Big and getting bigger- modern Europe is about to embrace new members into the union. But as Europes borders move further to the east, is it losing its way?
Foreign Correspondent, reporter Evan Williams investigates how a new enlarged European Union has launched many into an identity crisis. From May, ten new nations will join the EU, creating a bloc of 450 million people - many of them once trapped behind the Iron Curtain.
Evan travels to the German-Polish border where workers from the wild east head west looking for work. In a larger union, those in the west claim theyll be swamped with illegal workers, drugs and weapons.
As Europes borders shift security has become an even greater priority claims Evan.
Old Europe is wondering how its going to get on with its eastern relatives, who do things a lot differently.
But for countries like Poland, Estonia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, there are new opportunities.
New Europeans are hoping some of the prosperity from the west will come flooding in, even if it takes some time.
Music
17:20
Williams: Europes eastern frontier - for decades the border between communism and democracy.
17:23
Music
Williams: Next month many nations once trapped behind the Iron Curtain will officially reunite with Europe in the hope that some of the wests prosperity will finally flow east --even if it takes some time.
17:31
But the tangle of traffic on this bridge at the River Oder suggests some of the challenges ahead.
17:48
On May the 1st old Cold War frontiers like this one between Germany and Poland will effectively cease to exist as the European Union expands with ten new members and 80 million people. Its a trade bloc that one day could rival that of the United States, but with conditions of entry that will treat many of the new members like second class citizens and a bloated bureaucracy in Brussels, there are many who wonder what the new Europe will really mean for them.
18:00
450 million people, 25 nations the new European Union is a bold historic step.Joining the 15 countries already in the EU will be Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta and even parts of Cyprus.
18:33
Dawn on the German side of the Oder Bridge. Thousands of Poles stream across this border every day seeking work in Germany and they must be checked.
19:03
Border Guard: Where are you going?Man: Berlin.Border Guard: Berlin?Man: Yes.
19:14
Williams: Most are cleared but this is a major gateway from the wild east a transit route for illegal workers, drugs and weapons.
19:18
Those struggling to explain themselves are treated with suspicion.
Border Guard: What do you have in the boot -- your personal luggage? Young man: We have nothing. Border Guard: Can you speak up a bit? Young man: Just a bit of junk back there.Border Guard: Junk?Young man: Yeah. Border Guard: What exactly?Man: Its all a bit mixed up. Border Guard: Oh, a bit mixed up? Since you cant tell me exactly what you have in there, please drive to the left and open the boot.
19:32
Williams: As Europes borders shift further to the east, security has become an even greater priority. 19:54
Old Europe is wondering how theyre going to get on with their eastern relatives who do things well differently.
20:01
Border guard: I suggest you get a bit of order in your car when driving. Where are your papers?Man: Sorry, I cant find them.
20:09
Music
20:16
Williams: On the other side of the border Polish police understand the German concerns.Policeman: Last year we stopped more than 5,000 people here most were Poles 20:24
But the others are mainly Ukrainians, Indians, Russians, Russians of Chechen origin, citizens of Romania, Indians and Chinese. Music
20:39
Williams: People smuggling is rife - terrorism is an increasing a threat.
21:00
Cross-border movement is such a key concern in the new Europe theyve created a double standard. EU citizens can work anywhere in Europe. But it will be seven years before Poles will enjoy the same privilege in Germany.The law aims to appease western voters worried about a flood of cheap labour from the east.
21:11
On the German side of the Oder River is the Brandenberg State Parliament.Here and in other assemblies across Europe fear of the change is driving political change.
21:43
Marcus Nonninger is an MP representing the conservative German Peoples Union.Until the last election there were no right-wing MPs here now there are five, a small but growing voice of grassroots concern.Nonninger: This expansion is coming much too early for Germany and much too early for Brandenberg.
22:00
The eastern states should have been financially stabilised by the western nations. Without this it can only hit a wall. Were too different.
22:26
Music
Williams: Underlining those differences, some Poles already living in the EU arent convinced theyll be better off.On a seedy street in what used to be East Berlin the Club of Polish Failures is an artists collective.
22:54
Adam Guloski is one of the founders.
