SURVEY OF DIVERSITY CHALLENGES IN THE EU REGION

1. Managing subtle historical biases that are likely to add heat, consciously or unconsciously to debates over the policies and practices of EU states. The Anglo-French fight over British beef is an example where more smoke than light seem to be generated.

2. Creating value added from the diversity of EU member cultures by managing issues of intercultural communication, cooperation and synergy. This means getting beyond current crises and conflicts to making things work better because of diversity.

3. Dealing with the ambitions of powerful regional cultures and cultural enclaves within the individual EU states. As the protection of national borders lessens within the EU ethnic pride is re-emerging in force. Significant in this respect is the return of local parliamentary rule to Scotland and Wales and the lessening of the grip of Westminster on Ulster. Old languages are being taught, updated and contributing to the cultural patrimony of many European regions.

4. Managing the in-country challenges of diversity in societies and in workforces that include native residents, expatriates, traditional enclaves, immigrants, asylum seekers, ex-colonials and economic migrants. We have separated traditional enclaves from regional cultures because their history and dynamics are different. Today dealing with the future of such enclaves as the Roma is a perplexing situation for a number of European states.

5. Managing shifts in demographics both within EU countries themselves within the EU as a whole. Europe, even within the Union itself will need to remain aware of the sudden shifts of demographics caused by economic factors as well as by economic and political asylum seeking immigrants from outside the Union.

6. Managing ethnic-focused civil unrest as numbers of laborers originating outside the EU (and their families) become significant and visible and no longer to be either ignored or quickly assimilated. Problems are particularly acute when unemployment remains high. Both the unrest of the new population and the feeling of disenfranchisement on the part of the traditional population will require attention. 

7. Managing the flow of illegal immigration at borders in accordance with the Schengen Treaty and in response to political pressures. There is both a legal and policy dimension to this, as well as a humanitarian one. The freedom of movement of peoples is a value that comes into conflict with the need and capability to integrate newcomers in a meaningful way without causing major social disruptions.

8.   Adjusting to new roles for women across the spectrum of diversity listed above. This is an issue whether we are discussing native-born women or those belonging to recent waves of immigration and asylum seekers. A study of the French Employment Ministry (DARES) has indicated the evolution of several different models along which women's professional and familial roles have developed:  

9. The aging of Western Europe and the precarious state of older people from former Soviet economies. Cultural shifts are being accelerated on two age fronts. The indigenous peoples of western nations with their low birth rates are quickly growing older. The newcomer minorities within their borders are replacing them. In the former East Germany, for example, the over-50's tend to be ill-equipped for the new economies and further East, the social security system has evaporated for those who reach pensioner age. Diversity along age lines is driving a deep wedge between these people and the under 35's with freedom, mobility and career flexibility.

10. Managing cultural stresses and strains the development of the EU itself, as its complexity increases through new membership and the shifting center of gravity that this implies. Where the French see a European individual and a way of life to be nurtured and protected as essential to the EU, the British, who sense themselves as least attached to Europe, take a much more pragmatic view of the Union, while the Dutch, equally individualistic in their own way, are inclined to see the EU as an act of enlightened self-interest. If current applicants to the EU were to join, it would mean increasing the population of the EU by over 25%. These countries average a farming population of 20% compared to the 4% of the current 15 member states.

11. Facing the challenges of globalization, seen in great part as a result of the power of the US economy and media.  More than anyone else, the French have served as Europe's bellwether in respect to the invasiveness of the global mentality into the culture of peoples. Providing alternatives to the cultural and economic forces of the US may be one of the most compelling reasons for European unity, for an independent military and concomitant diplomatic capability.

Doing Business with Western Europe: critical cultural considerations and key resources for success in the European Union. A project of George Simons (GSI), Elena Garcea (European Federation for Intercultural Learning), Marie Therese Claes (ICHEC/Louvain), Arjen Bos (European Federation for Intercultural Learning), & Michael Stuber, mi [ st Consulting