Development of the European Union

In its historical context discuss why and how the EU was set up and the advantages and disadvantages of membership.

The roots of the European Union can be traced back to the early 1950’s when a small number of countries made a decision to join together as a way to resolve any potential conflict nurture economic growth and common values across the continent. There was a desire to promote common values and membership was opened to all European countries. Since the inception the number of members has grown from a founding six countries to what we now know as the modern day EU with a current total of 28 countries with a further 8 countries under application review. In 1992, what was then a group of twelve countries, joined together to form the Customs Community Code which was eventually introduced in January 1993. The code effectively merged the individual customs regulations in to a single customs union.

The increasing weight of the Union since its creation in 1951 has elevated the community to the international stage as an indubitable power and encouraged the debate about the characterization of the EU, fostered by the involvement from European political science scholars. Scholars have came up with a "sui generis" definition of the EU in the sense that it neither is an intergovernmental organization nor a federal state.4 Still, the novelty of the Union does not bound itself to the definition of the nature of European institutional set-up. Indeed, the discussion between scholars goes further towards the characterization of the European power.

There is an erroneous assumption in the world that the concept of the European Union, the notion of having a shared currency, and borderless pan-European continent is a relatively new idea. However, the idea of a pan-European identity as it is known today through the European Union was established after the end of the Second World War, as the need for a united Western Europe was needed to combat the possible threat of war with the Soviet Union. The policies of the European Union went through a long review through the establishment of multiple pan-European organizations, primarily the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), which provided the backbone of the modern European Union, through a number of treaties that encouraged European cooperation. It is through the combined efforts of the ECSC and the ECC that Churchill’s dream of a united Europe in 1949 eventually culminated in the creation of the European Union (E.U), an organization whose role is to protect the economic interests of aligned nations as outlined by the mandates of the ECSC and ECC.

The formation of the European Union started about three-quarters of a century ago. The first blueprints of the European Union date back to 1951 for the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (Wilkinson). This organization included the Inner Six countries of Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The ECSC was founded by the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, whom lead this organization with the Schuman declaration in May 1950 (Wilkinson). This organization of states inspired the formation of many similar organizations in Europe.

The European Union’s core foundation began in the 1950’s, when the Treaty of Rome was signed. Decades earlier, right after the Second World War, a movement was created to unite the countries of Germany and France. The EU has, for some time, been a major player in world politics and with twenty-eight member states the EU has had its fair share of complications throughout the years. Foreign policy began to take place early on as the EU was seen as a political system that was making decisions on behalf 28 countries. In the 1970s Henry Kissinger, the United States Secretary of State for President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford, brought up the question of “If I want to call Europe, who do I call?” This began a long and stressful debate of who is the official that needs to be called when other foreign actors and institutions want to address a problem or simply ask a question to the European Union. After many years European leaders claimed to have answered Henry Kissinger’s question by creating the European Council President and a European Foreign Minister position. But is it as simple as that? Has this question really been resolved by just creating these positions? We can see that reorganizing the Union’s political structure has strengthened the EU, it has allowed them to show foreign leaders a more united front and show that they, too, have global interests.

European Union was formed with a lot of expectations. Despite closeness and similarities, the various nations of the European continent fought bitter wars for thousands of years within themselves. After the devastating World War II, finally everyone saw the light and decided to give a chance to peaceful coexistence. However, EU’s path hasn’t been smooth. Many critical economic as well as political problems have emerged throughout the last decade, raising questions about its credibility.

The European Union (“EU”) is an economic and political vehicle between 28 European countries, including the United Kingdom, that allows national governments to pursue shared and national interests. The United Kingdom became a Member State in 1973. The EU was born out of a quest for peace following the devastating effects of World War II. To that end, six nations signed the European Coal and Steel Community Treaty, in 1951, to share their coal and steel resources. This agreement was subsequently replaced by the European Economic Community (“EEC”), which was eventually renamed the “European Community” (“EC”). The EU, which was created by the Maastricht Treaty, replaced the EC when it formally came into being in 1993 following ratification of the Treaty of the European Union (“TEU”) by Member States.

The European Economic grew bigger with up to 31 countries joining the ECA having limited rights for each country. The treaty had plans on building a common market in 1957 this came into reality in 1958 with the creation of a customs union along with the Single European Act (SEA) in 1957. ‘They declared in its preamble that signatory state was determined to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe’. This confirmed a political objective of a progressive political interrogation from the member of states.

The European Union was formally created in 1993, but its roots reflect back all the way to the end of World War II. Its first priority was to form an economic union that consisted of members dependent on each other for trading purposes to avoid potential conflict. Now this political and economic union has developed into a representative democracy aimed to govern its current members (“The EU in brief” n. pag.).

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 the United States, in which a central government would rule over individual regional governments. As a result, the Maastricht Treaty, also known as the Treaty of the European Union undertook responsibilities in setting, “clear rules for the future single

The European Union is the unique education which is taking place process of political formation. It can be considered as version of the answer to present calls as within united Europe there is an opportunity for the participating states to solve key problems of social and economic, political, cultural, ecological development and questions of internal and external security. In the XXI century, after semicentennial development of the European integration, EU I turned into one of the main and most developed centers of the modern world. The share of EU in a world gross product exceeds 20%, it is the share of it nearly a quarter of world trade. EU plays the leading role in rendering the technical and financial assistance to developing

The development of anything takes time, be it a child or a global governing body. There is an erroneous assumption in the world that the concept of the European Union, the idea of having a shared currency, and borderless pan-European continent is new. However, the pan-European identity present in Modern Europe took time to establish, especially after the continent was devastated by two World Wars. The idea of a pan-European identity as it is known today through the European Union was established after the end of the Second World War, as the need for a united Western Europe was needed to combat the increasing influence of the United States on the European economy and the possible threat of war with the Soviet Union. The policies of the

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)

The process of emergence the European Union marked the commencement of an innovative era, for instance job creation effective trade, free market, enhanced security, sustainable development, protecting human rights, economic cohesion etc are major objectives. Though all these positive aspect in the mind, the reality of global depression reveals that there is much to be improved and that the imbalances between Member States is extending further. In this position, to solve these troubles the European Commission launched its suggestion for the future multiannual post-2013 financial agenda. It is think that this framework will work towards increase and competitiveness by dropping the budget in some areas and directing the expenses towards areas of interest for the Union. The Romanian govt. obeyed by the policy and come off its crisis in great deal.