European citizens positive, but also weary about EU

MO* had three questions for the European citizens:
1. What is the first thing that you think of when you the European Union is mentioned? Is it positive or negative?
2. Which are the strong and weak points of the EU?
3. Do you think the EU should expand into more countries?  What about the inclusion of Turkey?

1. What is the first thing that you think when you hear European Union? Is it positive or negative?

When people hear Europe Union they use to have positive feelings. As Gleb Borovitsky, student of Computer Science in Latvian University (Latvijas Universitāte) says the EU for him is an “established non-conservative multi-cultural organization, which is here to consolidate and remove needless and redundant bureaucracy/barriers between countries”. But what he expects from the EU is an improvement of socio-economic conditions of all citizens while preserving the interests of each country and each class of citizens, especially middle and low class.
In agreement with him is Anna Pastwa, who is studying economics in Cracow University. She says that “the EU for her is a great cooperation between the European countries, tied together to achieve common aims to make Europe competitive”. She also says that the EU has pros and cons, but just the idea of a cooperation on different grounds (interngovernmental, intercultural) makes it special.
Jan Hanca, a Polish student of Engineering  thinks that now travelling is more comfortable, people don’t have problems with borders and paperwork to cross to another country, no problems with many currencies, no problems with applying for studying and working abroad. But also for him there are negative things,  “there are too many regulations, people living far away from Brussels tell Polish people (his case) how much they should produce(for example by regulating fish outs) , where they should build roads/houses.


For Jessica de Korte, a student from Netherlands “the EU is very positive and progressive organisation in my opinion. Especially when I took some classes about politics and the EU. I think many people are not aware of the benefits that the European Union brings to our lives. And I´m not just saying that because I studied it, I experience it like that”.
Other people as Joan Estalella, an engineer and Miriam Lenferink  add  that the EU is an excellent institution to compete economically against other world power countries such as US, China, Russia or the rising BRIC-countries(Brazil, India). Joan also thinks a big problem for the EU is the particular interests of some countries or politics:
A Portuguese girl, Raquel Páscoa tells that in today´s world a small country like Portugal would have problems if it wasn´t inside the EU. Claudia Piattoni, who is studying Biomedical Engineering thinks that “together we can be stronger and I think positive because I expect more integration between people, also I expect to have more power in the international decisions about peace and economy for example. And it makes me feel safer”.

2. Which are for you the strong and weak points of the EU?

According the answers about which are the strong and weak points of the EU people offers many different opinions. For example, for Gleb Borovitsky the strong side of the EU is the “possibility of general policies like limitations of CO2 emissions; anti-monopole politics; EU investments in science, entrepreneurship, youth; promotion of exchange between students, workers, businessmen; kind of connects all the people, brings even more diversity, raises tolerance”. And for him the weak side is the high economical dependence between members, due to regulations, policies, possible conflicts of interest and corruption in this kind of political force which is dangerous for the society.


“ Economically it´s like a background that give some security and stability to Portugal and all Europe” means Raquel Páscoa. Adding that culturally “is a big cultural mix and gives some opportunity to have different points of view and contributes to an open mind. The racism decreases that socially, sometimes unconsciously exist”. Claudia Piattoni has the same thoughts as Raquel saying that “a weak point could be the difficult integration between different cultures and the risk of individualism of some country but  the EU helps to erase it”.
For Anna Pastwa an advantage is the attempt to make Europe speak one voice, also the EU facilitates intercultural and social cooperation making people less fear the others from other European countries and breaking prejudices. But there are cons “first of all there is an outgrown bureaucracy to maintain the system work. Still selfish national interests prevent from smooth and fast growth and integration”.
Jan Hanca says that the weak points are “the increasing number of politicians and offices(increasing taxes for the rest), unnecessary powers”. For him “most of regulations are “to equal living level in European countries”, but in fact they do not, so in fact some countries will never “catch” the level of Germany (“you can´t produce more milk, because in Germany it is more expensive to produce it, so they will get bankrupt”), very bad currency regulations (Greece should have bankrupted and have been kicked from Euro group), bad regulations about budget deficits (too much is allowed for the common currency).

3. Do you think the EU needs to expand?  What about the inclusion of Turkey?

A lot of people thinks that is a good idea to expand but say the EU need  to be careful economically, culturally or socially. Also they add Turkey is a big country that can change the EU. These are some of the arguments why people doesn’t think is the right time to include Turkey: unemployment, different religion, Turkey is a non-democratic country, or the problem they have with Greece.
“Certainly the EU should expand but it should stick to the guidelines for entering because it creates problems which affect many countries. Greece or Romania for example entered while they weren´t ready to enter looking at the guidelines” says Jessica de Korte. For her that gives the EU a negative image to Europeans that are not aware of what the EU does. In Turkey´s case she thinks “this country would be a very good asset to the EU. Especially when it comes to the relations with the Middle East even that can cause some problems as a lot of people are Muslims”.
But not all is negativity, as Gleb says “EU should be expanded, if it is a ‘win-win’ situation for both societies (EU and joining country). Turkey should be included if it’s the situation mentioned, which I believe it is”. On the other hand Claudia Piattoni thinks that before join Turkey the EU should evaluate the situation as “Turkey is really different like culture from us”.
Ana Pastwa refers to the expansion in a positive way, including the East-European countries, but not that fast. For her “there is a big risk in integrating countries that do not have the same level of development. This process needs time”. Anna adds “Turkey is a country that is very problematic for Europe and they should keep this country as an ally but not necessarily member state”.
The EU should add more countries but first it has to be studied and discussed between the countries members as Joan Estalella says. He would include Turkey, but not in these conditions. Joan begs a deep analysis because “in that country there are a lot of human rights that are not fulfilled and respected, and first of all, there should be a commitment that they want to solve and respect them at all”.
At last Miriam Lenferink  believes that the EU should not expand. She says “the EU first has to concentrate on strengthening from the inside. It needs its citizens to feel ‘European’ next to or instead of their own nationality. This is important for the democratic legitimacy of the EU”.