The European Union and the globalization process

The introduction of the euro on January 1st 1999 was a culminant point of a long economic integration process in Europe that took place in almost all the second half of the 20th century. Paradoxically, this introduction takes place, also, in a context where the principles and references that are behind this process seem to be exhausted without any sufficient mobilizing alternative in perspective that could, not only, develop all the benefits of the existence of a single currency in Europe but, also, improve sustainable progresses in direction to deeper levels of integration. A major expression of this situation is the recent decision of enlargement to ten more countries, the majority of them from a Central and Eastern Europe, decision that was taken under pression, in a context of insufficient consolidation of the process by the fifteen and without reaching an agreement including an updating of the objectives and methods, the geographical limits of the integration, and the institutional architecture of the Union. Indeed the project of the economic integration in Europe seems threatened by a triple order of factors. Firstly, the wider dynamics of the international economic integration seems to be forcing the constitution of new types of blocs, more “global” in nature, that conflict with the dynamics, dominant until now, of regional integration. The seems to be the case of the “Anglo-Saxon bloc” ", integrated by the Unit States, the United kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where historical and cultural ties seem to push a common standing in globalization process. Secondly, the moving the east of the centre of the European Union project made the concept Western Europe loose its substance having as consequence a dilution of common references and objectives and, at the same time, an increased peripheral position of the countries belonging to the Atlantic frontier, being Portugal an extreme case. At a more conjunctural level, but with important consequences, the deepening of the economic crisis may accentuate the entire negative factors, mentioned above, compromising the following resumption of the process, at least as it was running before. So, everything seems to point out to a situation of deep changes in the dynamics of the European project of integration which direction is still an incognita. However, considering the forces, in presence and the discussions in progress we may state two alternative scenarios for the evolution of the actual identity crisis of the project of European integration. The First is the “Continental Europe scenario” and it considers the evolution of the integration process in Europe based on the territorial contiguousness, with the strengthening of the German or the French-Germanhegemony. This scenario is consistent with sub-scenarios of “Multi-speed Europe” and it has the political unification as maximum desideratum. The second is “The global Europe Scenario” and, in this case, the challenge would be the opening, of Europe to the world, based on the historical relations the Europeans made all over the world. The territorial enlargement of the Union Space would be subordinated to the consolidation of the euro-zone and the euro would be used as an active instrument to strength the relations between the European countries and their traditional spaces of influence, deepening and creating new experiences such as the CFA frank and the exchange agreement between Portugal and Cabo Verde. This scenario, as it is easy to understand, would require a great political autonomy of different country-members of the Union, reason why the objective of political union should be considered in a minimal and pragmatic perspective. The second scenario should be preferable in the actual context of globalization and could empower the role of Europe. In both scenarios the relations with the East Asian countries have a particular importance. .

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