Guloski: In our experience, Polish people are seen here simply as good workers who are supposed to ask for less money.
23:16
Williams: Labour restrictions mean that joining the EU is not going to even things up quickly.
23:28
Guloski: I know that in Poland, the pending changes are perceived with a great deal of mistrust and angst but this is probably because the changes are pretty big.
23:36
Singing
Williams: In Poland itself, joining the EU means many things.Once a power in is own right - for centuries Poland has been torn apart by its neighbours Russia and Germany.
24:05
Music
24:23
Williams: During World War Two the Nazi invasion was swift. The capital Warsaw was flattened. Across the country more than six million Poles perished.
24:33
Singing
Williams: Through all of this - and the Soviet subjugation which followed the Catholic Church helped Poles retain their identity.
25:00
Now Polands Foreign Minister says joining the EU is a matter of renewed pride.Foreign Minister: We believe this is a very special moment probably many of our friends in western Europe do not realise that,
25:14
because those were us who were on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
25:31
Williams: Communisms collapse throughout Eastern Europe started with Polands Trade Union based Solidarity Movement -- a victory Poland wants recognised as one of the reasons Europe can now be reunited.
25:40
Foreign Minister: Europe is becoming to be really united and we are really satisfied happy and proud of that that we managed to help this situation to happen. That was of course possible with everything that happened in this country in the last 15 years, and our western European friends should also remember that.
25:54
Williams: Today the Foreign Minister addresses only the second crop of students from the nations new school for diplomats.
26:22
Polands more pro-American than most of Europe and its support for the war in Iraq prompted President Chirac of France to say Eastern Europe had missed a good chance to stay quiet.
26:32
Foreign Minister: Of course that was an unacceptable statement and unfortunately it reflected some political and probably emotional problems on the other side of this historical enlargement project. They did not treat us as partners.
Im afraid its still to some extent exists in the minds of some people in western Europe.
27:04
Music
Williams: In central Warsaw the Soviet-era Palace of Culture sarcastically dubbed Stalins Gift -- still dominates the skyline just as communism once dominated peoples lives.And while capitalism has brought benefits for some, its also brought unemployment and rising prices.
27:22
Woman: It cannot be worse that it is at the moment.
27:45
Williams: Two out of every five Poles believe their country will lose more than it gains by joining the EU.
27:52
Poles voted to join the EU partly on the promise of getting legal jobs abroad, now theyll have to wait out that seven year transition period.
28:02
Man: There are fears, because the EU is withdrawing from the promises it made before. It is withdrawing the opportunity for us to work abroad.
28:13
Williams: The EU was formed in the 1950s to prevent another war.In Berlin this bombed church is kept as a reminder of the dangers of conflict.Despite Germanys post-war success there are concerns about the strains of a new bigger Europe.
28:
Woman: I think we worry about it too much. Its just like when the wall came down, we thought Oh my God, whats going to swamp us? But I think it will be okay.
28:55
Woman: No, Im not worried about it. I think its great. The more people mix, the better.
29:03
Williams: Surveys suggest forty percent of Europeans believe the EU is not properly prepared for expansion and with their economy in the doldrums, 80 percent of Germans fear it will cost too much.
29:14
Woman: Im not for it. Its much too fast. I think we should have thought about the stability of the states that are joining.
29:29
Williams: Back on the Oder River border between Germany and Poland any divisions seem a lifetime away.Euro-Kita is an EU-funded kinder for Polish and German children.
29:44
Director Marina Hendel says its about forging a new European identity and she says it works.Music
29:57
Hendel: The parents who bring their children here are interested in having the children learn both languages, and a very open towards whats going to happen on May 1st.
30:16
Williams: The success of the new Europe is far from guaranteed and real change may take time.
30:28
Hendel: The children who grow up here together dont see themselves as separately German or Polish -- they simply grow up without borders.
30:37
Williams: Critics claim the EU will have too many partners to know where its going; that it could easily lose its way.But the true test will be whether in coming decades, these children can strike a balance and retain their identities while becoming truly Europeans.
