If one was asked this question, the answer appears to have been answered already: no, there can be no sustainable peace in Europe without the future enlargement, there can be no stability in Europe without the Western Balkans. But, with popular anxiety over further enlargements on the rise and with the unexpected difficulties facing the Union as it endeavours to reform its institutions, it is worth asking ourselves what is at stake, and why it is so important that the Western Balkans countries not be “left behind” in the European integration process.

After the accession of Bulgaria and Romania on 1 January 2007, ensuring the success of the enlargement process has become one of the EU’s major political priorities. And indeed, the very essence of European integration is to overcome the division of Europe and to contribute to the peaceful unification of the continent. The Western Balkans region is essential to the EU’s security and peace project. We have, on the one hand, a European Union built on peace and the reconciliation of its citizens; on the other hand, we have a region known to history as “Europe’s powder keg”. Read the rest of this entry »

Recognizing the need to expand the U.S. broadband network to ensure America’s infrastructure and economic development, Congress tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with developing a national broadband plan by February 17, 2010.[1] During the current financial crisis EU as well as the Member states wish to show that work is continuing despite the institutional deadlock of the Lisbon Treaty. Commitment to the European project is a risky path, but it is the only one that is capable of sustaining economic growth, of generating the support of the citizens, and of creating innovative jobs. New European Commission presided by José Manuel Barroso would need concrete projects and provide tangible benefits for citizens and support innovation and long term economic growth.  

In the field of the broadband access, for want of a unifying political plan and a strong economic vision, we have reached an impasse without an effective political blueprint. After the progress made by the European Union in the 1980s and 1990s, not least as a result of the Delors Commission’s initiatives, the EU has succeeded in opening up national markets. However, a true opening-up of the European market and the establishment of a single market is yet to be achieved. Read the rest of this entry »