Negative Impact of Globalization on the European Union

Negative Impact of Globalization on the European Union

Introduction

The European Union (EU),1 a diverse collection of 25 states, was founded on the ideal of making war impossible by integrating the economies of its states to such an extent that armed conflict would be too costly for all sides. The idea of using economic means to achieve broader political goals therefore is not foreign to the EU. Over time, the economic integration between EU states has increased dramatically, and with each EU enlargement, new countries have redirected their trade toward EU Member States and, in effect, made the EU more self-reliant. As the size and economic independence of the EU increased, however, the economic policies of the Commission also became more neoliberal and strict in their attempts to promote free trade throughout the common market. This chapter examines the question of whether the EU actually can control the negative aspects of the phenomenon of globalization, or whether it instead has become the active agent of globalization's pressures.

The pace of global change is extremely rapid, and even those trained to track and analyze it have difficulty keeping up with new developments. However, trends are regularly observed and named, and these new terms become "buzz words" in the lexicons of governments, academia and the media. Such a term is globalization. All levels of society are being reshaped by this process: the individual may find her/his livelihood threatened or identity thrown into question; localities and whole regions are forced to recreate themselves or die in the face of new economic forces; and nation-states themselves experience steadily decreasing freedom of action and ever closer ties to each other.

At the moment there is a serious contradiction between the fact that globalization is in full swing, and the fact that existing processes of global governance lack sufficient power, authority and scope to regulate and direct this process toward beneficial ends. As a result globalization is often disruptive and inequitable in its effects. It has also posed new challenges for existing public institutions while at the same time weakening their autonomy and support; and, paradoxically, provided the means for those it excludes culturally or economically to organize against its subordinating and homogenizing force. Many analysts have pointed to the turbulent nature of this planetary process and to the increasing frequency and variety of reactions to it. Drawing on this literature, this paper first attempts to clarify various aspects of globalization and then considers its potential for generating social conflict and unrest. Subsequently, human needs theory, as developed and applied by John Burton, is used to explore some of the roots of these conflicts and, finally, globalism is put forth as a positive, and potentially corrective, dimension of globalization.

The 1990s witnessed increasing financial integration of emerging countries with world capital markets. Emerging markets lifted restrictions on cross-country capital movements, subsequently receiving large capital inflows. Foreign direct investment (FDI) and portfolio flows became the main components of capital flows to emerging ...