Greece in the future enlarged European Union

Abstract

For Greece, to be part of the European Communities/European Union, it has always been a constant challenge to the country's international position. Sixteen years of EC membership have had a remarkable political, diplomatic, socio-economic and cultural effect on the country's internal domain. Indeed, EC membership has contributed to the consolidation of democratic internal processes, it has influenced the administrative capacity of the state, it has affected the external political orientation of the country's foreign policy objectives, it has benefited the economy from substantial financial community transfers and it has brought the Greek culture closer to the other western European cultures. Seen from a more critical perspective, BC membership has also produced severe shock effects, as the Greek economy has been increasingly exposed to European trade and the subsequent single market and it keeps on breeding social tensions in the process of economic and monetary integration.