Enlargement, not isolation

Ask any random person in the streets of Edinburgh whether the EU is good or bad and chances are you will hear a tirade about just how impossible bureaucracy is, even if they know little about the EU. But in the streets of Edinburgh, chances are that that random person might well be Polish and then you hear a different story. "Bureaucracy? Well yes, maybe, but nevermind, who cares, right? I can be here and work and it’s legal. That’s what matters. I can also study and it doesn’t cost me thousands of pounds a year. Now how cool is that?” Well, that is at least what I would say.

Since May 2004, when Poland joined the EU, hundreds of thousands of Poles have left Poland and come to the UK. Or, as some like to put it, they have fled Poland and invaded the UK. Interestingly, the reasons behind it are not quite clear. There has been no famine, no religious persecution or dictatorship to flee from in panic. All in all, Poland has been doing quite well for quite a while now.

Many say the answer is obvious: they have run away from unemployment and low wages. The phenomenon comes down to money, full stop. But surely it would be too simple, and rather sad as well. Is the British minimum wage really so appealing as to make thousands of postgraduates come and work well below their qualifications as cleaners, chefs and sales assistants? I do not think so. The reason why so many have left is because it suddenly became extremely easy to do so, after decades of restrictions and isolation.

In 2004 Poland had been a fully independent democratic country for 15 years, the iron curtain no longer separated it from western Europe. However, it still felt isolated, not least because it was not a member of the EU. Whatever the flaws of the EU, no matter how impossible its bureaucracy, it has at least one major advantage: it integrates. Accession to the EU, combined with opening of the job markets in some countries, including the UK, meant that Poles could actually go and live abroad. It became easy and absolutely legal. But most importantly, we did feel welcome. This freedom was unprecedented. It was like good news, and Poles behaved like a collective doubting Thomas who had to see and touch to believe. And so we rushed abroad.

Many European countries not belonging to the EU still crave that kind of freedom, feel left out and fear further isolation. It is incredibly easy for the EU to isolate rather than integrate: it is enough to strengthen the integration within the EU and make the potential member states wait for too long. After the "big bang” enlargements in 2004 and 2007 there has been a temptation to forget about further integration for a while. The new EU sighed with relief and hoped for a well-deserved rest after a job well done. However, there is no time to rest, which is clear if we have a look at the Balkans.

The region has been neglected for a long time. We did hear about the trial of Slobodan Milosević or the conflict in Kosovo a thousand times, but the Balkans have rarely been mentioned in the context of European integration. In the meantime, a lot of attention has been given to Turkey, and even Ukraine following the Orange Revolution in December 2005. The Balkans seem to have been too problematic to mention. The region is still very much divided, stuggling with the legacies of war. But exactly because of that it cannot and hopefully will no longer be ignored, especially following Kosovo’s recent declaration of independence.

Faced with this crisis, politicians across the EU suddenly stress the importance of the "European answer to the Balkan question”: only the European perspective can bring peace and cohesion to the region. Now divided, the former Yugoslav republics can be integrated within the EU and the EU only. It sounds fantastic, but only as long as we do see progress towards the future EU enlargement. Stressing the utmost importance of integration, but doing nothing or precious little to bring it about, can only add to the feeling of isolation in the Balkan countries.

It is very reassuring to see significant progress in Croatia’s negotiations with the EU. Stipe Mesić, the Croatian President, believes Croatia can join the EU as soon as 2010. However, while Croatia is successful, Serbia feels even more disconnected. Serbs complain that their world is systematically getting smaller, precisely because of the European integration: since 2007 they need a visa to go to Bulgaria and Romania. In the world of politics it is all about relative gain, and while everyone else seems to be gaining, Serbia in particular is losing. Serbia needs Europe, and Europe needs to ensure it does not isolate Serbia. That is why I am looking forward to hearing the news about EU negotiations in the Balkans, with Serbia in particular. In this case no news is not good news, but very bad news indeed.

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