The Vision of Europe in the New Member States

The historic importance of the accession of ten states to the European Union on 1 May 2004 is as monumental as was the surprising indifference that marked the event. But what a huge moment for European history… the reunification of a continent, nearly double the number of member states, 75 million new European citizens…

We have just celebrated the second anniversary of this event and yet, unfortunately, this indifference appears to have been joined by fear and prejudice. The fear is that the project of the Europe of 15 and the prospects of a political union has been ‘deformed’ by an unprecedented enlargement. The prejudices concern the economic and social differences and the unfair competition that these new member states might represent.

If we take the trouble to look closely at the reality of this enlargement, we very quickly see that these fears and prejudices have no foundation and are essentially based on a lack of knowledge of these countries. And yet, caught between the official political discourse and the cursory distinction between ‘old’ and ‘new’ Europe projected by the media, it is difficult to home in on the daily reality of the citizens of these countries and to understand their state of mind and aspirations.

That is why Notre Europe wanted to bypass the official and media speak to pick out from these countries some intellectuals – from political, academic and cultural backgrounds – to give us their unjaundiced views. The question that we asked them, deliberately open and ambitious, was: what should the Europe of 2020 be like?