Changing Europe - Ratify or step into the EU shadows

IN THE two decades since the Berlin Wall collapsed, Europe has changed beyond all recognition.

The membership of the European Union has also changed utterly. The union is far bigger, far more diverse and has become a stronger player on the world stage than it was in 1989 when the people of eastern and western Europe rejected divisions imposed by mutually exclusive political and social ideologies.

The EU is more secure and confident of its place in the world and the role it can play in the lives of the 500 million people who live within its far-flung borders.