Interview: Enlarged Europe 'still a learning process'[fr][de] 

Dr András Inotai, Director General of the Institute for World Economics  in Budapest, spoke to EurActiv about the EU summit on 21-23 June, the legacy of enlargement, and political and social realities in Central and Eastern Europe. 

Inotai suggests that the enlargement process and the transformation of many former Soviet-bloc countries to EU members must be seen in a larger context, and not simply in the context of East-West relations within the EU.

Speaking in reference to a widespread and lingering sense of Europe's historical dominance and ''natural'' superiority that is now confronted with increasing flows of goods and investments from China and India, Inotai warns that ''Europe still has a learning process ahead of it''. Globalisation means ''a two-way street, not a one-way street'', and ''Europe has to get accustomed to it'', Inotai said.

EU-15 member states have an important role to play in setting the right example, according to Inotai. ''If some of the old member countries – maybe even founding countries – act against Europe, for instance through economic patriotism, and the role of the state in blocking normal capital flows or ownership exchanges, then it forms a school in the new member countries. And then it is a very good argument for populist and demagogic politicians'', he warned.

But Inotai also offered strong criticism and blunt analysis of social and political realities in some EU-10 member states, arguing that a form of ''mental contamination'' is undermining progress in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). 

This mental contamination, according to Inotai, consists of a false promise to ''bring back the nice old Communist times where the state was responsible for everything'', a lack of proper examination and processing of the last 90 years of turbulent history, and of a form of extremist nationalism. Ironically, Inotai observes, a considerable number of young people in CEE, who have no recollection of the past, are subscribing to extremist nationalist ideology. 

On balance, however, Inotai is convinced that the enlargement was a ''success story'', but suggests that in the future, the new member states must view their own strategic interests ''in the European framework, because in many cases, short-term so called 'national losses' are much lower and much less costly than long-term European interests''.

To read a full transcript of the interview, please click here.