{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.017654476670870115, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 4.804878048780488, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The challenges of a wider and deeper Europe

Europe is changing all the time. It is getting deeper and wider in a process that often looks confusing, but the trend is unmistakable. At this stage of our history, we are facing two challenges: widening by including most of the rest of the continent, and deepening to both perfect the existing economic arrangements and reap more benefits in largely untapped non-economic areas. The need for further deepening is highly controversial. The benefits come in the form of enhanced effectiveness. The costs result from information asymmetries and heterogeneity. Much of the integration process so far has concerned economic public goods, where desirable centralization is now almost complete. Some loose ends still need to be dealt with, but most deepening challenges concern non-economic issues. In particular, a cool-blooded analysis suggests that internal and external security and foreign affairs are areas where the benefits of centralization are high. The costs too, are high, largely because preferences differ from one country to another, this is sometimes called nationalism, even though public opinions seem to support common defense and foreign policies. Is widening making deepening harder? For this to be the case we would need to see an increase in the costs of deepening over and beyond the benefits. There is little evidence of that. It is often believed that the real problem is that decision-making becomes more difficult with more members. This is true with the current institutions and procedures, but it does not have to be the case. This is precisely the challenge that was faced by the Convention. Its draft treaty makes a number of important proposals that stand to improve decision making and to preserve the ability for a wider Europe to become deeper as well. On the other side, progress is difficult because of the representation problem, the need for minority views to be taken on board when they are strongly held. This aspect often takes the form of the long-simmering conflict between large and small countries. But many issues often cut across national lines. What Europe misses is a Pan-European political representation of these views. This is an area where the Convention has been silent. The Challenges of a Wider and Deeper Europe Charles Wyplosz Graduate Institute of International Studies and CEPR