Essay On The EU

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.

As of 2012, only seventeen of members of the European Union have decided to use Euros as their currency. In order for the members that adopted the Euro as their currency to successfully help their economic problems, the Eurozone members had to follow strict instructions put into place the European Union. The strict policies included strict control over inflation, government debt, and long-term interest rates (Mckee 525). The union put these strict policies into place to give the union the tools that it needed to take in order to help fix the economic crisis in each country participating in the Eurozone. Without the full cooperation of each country, it could cause the plans to fix the economic crisis within each country to fail because of the different interests by each individual country.

Since 1950 European Union (EU) was created it has promoted peace, prosperity and values among the member nations and its neighbouring countries. EU’s influential tools, has helped transform many European states into functioning democracies and prosperous countries. EU’s membership has grown from 6 to 28 countries (Enlargement, 2014), satisfying a historic vow to integrate the continent bringing in most states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by peaceful ideals.EU has anticipated the enlargement as an extraordinary opportunity to endorse political strength and economic success in Europe. EU’s extension policy is open to any European state that fulfils the EU’s political and financial criteria for membership; still the political process of inclusion of new state requires a unanimous agreement from all the existing 28 member states. Europe is considered to be more flourishing and safer place due to the promotion of democracy, anti-corruption policy and the single market policy.

In order to be a member of the EU, you must be able to maintain and prove a stable economy. Greece's economic difficulties, it have impacted the EU as a whole. If one country is unable to prove their economy

Where they had not yet adopted the euro nor ascended into the union, Greece's public service sector (though accounting for half the countries GDP) was seen to seriously hinder any efforts to increase economic growth. But since accession, rapid mobilization of the economy has started to route out the stitches in the corrupt service sector (most reform has been in recent years though). But rapid economic reform didn't come directly after accession, for it wasn't until recently that Greece started better allocating EU subsidies. Until the country had finally set out to reform its poorly structured civil service sector, much of the subsidies were seen to be wasted on remedial government plans and initiatives such as increased electorate pay. Abuse of subsidies was recorded up until the early 90s, but since then Greece has seen considerable returns in foreign investments, and a marginal decrease in both the national debt and inflation rates . To better illustrate Greece's economic standing today, one might take note of the fact that the country is now in a position to distribute large amounts of aid (E.g., Bosnia- Herzegovina) while slowly relying less and less on EU subsidies. Many also believe that Greece's poor economic strategies in early years should serve as a lesson for future Balkan members awaiting accession into the EU as well.

Part of the exceptional nature of the EU stems from the notion that nothing like it has ever been attempted successfully before. The European Union is an international institution with a single market and shared currency. It strives to maintain singular goals and make its way towards being an “ever closer union”. Today, the European Union has expanded to include twenty-eight member countries with an influence that reaches every continent. This institution has had an impressive history, but it has reached a point of concern. The golden years which held high hopes of a united supranational Union are long over. The EU faces destructive problems today, which could ultimately end their impressive era of cooperation. The Union has come

As the EU includes 27 states therefore they would inevitably face difficulties due to the diverse range of national interests. On the other hand increasing numbers of policies are decided on a supranational level and therefore speed the process, for example decisions relating to trade or agriculture. However vital policies such as Defence remain intergovernmental, as do decisions such as the accession of new states. The effect of recent economic crisis has made an impact on the creation of EU superstate. The global downturn, which originated in 2007 created the ‘Eurozone’ crisis. As a result EU bailouts have been organized for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. The fear of the crisis extending further across Europe has caused a loss of confidence in the EU, and in particular the euro. There has even been speculation that Greece may have to exit the ‘Eurozone’. Alternatively it has also caused some to call for further integration, arguing the crisis has shown the need for tighter budget rules throughout the EU.

