EUROPEJSKIE "NACZYNIA POŁĄCZONE"
- Binding: paperback
- Author: collective work
- Publisher: Western Affairs in Poznań
- PL ISSN: 0033-2437
- Publication date: 22 July 2020
- Number: 1/2020
- Number of pages: 350
- Size: A5
The central theme of the first edition of Przegląd Zachodni in the year 2020 is the European Union. Its articles address topical issues of great relevance not only for politicians and lawmakers but also for the daily lives of average people on the Old Continent. The questions they raise, which concern the actual capacities of the EU, its ability to recover from political and systemic crises and the need to bring the Union’s institutions closer to the citizens, are far from an endless indulgence in Hamletian wavering. Rather, they bear testimony to the rapid headway being made in integrating the European Continent. The EU has been as quick to respond to the migration crisis and to changing trends on the political scenes of individual member states as it has been to the pendulum of global politics swinging closer to China in response to the steady erosion of the credibility of the United States. The authors do not shy away from criticizing the divisions among the EU countries over asylum, the inefficiencies of institutions meant to engage EU citizens in the lawmaking process, and the disproportionate support extended to eastern neighboring countries.
As one acknowledges such shortcomings, the selfishness of individual nations and the inherent unwieldiness of the EU that results from the sheer number of its member states, it is worthwhile to look back at the Union and recognize its achievements. On numerous occasions, the 'system of communicating vessels' that Europe has become has helped numerous member states to resist the temptation to go its separate way. Respect for human dignity and the states’ aspiration to create a union have sparked many a creative impulse to break down barriers.