Slovakia And European Union Essay, Research Paper

It is very important for Slovakia to be a member of the European Union .It is the biggest goal of Slovak s government nowadays. But to become a member of the EU is a difficult and long process. There are many conditions which should be met before Slovakia can enter this union. The EU is the biggest and one of the strongest unions in the world. The European Union is associated with strong and well-developed European countries, but many new countries, including Slovakia, have demanded entrance into the EU. The European Parliament is an organization which will conduct the entrance interviews, and also make final decisions. It will be very hard for Slovakia to pass these interviews and fulfill all claims of the European Commission. It is very hard to say when Slovakia will become a member of the EU. A possible date is January 2005, but it depends on many things and mostly on people. There are three points Slovakia must satisfy to gain entrance. First, the main goals, ideas and advantages of the EU should be understood. Second, the reasons Slovakia may not become a member will be examined. Third, the membership applications and the basic instruments of the relationships between the EU and associated countries of the Central Europe must be explored. It is impossible for to become a Union member state if the membership criteria are not fulfilled.

People in Slovakia must realize that the European Union is the best way to live in the future. The Union is a gate for a better and safer standard of living. According to the European Commission (1997), the EU wants to unite all European countries in order to achieve peace & stability in Europe. The First and Second World Wars was very painful and mostly an instructive experience for all European countries. Prevention against world war is one of the biggest goals of the EU. Living in peace and exercising human rights is the main principle that EU secures. Without common behavior, strong democracy and economic prosperity can not be formed (p.11). Unemployment seems to be another problem which would be a very difficult to solve. The best solution offers joined European action, which could improve work of the European economy. Europe can not preserve strong economic and political independence and democracy without a strong inside unit. The European Union wants equality for all associated countries. In the EU, which would contain all European countries, there would be bigger economic and social stability and also there would be a chance for less developed countries to increase their income and living standard. Free movement between all members of the EU is also one of the plans, which is a very big advantage that could help every citizen of the EU (European Commission, 1997, p.34). It is very important to say that if Slovakia enters the EU there would be possibilities for every Slovak citizen to find a job outside the territory of Slovakia, in countries where the income is much higher. Nowadays, there are many problems with employment of Slovak citizens abroad, because we are not one of the members. Contact with all European companies would cause bigger competition between companies, the European market would be bigger, and an average customer could have many advantages from this market. The main goal of the European Union is to unit all countries in Europe, protect democracy and improve the situation of all associated countries in every way.

There are many things which could influence and cause Slovakia to be unable to become a member of the European Union. One of these is the past political system in Slovakia. HZDS is a political party which led our country for eight years, and during this time made many ineffective and unsuitable decisions. People like Rezes and many others stole and misused a lot of money from our state budget and some big companies in Slovakia. These steps destroyed our economy, and it is very important to have a higher economical level if we want to enter the EU. If today s government is not be able to improve this situation,

it will be very hard to become a member. Also, the international view of Slovakia is not very positive. Our republic has many problems which make a very bad reputation in the world. There are problems with the Roma community and Hungarian citizens living here. Among major political problems, Pisarova (2000) notes, Rezes demanded for a presidential pardon last month. (p, 2) It is very dangerous to pardon him, because he is the biggest thief in our republic and it could harm our reputation. Also, political parties such as SNS are very dangerous for our entrance, because their decisions are not equivalent to European criteria. Fred Nicholson, who strongly supports SNS said for The Slovak Spectator, Slovakia does not need to be a member of EU and EU is not very good idea for Slovakia. Your country does not need Europe and NATO. (p.2) But it is a big mistake; many people in Slovakia are very influenced by these people. People are not sure about European Union membership and we will never be one of the real members if people do not want to go there.

The EU offered us membership in year 1995.Here are some criteria which we have to fulfill. The European parliament wants political stability, economic increase and the ability to take decisions for the membership. All European countries can become members if they fulfill these criteria. Political dialogue and cooperation are also very important partnership priorities .The EU also includes Phare Program. It is an instrument which should help our country establish a more effective economy and legislation (European Commission, n.d, p.9, 33). According to Hold (2001), Slovakia probably does not have the right methods, because Slovakia has been critised by the European commission for several problems in the financial sector. Slovakia has already opened 16 EU chapters .The financial control issue proved that there are still many problems which have to be solved (p. 2). From this point of

view, nobody knows when all the criteria will be fulfilled and when Slovakia will become a member of the European Union.

Entrance to the EU is very important for Slovakia. The European Union is an organization which has very good goals. It wants to unite Europe and help other countries to improve their situation and standards. There are some criteria that are very important for membership and Slovakia has to prove that it is able to be one of the associated countries. It will be very difficult because Slovakia is struggling with many problems at this time. Also its international reputation has to be changed because some political parties are worsening this reputation and making entrance impossible. People are most important, because people have to be persuaded that the EU is the best solution. Everything depends on these aspects and Slovakia must take the best steps for an entrance to the EU.