Politics of the past: the use and abuse of history - Socialists ...

to be said that, on the contrary, the negative effects of enlargement
have been only fleeting, and that the economic and social difficulties
are tending to diminish. Although it is too early to make a proper
assessment of the transition and the enlargement, it does seem
that it has proved beneficial and positive for both the old Member
States and the newcomers.
In addition to poor communication on enlargement, which was responsible
for the lack of comprehension of the process by public
opinion, there was also manipulation by euro-sceptic political
circles (such as the phantom ‘Polish plumber’) and also a certain
amount of opportunism by national leaders. Most of the ‘old’ countries
imposed transitional periods on the application of the free
movement of workers within the EU. The few countries that opted
for free movement of workers from the point of membership in 2004
have not suffered as a result. The number of Poles who have settled
in the United Kingdom since 2004 is estimated at one million,
and in Ireland approximately 400 000. Both countries believe this
has been very beneficial for their economies. Poland has received
substantial transfers of money that these emigrants have sent home
or invested in their home country, to which they are now starting to
return. Is it too risky to think that time will settle things and make harmonisation
and a certain amount of convergence in the development
of economic trends possible? The threat of social dumping by
the new Member States has proved to be a myth. Europe as a unit
appears thus on the horizon of the realities of everyday life for
citizens.
On the other hand, strong divergences remain from the point of
view of collective psychology. The European East and West have
not managed to synchronise their courses of history or to unite their
collective memories. In the affirmation of the European nations, an
important role was played by the establishment of a homogenous
account of the course of history from the legends of Europe’s foundation
to the annihilation of local cultures and dialects and the imposition
of a single State. There is nothing like this at EU level: at
no time to date has it sought to refer to its history, to create a historical
retelling of its own or to forge a sense of a common destiny.
And it has not needed to. The economic community did not need
this reference to history, though a political community with a
common defence and security dimension is unthinkable without
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