The European Union will only be able to move closer together if a smaller group of courageous states take the lead, writes political scientist Werner Weidenfeld in an exclusive essay for DW-WORLD.DE. Werner Weidenfeld is the director of the Center for Applied Policy Research (CAP) at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and visiting professor at the Remnin University of Beijing. The enlarged EU continues to makes its influence felt far beyond its frontiers. The heterogeneity within the bloc has, however, grown as a result of new members joining over the last few years. Economic, social and political differences continue to exist between the member states despite the steps towards convergence. Ideas about how the body called the EU should develop in the future have become increasingly divergent. It will become more and more difficult to achieve greater integration simultaneously. This should not just be regarded as a problem, but also as an opportunity for the future of Europe.
Werner Weidenfeld is the director of the Center for Applied Policy Research (CAP) at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and visiting professor at the Remnin University of Beijing.
The enlarged EU continues to makes its influence felt far beyond its frontiers. The heterogeneity within the bloc has, however, grown as a result of new members joining over the last few years. Economic, social and political differences continue to exist between the member states despite the steps towards convergence.
Ideas about how the body called the EU should develop in the future have become increasingly divergent. It will become more and more difficult to achieve greater integration simultaneously. This should not just be regarded as a problem, but also as an opportunity for the future of Europe.
That sort of structure could work, up to a point, but it is not the original European ideal.
