A Changing World: A Changing Union Essay

The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 different countries. It consists of about half a billion citizens, and its combined economy represents about 20 percent of the world’s total economy (Briney, 2015). Today The European Union works as a single market, with free movement of people, goods and services from one country to another. There is a standard system of laws to be followed, and since 1999 many countries share a single currency called the Euro (Europa.eu, 2015). This essay will explore the background history of the European Union and the benefits and drawbacks of the European Union.

The EU was created in the midst of a war in attempts to unite Europe under a common government. After 43 years of rebuilding foreign affairs, have their attempts made a positive impact on the modern Europe? Many argue that the EU takes a toll on country's sovereignty. They lack in allowing countries to be apart of the union, without masking the unique culture and diversity of that country. Despite the advantages of being apart of the EU, the disadvantages highly outweigh them in the areas of economic, independence and cultural identity.

When the Eurozone was founded on January 1, 1999, it was with the intention of further integrating and strengthening the nations of Europe, both economically and politically. Until recently, it was believed that the euro provided a stable currency with low inflation and low interest rates and encouraged sound public finance. That the use of a single currency increases price transparency, eliminates currency exchange costs, oils the wheels of the European economy, facilitates international trade, and gives the European Union a more powerful voice in the world. That the size and strength Eurozone would better protect it from external economic shocks, and provide the EU’s citizens a tangible symbol of their European identity, of which they can be increasingly proud as the euro area expands and multiplies these benefits for its existing and future members (European Commission).

Europe may not have the luxury of experimenting for many years before finding workable arrangements for modern economies, and of politics in the independent democracies that comprise the eurozone. Popular calls for public goods, social insurance, financial stability, and countercyclical macroeconomic policy cannot be brushed aside so easily as in the less-democratic era of the nineteenth-century classical gold standard. Furthermore, the fact that the score of the eurozone is so poor on optimal currency area grounds that it suggests a need for mechanisms allowing smoother and more symmetric adjustment between its member countries.

It is apparent that the states within the EU have a lot in common. In terms of political, social and economic goals, all states are heading in a similar direction. Furthermore the number of common policies is ever increasing, with a common civil service, a common European Security and Defence Policy and a supreme court, EU unification is very apparent. However each EU country is primarily interested in maintaining

hoped to continue a sense of safety that they fostered after the Second World War. While this appears to be a good idea, many complex issues did not receive enough attention. Now these issues are emerging and play a significant role in current policy structure, leading many to question the effectiveness of the Eurozone. What used to be a positive institution now seems controversial, and furthermore causes many leaders to stray away from further integration. Scholars such as Copelovitch, Rosato, Webber, and Hall all approach the subject in unique ways, however they all agree that the Eurozone needs severe changes in order to flourish. A lack of regulation on the market comprises most of Copelovitch’s article, as well as Hall’s article, while Rosato focuses mainly on the lack of relevance the Eurozone has with the collapse of the Soviet Union and an increase in national interests. Lastly, Webber emphasizes Germany’s powerful position in the European Union and Eurozone, and explains how these institutions rely heavily on Germany for future prosperity. Differing economies and a lapse in financial judgment are at the forefront of the euro crisis, and while the Eurozone used to be an incredible asset, it now serves as somewhat of a setback for member countries. Thus, Europe needs

Today this European Union is a region on the rise, an area where economic and social progress are finally overcoming centuries of strife and difficulty. The dream of countless conquerors and idealists

In the third and final part of the book, the focus is on the policy-making side of the European Union and its main policies and relationships.

With the enlargement of the EU and the increase in the number of poorer states joining the EU, more markets are integrated making them more open to competition and hence, as these are poorer nations, possibly inequality. Furthermore as the EU’s intention is to increase efficiency and growth through goods and product market integration, it is then reasonable to assume that some structural changes are necessary for full compliance. The changes are necessary but do have negative consequences for certain sectors or regions, which brings us to the necessity for governmental intervention and the need for the EU to consider

The European Union is a regional integration, born to aggregate the countries survived from the Second World War and to promote productivity and economic growth. Moreover, to contribute to defeat the social and financial inequalities between the European countries. It is important to make a distinction about the reasons that leaded the European Union to enlarge. David Long (2000) recognises that the EU has expanded numerous times

The future of the European Union’s one-currency system will be challenged. The purpose of the union was to promote a stable economic environment in which to promote trade, protect the environment, human rights and prevent threats. But each time a treaty is signed and the union joins more international groups, the individual countries give a little bit of their independence away, or so that is what the British people seem to believe. After almost 45 years of being

In 1957, the signatories to the Treaty of Rome, pledged to create ‘an ever closer union’, ‘to promote throughout the Community a harmonious development of economic activities, a continuous and balanced expansion, an increase in stability, an accelerated raising of the standard of living and closer relations between the States belonging to it’. However, in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, the European Sovereign Debt Crisis revealed fundamental flaws within the European Union (EU) and the Eurozone. Such flaws stand to threaten the current and future prosperity of the EU and have instigated a climate of economically constructed political hostility.

After the end of World War II in 1945, there was a motivation to promote and create unity between France and Germany to avoid future conflicts between these two powerful countries. It was this incentive that helped to shape and establish the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) back in 1951 and was also the foundation of the current European Union (EU) as we know it. Only two decades after its creation, the EU faces a very critical and somber moment in history. In recent years, the European Union has been challenged by a series of problems and crisis including slow economic growth and recession, the Greek debt crisis; the Ukrainian crisis, the ongoing migration and refugee crisis, the upcoming UK

The European Union (EU) was established in order to prevent the horrors of modern warfare, experienced by most of Europe during the World Wars of the 20th century, from ever ensuing again, by aiming to create an environment of trust with the countries of Europe cooperating in areas such as commerce, research and trade (Adams, 2001). The EU has evolved into an economic, trade, political and monetary alliance between twenty-eight European Member States. While not all Member States are in monetary union (i.e. share the currency of the euro), those that are form the ‘Euro-zone’ (Dinan, 2006). The EU can pass a number of types of legislation, with a regulation, act, or law, being the most powerful. Its ‘tricameral’ (European Union, 2007)

Over past decades, Europe has become used to the progression, peace, and democracy. It has campaigned for an end to the division between East and West, also to improve the economic and social prosperity. It has worked to improve health levels, and for better protection of human rights to attain equality between men and women. Yet at present, opinion is divided as there are many advantages and disadvantages which are usually listed by different groups in different communities of the economic union. One of the advantages is the creation of trade. An economic union helps the economies of individual countries to achieve more. It brings peace and prosperity to the region as neighbouring countries have combined economies so they see other countries as more equal to themselves. It is true for the citizens of these countries as well as they get to right to work everywhere without any discrimination. Although one of its drawbacks is that it does create a counter balance to other regions of the