European Integration And The European Union

On 1 January 1995 three new countries joined the European Union. Austria, Finland and Sweden endow the Union with their distinctive contributions and create new dimensions for it in the heart of central Europe and in northern Europe.

In 1095, at the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II began a striking expedition to Jerusalem in order to release the city from Muslim control. His moving campaign and the promise of an immense reward was inspirational to the many willing participants. One must essentially understand that the leaders of these crusades connected almost every accomplishment to the works of God, and felt a huge moral obligation to take back what once belonged to Him. The extent of the crusades shows the deep devotion that most of Western Europe had towards Christianity and the desire to rid the world of unnecessary evils.

The EU was created after the Second World War to unite the neighboring countries of Europe. It was established by six European countries in 1951: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands and West Germany (Briney, 2015). Today it consists of 28 countries united to create an economic and political community (Gov.uk, 2014).

The Crusades, a series of wars, are an extremely important part of history in the 12th century, occurring during the Middle Ages. The Middle East or the Holy Land was always a place that Christians traveled to to make pilgrimages. The Seljuk Turks eventually took control of Jerusalem and all Christians were not allowed in the Holy City. As the Turks power grew, they threatened to take over the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I, asked Pope Urban II for help and Pope agreed, hoping to strengthen his own power. He He united the Christians in Europe and In 1095, Pope Urban II waged waged war against muslims in order to “reclaim the holy land.”

Going against modern day religious beliefs, in 1095AD the Christians went to war to claim the holy city of Jerusalem, massacring the Muslims in a bloody attempt to worship their God. Pope Urban II’s speech at Clermont inspired by claims made by the Byzantium Emperor encouraged the Christians to partake in the First Crusade in an attempt to liberate Jerusalem. The religious and economic factors were the most relevant to cause this crusade, with some influence from desired political gain and little from social factors unrelated to religion. The immediate consequences were positive for the Christians and negative for the Muslims, but the First Crusade launched an ongoing conflict between the Christians and Muslims which had positive and negative consequences for both sides. There are a number of relevant modern sources which examine the causes and consequences of the First Crusade, but, while there are many medieval sources, they do not explicitly discuss the causes and consequences of the war. In order to fully comprehend the First Crusade, it is necessary to analyse the religious, economic, and political factors, as well as the short-term, long-term, and modern consequences.

Three of the world’s most powerful religions had gone to war during the Crusades, the same war that is responsible for an estimated 1.7 million deaths. The Crusades were a series of Christian military expeditions that lasted through nine Holy Wars. The first crusade, in 1095, was called upon by Pope Urban II in an attempt to stop the Muslim expansion to the Holy City of Jerusalem. Through this, the Christian, Catholic, and Muslim churches will go into a time of warfare as an attempt to both show their religious superiority and have a religious expansion. The western side of Europe was the most significantly impacted by the Crusades because of the 4th Crusade, the foreign influence from the East, and Europe’s economic relations with the world.

This part of the story began, not in the Americas, nor in Europe, but in the Middle East. Carrying the message of the new prophet Mohammed out of the Arabian Peninsula, Muslims began making major inroads into western Asia and northern Africa in the seventh century, eventually encroaching on Europe’s southern and eastern frontiers. In 1095, Pope Urban II responded to a request for aid from the Byzantine emperor, whose dominions were under attack by Muslim invaders, launching the era of the Crusades. For two centuries, European-based Christians battled with Muslims in the Holy Lands and elsewhere. For the elite classes who engaged in crusading, provincialism died away, replaced by new information and contacts in the wider world. Soon Europeans would begin turning this new knowledge and these new tools against the people from whom they were appropriated.

The European continent is an interesting case study of the divided between Eastern and Western Europe. The divided is an older issue rooted in historical events in modern European history. History allows understanding of what drives the divided in Europe into the contemporary times. Eastern Europe has specific regional issues that divide it from Western Europe. The most important are the weak governments and economics. The lack of strength in government allowed for the rise of empires to take over the region; sadly, this leads to the ethnic division within the regions, as people groups moved to different parts of an empire. The combination of the rule of empire helped to strengthen the weak economics, lack political

Towards the end of the eleventh century in Western Europe and Eurasia, a range of social, economical and religious influences collectively influenced the sequence of religious wars which we know as the Crusades. Although the series of holy wars against Islam is typically portrayed as the fault of overzealous popes and belligerent kings; the truth behind the clash between Christianity and Islam is far more elaborate. The direct repercussions following two centuries of prolonged warfare afflicted Christendom with the loss of several millions of lives and immense financial expenditure. On the contrary, the Crusades stimulated the fundamental expansion and the ultimate downfalls of nations in both the Western and Eastern fields.

The European Union (EU) has a variety of methods to promote democracy beyond its borders. It is the contention of this paper that EU democracy-promotion policies are more significant in the context of a pre-accession conditionality. The success of EU democracy promotion is contingent upon the degree of bargaining power the EU possesses vis-à-vis ‘third countries’ (third countries being those which seek EU membership, and are prepared to make the necessary political and economic reforms). In the context of pre-accession conditionality the EU possesses significant bargaining power, making adhesion to the norms of the Copenhagen criteria (political and economic conditions necessary for EU accession) the only viable option for states seeking

The European Union (EU) legislation has gone through evolution through many treaties in order to establish a better democratic legitimacy of its legislative procedure. It has been discussed that the core elements of democratic legitimacy can be found in two dimensions, the input-dimension and the output-dimension. The input-dimensions focuses more on citizens’ rights and possibilities for participation and contestation, and their right to elect their own representatives. Besides that, the input-dimension also described that in order for democratic legitimacy to be achieved, the representatives within the EU must be accountable through transparent procedures of election and government in the representative in the system that must be in

The European Union(EU) 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 United Kingdom (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

On the 23rd of June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union (EU); an event now commonly dubbed “Brexit”. This decision means that the UK will be the first country to leave the common market that is the EU, where a common market is defined as a “group formed by countries within a geographical area to promote duty free trade and free movement of labour and capital among its members” (What is common market? Definition and meaning, 2017). Trade deals with other countries are organised by the EU on behalf of its member states, as well as the rules and regulations governing business activity within the common market. As a result, leaving the EU is likely to result in huge implications for small to medium sized

In this essay I will discuss why and how the European Union (EU) was set up and the advantages and disadvantages of membership. The EU was set up after World War II in 1939- 1945, bringing harmony and peace among the EU. I will also explain and evaluate the political and economic situation between Post War Europe and understand the historical development of the European Union.

The European Union is a political community constituted as an international organization whose aim is to promote integration and a common government of the European people and countries. According to the Article 3 of the European Union Treaty, Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples. It is based on the values of freedom, democracy, equality, law enforcement and respect for human rights and dignity.