30:48
Reporter: Evan WilliamsCamera: Geoffrey LyeSound: Kate GrahamEditor: Simon Brynjolffssen Research: Renata Gombac
31:20
Foreign Correspondent, reporter Evan Williams investigates how a new enlarged European Union has launched many into an identity crisis. From May, ten new nations will join the EU, creating a bloc of 450 million people - many of them once trapped behind the Iron Curtain.
Evan travels to the German-Polish border where workers from the wild east head west looking for work. In a larger union, those in the west claim theyll be swamped with illegal workers, drugs and weapons.
As Europes borders shift security has become an even greater priority claims Evan.
Old Europe is wondering how its going to get on with its eastern relatives, who do things a lot differently.
But for countries like Poland, Estonia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, there are new opportunities.
New Europeans are hoping some of the prosperity from the west will come flooding in, even if it takes some time.
Music
17:20
Williams: Europes eastern frontier - for decades the border between communism and democracy.
17:23
Music
Williams: Next month many nations once trapped behind the Iron Curtain will officially reunite with Europe in the hope that some of the wests prosperity will finally flow east --even if it takes some time.
17:31
But the tangle of traffic on this bridge at the River Oder suggests some of the challenges ahead.
17:48
On May the 1st old Cold War frontiers like this one between Germany and Poland will effectively cease to exist as the European Union expands with ten new members and 80 million people. Its a trade bloc that one day could rival that of the United States, but with conditions of entry that will treat many of the new members like second class citizens and a bloated bureaucracy in Brussels, there are many who wonder what the new Europe will really mean for them.
18:00
450 million people, 25 nations the new European Union is a bold historic step.Joining the 15 countries already in the EU will be Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta and even parts of Cyprus.
18:33
Dawn on the German side of the Oder Bridge. Thousands of Poles stream across this border every day seeking work in Germany and they must be checked.
19:03
Border Guard: Where are you going?Man: Berlin.Border Guard: Berlin?Man: Yes.
19:14
Williams: Most are cleared but this is a major gateway from the wild east a transit route for illegal workers, drugs and weapons.
19:18
Those struggling to explain themselves are treated with suspicion.
Border Guard: What do you have in the boot -- your personal luggage? Young man: We have nothing. Border Guard: Can you speak up a bit? Young man: Just a bit of junk back there.Border Guard: Junk?Young man: Yeah. Border Guard: What exactly?Man: Its all a bit mixed up. Border Guard: Oh, a bit mixed up? Since you cant tell me exactly what you have in there, please drive to the left and open the boot.
19:32
Williams: As Europes borders shift further to the east, security has become an even greater priority. 19:54
Old Europe is wondering how theyre going to get on with their eastern relatives who do things well differently.
20:01
Border guard: I suggest you get a bit of order in your car when driving. Where are your papers?Man: Sorry, I cant find them.
20:09
Music
20:16
Williams: On the other side of the border Polish police understand the German concerns.Policeman: Last year we stopped more than 5,000 people here most were Poles 20:24
But the others are mainly Ukrainians, Indians, Russians, Russians of Chechen origin, citizens of Romania, Indians and Chinese. Music
20:39
Williams: People smuggling is rife - terrorism is an increasing a threat.
21:00
Cross-border movement is such a key concern in the new Europe theyve created a double standard. EU citizens can work anywhere in Europe. But it will be seven years before Poles will enjoy the same privilege in Germany.The law aims to appease western voters worried about a flood of cheap labour from the east.
21:11
On the German side of the Oder River is the Brandenberg State Parliament.Here and in other assemblies across Europe fear of the change is driving political change.
21:43
Marcus Nonninger is an MP representing the conservative German Peoples Union.Until the last election there were no right-wing MPs here now there are five, a small but growing voice of grassroots concern.Nonninger: This expansion is coming much too early for Germany and much too early for Brandenberg.
22:00
The eastern states should have been financially stabilised by the western nations. Without this it can only hit a wall. Were too different.
22:26
Music
Williams: Underlining those differences, some Poles already living in the EU arent convinced theyll be better off.On a seedy street in what used to be East Berlin the Club of Polish Failures is an artists collective.
22:54
Adam Guloski is one of the founders.
Guloski: In our experience, Polish people are seen here simply as good workers who are supposed to ask for less money.
