For European union and European citizens the first of January 2007 brings intriguing political developments. EU expands itself to 27 member states and more than 450 million citizens with the integration of Romania and Bulgaria. Presidency of EU is shifted to Germany, led by Bundeskansler Angela Merkel of the conservatives. Also today Europe has taken a small but significant step forwards on its way to monetary unification, as Slovenia has adopted Euro as its official currency first among the new member states. Let´s see how long it takes before I get my hands on some Slovenian euro coins.
There has been doubts on how useful Romania and Bulgaria will be for the union, as they are among the poorest countries in Europe. This fear is not relevant, as the difference among national product levels of different European countries only shows how much potential for economic growth these countries have. As both countries are properly integrated to the European network of economics and politics they will launch an economic boom on their own.
Slovenia is a fine example of how a newer member state has had strong and determined economical policy and gross domestic product per capita in Slovenia is now at almost the same level as in Greece. But the great European project or European dream is not about economical growth alone: It is a dream of peace, that there shall never be war again. With Romania and Bulgaria we are a little bit closer to this utopian dream.
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