Articles

Verdeeldheid en vertraagde vooruitgang : de Europese Unie in 2003

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Abstract

In 2003, the completion of the eastern enlargement process dominated European Union activities. Without doubt, for the ten countries that joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, the signing of the Treaty of Accession on 16 May 2003 at the foot of the Akropolis was the high point. A few weeks later, Valéry Giscard D'Estaing presented the draft constitution at the European Council of Thessaloniki. Yet, in the spring of 2003, the European Union was mainly in the news as a divided European Union. In the weeks before the military intervention in lraq, on the European continent, a split became visible between the 'old' and 'new' Europe. However, when looking back, the lraq debacle seems to have given a new impulse to the development of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, witness the security strategies approved in December 2003. The compliance with the rules of the Stability and Crowth Pact, the increasing exchange rate of the euro, and the evaluation of the internal market programme were on the European economic agenda in 2003. In the autumn, the European Union did not succeed preventing the Cancun Ministerial Conference from breaking down.

How to Cite:

Drieskens, E. & Kerremans, B., (2004) “Verdeeldheid en vertraagde vooruitgang : de Europese Unie in 2003”, Res Publica 46(2-3), 287-307. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/rp.v46i2-3.18469