A country who’s economy was devastated by the monetary exports demanded of them by the second world war, Greece has shown great financial fluctuation and vulnerability within the last 80 years, resulting in one of the most disputed economic records in the history of the European Union. Dubbed the ‘Greek Economic Miracle’, Greece showed great resilience throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, with credit to their superior food trade and shipping industry, continuing to produce high levels of economic growth in contrast to others that had also been affected by the war. With the Treaty of Accession (1979) entering into force on 1st January 1981, Greek’s commitment to the European Communities (European Union) proved pivotal regarding it’s controversial qualification into the Eurozone in 2000. Owing to this, in an attempt to recover the unstable foundations of its economy, Greece has since been subject to various regulations and measures of austerity, leaving what was once a highly commended country both financially and socially, in a deplorable state of desperation.

On 25 March 2017, the European Union will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its existence. Nevertheless, the European Council and the presidents of the twenty seven member states are aware that it is not a perfect union.

In 1999, ten European nations joined together to create an economic and monetary union known as the Eurozone. Countries, such as Germany, have thrived with the euro but nations, like Greece, have deteriorated since its adoption of the euro in 2001. The Eurozone was created in 1999 and currently consists of eighteen European nations united under the European Central Bank and all use the euro. The Eurozone has a one point six percent inflation rate and an eleven point six percent unemployment rate in 2014. Greece joined the Eurozone in 2001 and was the poorest European Union member at the time with a two point six percent inflation rate3 (James, 2000). Greece had a long economic history before joining the Eurozone. The economy flourished from 1960 to 1970 with low inflation and modernization and industrialization occurring. The market crash in the late 1970’s led Greece into a state of recession that the nation is still struggling with. Military failures, the PASOK party and the introduction of the euro have further tarnished Greece’s economic stability. The nation struggles with lack of competitiveness, high deficit, and inflation. Greece has many options like bailouts, rescue packages, and PPP to help dig it out of this recession. The best option is to abandon the Eurozone and go back to the drachma. Greece’s inflation and deficit are increasing more and more and loans and bailouts have not worked in the past. Leaving the Eurozone will allow Greece to restructure and rebuild

It’s no secret that Greece is in quite a predicament. The country is currently in the midst of a crisis that reaches not just all parts of Greek society but a global stage as well. Is Greece at the point of no return, will they end up defaulting on their massive debts from combined lenders, breaking away from the European Union (EU) and the singular monetary system of the Euro? While many people think that is the way to go for Greece, the government could also find solace in the examples of other EU countries. By looking at how these countries were in the same situation as Greece yet have managed to make the necessary spending cuts and social reforms, and in doing so have regained control. This paper, provided will be an overview of the

European Union represents economic and political partnership of 28 states, with population more than 500 million people who can travel within its territory without considering internal borders. It operates as a single market with standardized laws and guaranteed freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital. As such, European Union is attractive destination for all kind of immigrants, from people in search of a better life from unfortunate and unstable regions to highly qualified work force who are looking for greater business opportunities. As European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in an interview for Time Magazine (Oct. 24,2007) “Europe is an

People have created unions many times but not all of them were successful, specifically when we consider alliances among number of countries with different economics, political systems and culture. For instance, last century brought both the biggest collapse and the most promising union in the modern history. Although U.S.S.R has disappeared from geographical maps, some of its members joined another alliance. The European Union (EU) is an economic and political partnership that united 28 countries on the European part of Eurasia and represents a unique form of cooperation among members today.

European Union’s attention was again directed towards Albania during the Kosovo war. This was because the European Union was promoting stability in the Balkan region. There were many pacts that Albania has participated at the EU Meetings. Some of the pacts were; Stability pact for southeast which was launched in 1999; the second pact was Stability and Association process for the Western Balkan in 2000. However, these pacts were accepted, but many political issues were not settled during these pacts between Albania and EU. Many other countries and international organizations were supporting this, beside the European Union. Some of the countries were; United States, Canada, Japan. On the other hand, some of the organizations supporting this pact were organizations like NATO, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. “All countries of the Southeastern European area are partners of the Stability Pact” (Thiel, 2004) and one of the members is Albania. Although the European integration it is difficult, with the assistance of European Union, Albania can progress towards the European Integration and the country can be more trustworthy for foreign investors to come and invest in Albania. But this has not been the case of Albania. Many reforms in Albania are either not implemented or poorly implemented. This means that some reforms

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)