Wednesday, July 29, 2009

EU-28?

Iceland seems like it will be next into the European Union. This is in spite of the fact that many with in the EU think the EU has expanded too far too fast. Iceland's application is no doubt helped by the fact that it is a long-time democracy with a high standard of living. It is also absurdly tiny in terms of population making it no threat should the EU ever become democratic (see reason 5093 that Turkey's application is on ice for comparison). The fact that Iceland's economy has collapsed seems to be less worrisome to the EU. Economic stability used to be a key component of accession, apparently not so much anymore. Indeed according to Wikipedia, the Copenhagen Criteria (the basic criteria for accession) specifically include a country's "ability to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union." Iceland's ability to cope with economic pressures is, to put it kindly, a point for debate. However, in EU politics some democracy-loving Scandinavians are unlikely to offend anyone. Bets on Croatia being 29? Or are the Slovenes going to go Cypriot on them (reason 2340 that Turkey's application is on ice)?

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