23:16
Williams: Labour restrictions mean that joining the EU is not going to even things up quickly.
23:28
Guloski: I know that in Poland, the pending changes are perceived with a great deal of mistrust and angst but this is probably because the changes are pretty big.
23:36
Singing
Williams: In Poland itself, joining the EU means many things.Once a power in is own right - for centuries Poland has been torn apart by its neighbours Russia and Germany.
24:05
Music
24:23
Williams: During World War Two the Nazi invasion was swift. The capital Warsaw was flattened. Across the country more than six million Poles perished.
24:33
Singing
Williams: Through all of this - and the Soviet subjugation which followed the Catholic Church helped Poles retain their identity.
25:00
Now Polands Foreign Minister says joining the EU is a matter of renewed pride.Foreign Minister: We believe this is a very special moment probably many of our friends in western Europe do not realise that,
25:14
because those were us who were on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
25:31
Williams: Communisms collapse throughout Eastern Europe started with Polands Trade Union based Solidarity Movement -- a victory Poland wants recognised as one of the reasons Europe can now be reunited.
25:40
Foreign Minister: Europe is becoming to be really united and we are really satisfied happy and proud of that that we managed to help this situation to happen. That was of course possible with everything that happened in this country in the last 15 years, and our western European friends should also remember that.
25:54
Williams: Today the Foreign Minister addresses only the second crop of students from the nations new school for diplomats.
26:22
Polands more pro-American than most of Europe and its support for the war in Iraq prompted President Chirac of France to say Eastern Europe had missed a good chance to stay quiet.
26:32
Foreign Minister: Of course that was an unacceptable statement and unfortunately it reflected some political and probably emotional problems on the other side of this historical enlargement project. They did not treat us as partners.
Im afraid its still to some extent exists in the minds of some people in western Europe.
27:04
Music
Williams: In central Warsaw the Soviet-era Palace of Culture sarcastically dubbed Stalins Gift -- still dominates the skyline just as communism once dominated peoples lives.And while capitalism has brought benefits for some, its also brought unemployment and rising prices.
27:22
Woman: It cannot be worse that it is at the moment.
27:45
Williams: Two out of every five Poles believe their country will lose more than it gains by joining the EU.
27:52
Poles voted to join the EU partly on the promise of getting legal jobs abroad, now theyll have to wait out that seven year transition period.
28:02
Man: There are fears, because the EU is withdrawing from the promises it made before. It is withdrawing the opportunity for us to work abroad.
28:13
Williams: The EU was formed in the 1950s to prevent another war.In Berlin this bombed church is kept as a reminder of the dangers of conflict.Despite Germanys post-war success there are concerns about the strains of a new bigger Europe.
28:
Woman: I think we worry about it too much. Its just like when the wall came down, we thought Oh my God, whats going to swamp us? But I think it will be okay.
28:55
Woman: No, Im not worried about it. I think its great. The more people mix, the better.
29:03
Williams: Surveys suggest forty percent of Europeans believe the EU is not properly prepared for expansion and with their economy in the doldrums, 80 percent of Germans fear it will cost too much.
29:14
Woman: Im not for it. Its much too fast. I think we should have thought about the stability of the states that are joining.
29:29
Williams: Back on the Oder River border between Germany and Poland any divisions seem a lifetime away.Euro-Kita is an EU-funded kinder for Polish and German children.
29:44
Director Marina Hendel says its about forging a new European identity and she says it works.Music
29:57
Hendel: The parents who bring their children here are interested in having the children learn both languages, and a very open towards whats going to happen on May 1st.
30:16
Williams: The success of the new Europe is far from guaranteed and real change may take time.
30:28
Hendel: The children who grow up here together dont see themselves as separately German or Polish -- they simply grow up without borders.
30:37
Williams: Critics claim the EU will have too many partners to know where its going; that it could easily lose its way.But the true test will be whether in coming decades, these children can strike a balance and retain their identities while becoming truly Europeans.
30:48
Reporter: Evan WilliamsCamera: Geoffrey LyeSound: Kate GrahamEditor: Simon Brynjolffssen Research: Renata Gombac
31:20