ASSESSMENTS

Amid the Crisis, the EU Adds Another Member

May 17, 2013 | 16:42 GMT

Amid the Crisis, the EU Adds Another Member
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton (L) and Croatian President Ivo Josipovic in Zagreb on May 16

STR/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

Despite the European Union's ongoing difficulties, some countries remain committed to joining its ranks. In fact, the bloc all but added its newest member, Croatia, on May 16, when the German parliament approved the Balkan country's accession. Croatia will not become an official member until July 1, but its membership is virtually assured.

Croatia is joining the bloc at an inopportune time. Western European countries, which are struggling with domestic stagnation and with currency union reforms, may be less motivated and less equipped in the coming years to aid peripheral European countries. Croatia thus will likely be the last country to join the European Union for several years. And considering the growing pressures for the bloc to reform its currency union and its institutional framework, Croatia probably will be the last country to join the European Union in its current incarnation.

Croatia will likely be the last country to join the bloc for several years....

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