countries will be the best bulwark against a renewed European political and
economic split into an Eastern and Western block.
The financial and administrative implications of the expected enlargement of
the EU are, however, impressive. For instance the applicant countries have a
substantially lower standard of living than the poorest of the current EU
members, and this will create a need for massive support from the EU structural
funds. As several of the application countries are relatively large, measured by
the size of the population, the fulfilment of this need may increase the
requirements for EU expenditures on structural funds. It is unlikely that there
will be political support to increase the total EU budget significantly, and the
enlargement will therefore presumably lead to reforms of the principles
governing the structural funds. Several of those countries, which have received
substantial support from the structural funds, so far (Greece, Portugal, and
Spain) are unlikely to be willing to accept that this support is redistributed to
the advantage of the new, poor Member States. This may therefore in future
lead to a redistribution of the structural funds according to national quotas so
that those countries which, to a certain extent, have received this kind of
support so far will keep this advantage.
But the true hindrance of a swift enlargement might well be the need for
reforms of the CAP and of the political decision making process. Poland has a
large potential for agricultural production, and accepting Poland into the EU
will therefore increase the expenditures on the CAP. This may mean that new
members will only be comprised by the CAP after a long transition period and
concurrently with an enhancement of the efforts made so far of adapting the
agricultural sector of the EU into the world market conditions.
Furthermore, it is likely that the political decision-making process will be
changed in the nearest future. Again, it is especially the impending enlargement
of the EU with several new Member States, which necessitates institutional
changes. The aim of such reforms is to maintain a dynamic and effective
decision making process in a future EU with more than 20 Member States. The
considerations move in the direction of enhanced possibilities of majority
voting in the European Council of Ministers, changed representation in the
European Parliament, so that the number of members of Parliament from each
country will reflect the size of the populations of the countries to a higher
degree, and changed rules for the rotation system regarding the chairmanship of
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