61335    According to the Maastricht Treaty, the member states in the monetary union must meet the given economic indicators including budget deficit, outstanding public debt, inflation rate, but among the EU member states only Luxembourg, with a population of 400,000, fulfills the conditions for joining the union.

61336    There has been some talk about the goal of issuing a single currency by the end of this century being "not feasible."

61337    Behind such pessimism, the idea of the two-stage unification is once again being discussed between Germany and Italy.

61338    This method will let Germany, France and the three Benelux countries, where the economic climate is good, to join first, followed by the remaining member states when conditions are met.

61339    Great Britain and Italy are strongly opposing this method since "it will lead to the breakup of Europe."

61340    A full review of the Maastricht Treaty, including the reassessment of the initial setup for the monetary union, is planned in 1996 and maneuvering among member states is expected to intensify around how currency unification is to take place.

61341    Along with the "deepening of unification," the "expansion of unification" is also a challenge for the new administration.

61342    With the end of the Cold War, the European Community, made up of Western European countries, developed into the EU that had the whole of Europe in its horizon.

61343    Neutral states such as Austria, Sweden and Finland have joined in January and the EU membership has ballooned to fifteen countries.

61344    Issues surrounding the admission of countries in Central and Eastern Europe also began to gather steam.

61345    Also, there are numerous challenges facing the expansion.

61346    While the membership of rich neutral countries will be an asset to the EU, the accession of Central and Eastern European nations, which are in the midst of the transition period towards a market economy system, would become an enormous financial burden on the EU.

61347    The gross domestic product per capita of Central European nations is only just half of that for Portugal and Greece, which are the poorest countries among EU member states.

61348    Given the wide economic disparity, there is a concern that the hasty accession of Central and Eastern European countries might create chaos in the monetary union.

61349    Germany, which has strong economic ties with the neighboring Central Europe, is positive about the accession of the Central and Eastern European nations, whereas, France, being cautious over the possibility of German supremacy in Central Europe, is reluctant to expand to the East.