The road to 2057: issues ahead European Union

In March 2007 experts, politicians and general public had a good opportunity to reflect not only upon the achievements of the past 50 years, but also upon the prospects of the next 50 years. If one looks how the idea of “an ever closer union” of 1957 that had among the few clear objectives the establishment of a customs union materialized 50 years later into a 27 member union, with 13 of them enjoying a common currency, common policies and a common market the conclusion is that a 50 years forecast is a risky enterprise. Not only because the entity under study is so large and complex, but also because its environment, the circumstances in the global economy are changing in ways difficult to imagine.