EU aspirants: View from the street

By Paul Sussman, CNN.com Europe writer

LONDON, England -- If the European leaders meeting in Nice can find their way through the maze of arguments over whether to admit new members, 13 nations would join the EU over coming years.

Most of the countries aspiring to membership are former communist states from eastern Europe and for the people living there, joining the EU seems to be seen as a sign of democratic advancement.

Anna Wolodko, 32, from Poland, says the move would not be without pain for her and her country but, "it's a price worth paying."

"If we join the EU it will hopefully raise our salaries, and also give us the opportunity to work abroad," she says.

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The academic secretary from Warsaw says she would like the flexibility her European neighbours take for granted.

"I don't necessarily want to leave Poland, but I'd like to know that I can work elsewhere if I want to."

In fact, across EU applicant countries, access to a multinational European job market is a common theme for citizens.

"I would like to work somewhere else, perhaps in the Netherlands, and being an EU member will help that," says Dagmar Kocmankova, 25, distribution manager for Novy Prostor, a magazine for the homeless based in the Czech Republic capital, Prague.

Andreas , an insurance manager in the Cypriot capital Nicosia says: "As a citizen of Europe I will have freedom of movement, freedom of investment, freedom from exchange controls, all of which will be a great advantage economically."

For 54-year-old Charalambides, EU membership would also assist Cyprus in its process of maturing as a nation.

"I think it will bring stability and security to Cyprus, and protect our territorial integrity," he says.

"We're in a period of great transition at the moment," says Wolodko, adding EU acceptance would be a reward of sorts for the turmoil her country has endured.

"I know it is going to involve making a lot of economic sacrifices, but I think that on an economic level it will definitely benefit the country if we become a part of the union."

The Czechs share the view that the move would bolster the nation's transition. "It will help us all economically by bringing investment into our country," Kocmankova says.

She also awaits a broader gain: "I think it is good to mix cultures, for people to see and experience other countries, to be in contact with other points of view."

That cultural effect and sense of belonging to Europe seems to be a shared belief across the countries applying for EU membership.

"I feel that I am a European. I look like a European, I think like a European, I behave like a European," Charalambides says.

"I want to be acknowledged as part of the European family."

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European Union
The European Commission

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