The European Union is an economic and political union formed by 27 European countries

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Western University *

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1020E

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Political Science

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Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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Uploaded by ProfessorFreedom12845

The European Union has had immense success as an international organization since its inception. The organization was originally created to restore peace and prevent future conflict among European nations following World War 2, but through the years has developed into a much larger organization since then 1 . The EU has established the largest single market in the world allowing for greater levels of trade, investment, and expansion in the integrated economy 2 . They have developed a single common currency for member nations furthering their economic development. The EU has demonstrated and promoted a strong belief in democratic values which have helped to foster political stability among member nations which has been a key in their success. The European Union has emerged as a leader in social change, strongly voicing the importance of social justice, equality, and human rights for a better future. They have been at the forefront of climate change initiatives, setting ambitious goals to deliver a greener and cleaner future. In their time they have been able to become the top donor of humanitarian aid, helping over 80 countries by supplying essential items 3 . What started out as 6 nations looking to find peace has grown into so much more. The European Union has demonstrated immense success as a global organization, being able to bring peace, economic prosperity, social change, and expand as a union, it is undeniable that the EU has been a key factor in the success of the integration and cooperation between European nations. 1 https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/history-eu/1945-59_en 2 https://www.bundesbank.de/en/tasks/topics/nagel-continuing-the-success-story-of-the- european-single-market-904956 3 https://european-union.europa.eu/priorities-and-actions/eu- priorities/achievements_en#:~:text=Key%20achievements&text=freedom%20for%20its %20citizens%20to,for%20millions%20of%20people%20worldwide

The European Union has been very successful since its inception in creating peace and reconciliation among its member nations. After World War 2, Europe suffered great damage with towns and cities being destroyed and millions of citizens losing their lives. In an attempt to prevent future conflicts Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands agreed to sign a treaty to operate their coal and steel industries under the same management 4 . The goal of the treaty was to prevent countries from making weapons of war and turning on other countries as seen in the past. The treaty also had a goal of economic expansion, creating new employment and increasing the standard of living for citizens. With this treaty the European Coal and Steel Community was formed in 1952, the very first step to creating unity and reconciliation between nations that were once enemies. Due to the success of the European Coal and Steel Community, new treaties were formed by the original 6 countries to further cooperation among other economic sectors 5 . The Treaty of Rome was signed and created the European Economic Community which aimed to reduce customs tariffs and develop a customs union to increase trade. And on the same day, the European Atomic Energy Community was formed to create peaceful applications of atomic energy. The treaty also proposed a single market for goods, services, labour, and capital to member nations 6 . This helped further create a united Europe and is one of the European Union's core documents. Due to early success, the EU gained attention from non-member nations who were looking to join this newly formed community. To date, the 4 https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/history-eu/1945-59_en 5 https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/enlargement-policy/6-27- members_en#:~:text=The%20EU%20is%20a%20unique,of%20the%20Second%20World %20War . 6 https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Rome

EU has been successful in keeping the peace for over 70 years. They have expanded with 22 new countries joining the European Union allowing them to grow even stronger as a group 7 . With membership in the EU, these new nations were able to adopt democratic governance, greater economic development, increased stability, and peace. One of the key focuses of the European Union is to create economic solidity in Europe, allowing for one large and resilient economy. After World War 2 many European economies were destroyed, so the EU set out to create economic partnerships between member nations to increase economic activity and prevent future economic conflicts. The EU’s economic success can be greatly contributed to its development and integration of a Single Market among its member nations. The Single Market allows for the free movement of goods, services, labour, and capital among member nations. This has created an integrated economy that allows for the removal of barriers of trade such as tariffs, quotas and embargos that are typically enforced on trade across country borders. This increased trade volumes between nations in turn produced greater economic activity allowing for the expansion and development of new businesses as they could enter new markets, greater consumer consumption as prices were reduced, and higher investment 8 . The creation of the Single Market is one of the European Union’s greatest achievements, helping raise GDP per capita by 12% - 22% in member countries 9 . Another huge economic success was the introduction of the Euro as the common currency of the European Union. With 20 countries (the Eurozone) adopting the Euro as their primary currency this has 7 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/external/html/euenlargement/default_en.htm 8 https://www.bundesbank.de/en/tasks/topics/nagel-continuing-the-success-story-of-the- european-single-market-904956 9 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp581.pdf

helped to eliminate foreign exchange rate risk and transaction costs as member countries no longer need to exchange their currencies for one another. Due to the size of the Eurozone, the Euro is the second most-held reserve currency in the world making it a very attractive and influential currency in the business world 10 . The currency is also very resilient, providing better stability in the economy during a crisis than other currencies 11 . The benefits the Euro has provided have been a great aid in the overall economic success of the European Union. Reinforcing the economic benefits of the EU is Brexit, which was the decision by the United Kingdom in 2020 to end its membership in the European Union. Since leaving the EU the United Kingdom has faced economic challenges even post covid. The UK has seen a drop in its exports as the EU was its biggest trading partner. The UK also saw a decrease in business investment and the depreciation of the British pound following the exit from the EU 12 . Due to the success of the EU, it has been able to establish itself as a global economic powerhouse. The European Union has also helped foster democratic values among its nations. The EU demonstrates these values by making sure all processes and decisions are done in accordance with democratic beliefs. Citizens of member nations elect the governing body of the European Parliament to ensure the people who run the organization are those the citizens believe fit best. The EU actively displays democratic values to its member nations and has helped nations seeking to join the EU adopt these beliefs. They provide these new nations with the tools and 10 https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/11/popular-currencies-and-why-theyre- traded.asp 11 https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/euro/benefits_en 12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgIiElL-AFw&ab_channel=BBCNews.

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