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11 Eur. L.J. 1 (2005)

handle is hein.journals/eurlj11 and id is 1 raw text is: 


European Law Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2005, pp. 1-4.
D Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA



         Editorial: Towards A New Europe


                               Francis   Snyder





The new Europe  after 2004 poses numerous challenges. Let us focus on three challenges
confronting the even-newer European Commission.  The first challenge is enlargement.
It is essential to integrate the fifteen old Member States (all of which once were new
Member   States) and the ten new Member States into a single, smoothly functioning set
of institutions. This is necessary to develop and maintain a democratic Europe, respect-
ful of national identities, dedicated to preserving the diversity that is one of Europe's
strengths, and oriented towards working together. Vision, tact, patience, and determi-
nation will be required if European integration is to progress.
  The second challenge is economic and social reform. The new Commissioners speak
mainly the language of economic neoliberalism, of various hues. They have the diffi-
cult task of helping to improve life for EU citizens and residents, to adapt EU enter-
prises and workers to a rapidly changing world economic context, and to modernise
the European  social model without destroying it. The European Commission   must
engage with people who  live in the EU and demonstrate that it can do so effectively.
Recent years have been difficult for the Commission, and the current mandate is crucial
if the Commission is to show that it can play an effective role in economic and social
regulation which touches directly the lives of people in the EU.
  The  third challenge is international relations. Relations with the United States, the
Middle  East, and China are among  the most sensitive, difficult matters for the new
Commission.  The  war in Iraq revealed sharp differences among EU Member  States,
including the new Member States, and also between EU Member States and the United
States. So far, the EU has not been able to realise its potential for playing a construc-
tive role in the Middle East. The rise of China on the international economic and polit-
ical scene is likely to be one of the defining processes of the twenty-first century. The
European  Commission,  together with other EU institutions and the Member States,
must be able to articulate effectively its vision of the role of the EU in the world and
to help to construct the new international order which is emerging in the early twenty-
first century: new in its configuration of States and regional organisations, and new
also in the blurring of the boundary between 'inside' and 'outside'.
  It is obvious that these three challenges, though distinct, are interrelated. The arti-
cles in this issue of the European Law Journal address these challenges, notably in terms
of constitutionalism, immigration, social control, discrimination and the relationship
between the State, public services, social rights and market freedoms, though in rela-
tion to all EU institutions rather than the Commission alone. The first article, by
Melossi, concerns the current process of EU constitution making. It gives specific atten-
tion to the links between migration, criminalisation and security in order to demon-
strate connections among  language,  social control and a (democratic) European

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