Leaders of the European Union, meeting in Brussels last weekend, agreed to set up a broadly represented advisory body next March to draft recommendations for EU reform. The agreement marks another milestone on the road to an enlarged EU. Half a century following the creation of a common European market, the EU today is an economic superpower that will, in two weeks, have a single currency in a market of more than 300 million people. Euro notes and coins will go into circulation beginning in January. In 2004, the 15-nation union will likely have 10 more members, including former communist states of Eastern Europe.
The EU, however, faces many problems at home and abroad as it moves into a new age. Thrashing out those problems and drawing up a reform blueprint will be a key task of the advisory panel to be headed by former French President Giscard d'Estaing. Along with former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, d'Estaing last year called for steady efforts to "lay the groundwork" for further EU integration and expansion.
The former French leader contends that members in similar economic and social conditions should take the initiative for integration. He also maintains that membership should be extended initially to a selected group of countries, including the Czech Republic, and that entry applications from Turkey and other countries beyond should be considered in the future.