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A Report On The European Union

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The European Union contains just 7% of the world’s population, but produces 1/3 of the world’s Gross National Product (Delegation of the EU to the US). A single market merges all 28 countries of the EU into one economic free-trade zone with no trade tariffs imposed on one another. The EU accounts for 51% of all trade that the UK conducts with the world (The Data Team 2). Since its admittance to the Union in 1973, Britain’s economy has grown from 326 million Euros per capita to 6,116 million Euros per capita in quarter four of 2012. Despite its economic benefits, many have voiced concern over its undemocratic practices. In a summary of the court case Van Loos v. Netherlands Inland Revenue administration, the European Union decided to strike …show more content…

In order to recover from its economic losses, President Schuman of France proposed a single market for the free trade of coal and steel. In an address delivered to the French Assembly, he remarked, "The pooling of coal and steel production... will change the destinies of those regions which have long been devoted to the manufacture of munitions of war, of which they have been the most constant victims." President Schuman’s motives were not only the rebuilding of Europe’s economy, but also the assurance that Germany and France would never get into another war again. In 1951, the Treaty of Paris was officially signed establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (European Commission). The countries of Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, West Germany, and Italy were the first countries to join.
As these countries experienced economic success, they hoped to expand the Coal and Steel Community to something much more vast. In the Treaty of Rome in 1957, the European Economic Community was established (CVCE). The EEC didn’t just allow the free trade of coal and steel, but also eliminated all trade tariffs completely. This enticed other countries including Britain to join the Community. As the EEC continued to expand and prosper, it also started venturing into the role of governing. It sought to emulate the model of that of

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