Enlargement Of European Community Research Articles

Diffusing Democracy in Europe: The European Parliament and European Community Enlargement Policy 1974-79

The article explores the role of the European Parliament (EP) in European Community (EC) Southern enlargement policy during the phase of democratic transitions in Greece, Portugal and Spain. It demonstrates how the EP insisted on adherence to core democratic principles as a condition for any accession negotiations, in particular the holding of free and fair parliamentary elections. Furthermore, the article shows how the EP made strategic use of the Southern European democratic transitions to demand the democratisation of the EC and the EP itself, with the holding of direct elections to the EP as its primary demand. Moreover, it discusses the EP’s attempt to make the observance of democratic principles a formal requirement of EC membership, both for applicant countries and for existing member states. Finally, it reconstructs the EP’s relations with counterparts in Greece, Portugal and Spain, which were intended to prepare the baselines of enlargement policy and EC accession.

Buttering up: Britain, New Zealand and negotiations for European Community enlargement, 1970–71

There is widespread perception that Britain’s entry to the European Community in 1973 was a ‘shock’ for Commonwealth nations. In the most extreme views, Britain is seen to have ‘abandoned’ or ‘betrayed’ the interests of its former colonies and long-time allies, particularly the ‘old Commonwealth’ nations of Australia, Canada and New Zealand, thereby accelerating decolonial independence. Yet an examination of British accession in the early 1970s does not necessarily support this view, especially when using New Zealand as a political case study. New Zealand’s political and economic response to European integration was not sudden; rather, it was sustained over decades. New Zealand strived, largely successfully, to retain as much of its traditional export trade with Britain as possible while simultaneously diversifying elsewhere. Despite being a small nation as far from western Europe as it is possible to be, the New Zealand Government exerted disproportionate influence on the terms of British entry, partly because of Westminster parliamentary opinion. Far from a betrayal, the British Government went to extraordinary lengths to secure a satisfactory arrangement for New Zealand in accession negotiations in 1970-71. This research is the first to examine the topic using British, New Zealand and continental European sources. It adds to the relatively limited historiography on European integration and third countries and separately, on Britain and European integration in the 1970s.

Postgraduate Medical Education System in Romania

After the enlargement of European Community, the access to work in different European Union countries became easier. An increasing number of postgraduate trainees (residents) chose to leave their country for better financial conditions, working facilities, and research opportunities. The aim is to identify those factors that describe important characteristics of the Romanian postgraduate medical training from the residents’ perspective. The study was conducted in two samples of Romanian trainees: psychiatric and non-psychiatric residents from university hospitals. Residents were asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding their satisfaction about the postgraduate medical training. Also, they were asked to express preferences about their future medical perspectives there are no significant differences between psychiatric and non-psychiatric trainees. Most residents rate an average financial situation. Although their satisfaction regarding hospital practice is moderate, they rate a good relationship with the attending physicians. Because the training takes place in university hospitals, residents have access to conferences, lectures and case presentation. Very few have access to PhD opportunities, to sponsored pharmacologic studies, or to psychotherapy. The majority of the trainees would prefer to remain in their country, close to their families. Residents rate the medical training system as satisfying, but because of limited working opportunities after finishing residency, they consider living the country.

European Community Enlargement: Impact on U.S. Corn and Soybean Exports

AbstractThis paper utilizes the framework of an Armington model to analyze the impact of the European Community enlargement on U.S. corn and soybean exports. Results indicate that the enlargement has a significant and negative impact on U.S. corn exports to the new EC members. Increases in U.S. soybean exports are much smaller in volume terms. Declines in U.S. corn export prices outweigh the insignificant increases in U.S. soybean export prices and therefore accentuate U.S. losses. However, the U.S.‐EC agreement on their enlargement dispute cut net losses of U.S. corn and soybean exports to Spain and Portugal by about a third.

European Community Enlargement and Institutional Choice in the Common Agricultural Policy

In less-developed countries, the agricultural population (a majority) is often heavily taxed, whereas in developed countries the agricultural population (a minority) is heavily subsidized at the expense of the nonagricultural sector. The European Community (EC) may be considered a developed country. Its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) supports agricultural prices at levels considerably above world markets. We argue that present institutional arrangements in the CAP, originally designed for an EC of six relatively homogeneous countries, contribute significantly to the economic and political problems that constrain European agricultural integration. The growing number of member countries and the increasing divergence of national interests are forcing a discussion of institutional innovations in an enlarged EC. By analyzing the demand for and supply of these innovations from a public choice perspective, we believe that they can be both predicted and improved in the process.

European Community Enlargement and World Trade in Fruits and Vegetables

AbstractWorld trade models for the product classes fresh fruits, dried fruits, processed fruits, fresh vegetables, and processed vegetables are estimated and used to project the impact on export prices and trade patterns likely to arise after the European Economic Community enlargement with Greece, Portugal, and Spain. The results indicate that current world trends in import demands and export supplies if continued, and in the absence of enlargement, will cause marked declines of export prices for four of the above product categories (except dried fruits). The enlargement will not significantly modify these price projections, but it will divert a significant part of European Community imports of these products to the three new member countries.