BY SAMI KOHEN
MILLIYET- Recent evaluations of the EU, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Sunday, are being discussed like the perennial half-empty, half-full glass.
Some call the EU a success story, while others say it's an unrealized dream.
As I see it, the active EU overweighs its passivity. In other words, the glass is nearly full rather than empty.
Of course we can reverse the recent headline of Britain's The Independent and find 50 reasons to criticize the EU.
Politically, the EU has been stumbling. Its members even can't agree on a constitution. They can't ensure unity in dealing with foreign policy issues, either. Moreover, we see that the EU isn't satisfying many people economically either. Unemployment, stagnancy and conflicts with minorities range among the chronic diseases of the Union.
All this is true. But it would be wrong to evaluate the EU only from this perspective.
The EU is one of the biggest projects of the 20th century, and it is historic that this project was realized despite all bumps on the road.
The EU, first envisaged as the European Steel and Coal Community by France and Germany after World War II in order to make peace, is now a great power on the continent with 27 members and a population of 500 million.
Ensuring peace, stability and cooperation, the EU has brought an unprecedented unity to Europe. Meanwhile, it revolutionized the understanding of borders. A new order with free movement of people and goods was created.
Today, the EU is a power which is competing with the US and sometimes gets ahead of it. One of the most important features of the Union is that it attaches great importance to values such as democracy, human rights and social security. According to an analysis in Newsweek, the EU is a more attractive model than the US for the world.
In short, the EU is a European dream . although it seems that it has yet to fully come true on its 50th anniversary.
Today, the EU's shortcomings, blemishes and weaknesses are being discussed. Among these are the facts that it has yet to become a real political unity and that it lacks influence in the international arena.
In fact the EU needs a new vision to determine its function and role ahead. We will see how far the declaration set to be issued in Berlin on Sunday will achieve this.
More frankly, the EU has to answer this question: Will it stay an economic union or will it become a political, strategic power, or even a second pole in the world after the US?
If it chooses the second option, it will have to enlarge and assume more effective global powers.
This closely concerns Turkey, because based on the EU's reply to this question, it will decide whether or not to include Turkey .