6 million migrant workers annually to maintain
its current level of working age population. But it would need to
absorb almost 14 million new, working age, immigrants per year just to
preserve a stable ratio of workers to pensioners.
Eastern Europe - and especially central Europe - is the EU's natural
reservoir of migrant labor. It is ironic that xenophobic and
anti-immigration parties hold the balance of power in a continent so
dependent on immigration for the survival of its way of life and
institutions.
The internal, common, market of the EU has matured. Its growth rate has
leveled off and it has developed a mild case of deflation. In previous
centuries, Europe exported its excess labor and surplus capacity to its
colonies - an economic system known as "mercantilism".
The markets of central, southern, and eastern Europe - West Europe's
hinterland - are replete with abundant raw materials and dirt-cheap,
though well-educated, labor. As indigenous purchasing power increases,
the demand for consumer goods and services will expand.
Thus, the enlargement candidates can act both as a sink for Europe's
production and the root of its competitive advantage.
Moreover, the sheer weight of their agricultural sectors and the
backwardness of their infrastructure can force a reluctant EU to reform
its inanely bloated farm and regional aid subsidies, notably the Common
Agricultural Policy.
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