEU art.3 & 4 TFEU additionally other powers have been offered by the decisions of the European Court for direct effect on citizens
Europe will not run the 21st century because of a combination of economic, institutional, and cultural factors. However, for the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the economic aspects of European society that will impede EU ascendency. I do not believe that the EU will cease to exist in the coming century, but I do believe it will become obsolete because it will be unable to make the necessary changes to their demographic problems, defense policies, and economic culture in response to the increasing American ascendency. Europe has long been known as the continent home to the great powers of the world. From Caesar to Napoleon to the British Empire, the European empires have continuously been at the helm of the ship of progress. The wars of the 20th century however, left Europe in a wake of destruction and chaos period before. The continent was devastated and had little hope to recover. In this new era of European descent, the great American Era came into existence. The US, one of the remaining superpowers, became the helping hand that Europe needed. With the aid allocated by the Marshall Plan and the creation of programs and institutions, Europe had a future. The creation of the European Union (EU) united the European countries over the common goal of preventing war another war. The United States intended for these programs to be a stepping-stone to build the economic and institutional powers of Europe, because a stronger Europe was good for the US. However, instead of using these as a springboard to create self-reliant union, the EU remains reliant on US military and hard power to support them their social efforts.
Uvalic, M. (2002, July). Regional Cooperation and the Enlargement of the European Union: Lessons Learned? International Political Science Review, 23(3), 319-333.
Cerutti, F and Lucarelli, S: The Search for a European Identity: Values, Policies and Legitmacy of the European Union, (2008) Routledge
Vassallo, J., Fagan, F., 2005. “Nature or Nurture: Why Do Roads Carry Greater Freight Share in the United States then in Europe” John F Kennedy School of Government ; Harvard University : Massachusetts
In May 1921 the first elections held under the Government of Ireland Act took place. The election was held between the Northern and Sothern parliaments, which were established by the Ireland Act. Proportional representation was used during the voting to demonstrate that minorities had protection using the single transferrable vote system that was an English invention. This was new to British politics and fairly uncharted territory in the voting system since its first introduction in the 1920 local elections. The northern parliament was victorious in the elections; this made the British work harder to promote their military campaign. The Irish Republican Army on the other hand was far from defeating Britain and needed to regroup and come
Senior, Nello Susan. "Chapters:4,15." The European Union: Economics, Policies and History. London: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
Since the turn of the millennium Ireland witnessed unprecedented growth, in stark contrast to the economic hardship of the 1900’s. Ireland became one of the most prosperous countries in Europe during the 2000’s. Times were good for Ireland as unemployment was low, growth and GDP was growing year on year and inflation was constant. In 2008, all this was to change and Ireland witnessed the worst recession in its history. The banking crisis, the construction sector and poor regulation were the major contributors in the Irish recession. A fiscal crisis erupted, NAMA (National Assets Management Agency) was established to secure bad loans in banks, and a EU/IMF bailout was agreed which burdened Irish taxpayers. I will explore the causes and consequences of the crisis in this essay.
The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 has been termed as the largest single expansion of the EU with a total of 12 new member states – bringing the number of members to 27 – and more than 77 million citizens joining the Commission (Murphy 2006, Neueder 2003, Ross 2011). A majority of the new member states in this enlargement are from the eastern part of the continent and were countries that had just emerged from communist economies (EC 2009, Ross 2011), although overall, the enlargement also saw new member states from very different economic, social and political compared to that of the old member states (EC 2009, Ross 2011). This enlargement was also a historical significance in European history, for it saw the reunification of Europe since the Cold War in a world of increasing globalization (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). For that, overall, this enlargement is considered by many to have been a great success for the EU and its citizens but it is not without its problems and challenges (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). This essay will thus examine the impact of the 2004/2007 enlargements from two perspectives: firstly, the impact of the enlargements on the EU as a whole, and thereafter, how the enlargements have affected the new member states that were acceded during the 2004/2007 periods. Included in the essay will be the extent of their integration into the EU and how being a part of the Commission has contributed to their development as nation states. Following that, this essay will then evaluate the overall success of the enlargement process and whether the EU or the new member states have both benefited from the accessions or whether the enlargement has only proven advantageous to one th...
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