Things change so much.
Eastern Europe spends decades of the 20th century under Communist regimes. Then the Iron Curtain falls. Regimes change. People start to rebuild, to build differently; they seek better governments, economies, lives.
Europe becomes a European Union – and more and more countries are now gearing up to join it, including Poland, Hungary and Slovakia (3 countries I'm visited). The latest is the Czech Republic:
Czechs Take Sober Look at EU Membership
They’ve voted to join the EU. Now comes the interesting part: integrating into the union, and all the regulations and responsibilities that come with it.
I wonder what this means for the Czech Republic. What will be the most noticeable differences, pre- and post-EU? What will people be the most excited, the most disappointed, about? When I’m in the CZ this fall, I’m going to try to get people’s perspective on joining the EU. What does it mean to them?
And then, when next I visit (whenever that is?) I wonder what I’ll notice, that’s different from before?
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For people in the Czech Republic and other Eastern European countries I’m sure joining the EU is only going to be good news.
They’ll get a ton of investment,access to the EU market place,the people who are living with high unemployment and low wages will have freedom of movement to countries that have strong economy’s and will be entitled to all the social,housing and health benefits of those countries.
They’ll have to surrender a lot of control over their economic and foreign policies and laws made by the EU will take precedence over their own, but as most of these countries lived for so long under communism and the Soviet Union’s direction I’m sure its not that big a deal.
These guys are on a winner,not sure if the western European countries are though.
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