European Integration And The European Union

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

In this essay, I will be discussing why and how the European Union was set up and the advantages and disadvantages of membership in its historical context.

Europe was a politically and fragile continent after the Second World War that claimed millions of lives. It is in that background, that the first steps to European integration were taken with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The celebrated Schuman Plan, laid the foundation for the first real supra-national economy in the world, that is, the ECSC. The European integration continued through the decades with the establishment of the European Economic Community (ECC) and the European Union (EU). In the recent period, the EU has come under intense questioning with the economic crisis in Europe starting 2007. The recent Brexit vote has put further questions on the future of the EU. This essay considers the process of European integration through the decades and also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the union.

The European Union, EU, is a union that consists of 28 member states within the European continent. Being part of the EU allows member states/countries to enjoy more market opportunities by dealing with the same currency from an economical perspective. Member states deal with the Euro currency. This promotes free trade between member states which is beneficial for their boundary-less organizations. Businesses or the people within the EU can export their goods and services within member states increasing their market or imports when they face the problem of scarce resources. Hence, member countries of the EU benefit from increased market opportunity. Free trade, free commerce, no taxes, and free travel between its member countries; thus it creates a sense of nationalism. “Neo-functionalism is an

The purpose of the European Union (EU) was to bring European countries together to help ease both political and economic relationships in Europe. The formation of this group made up of a “family” of democratic European countries was created for the sole purpose of mutually beneficial economic and political peace which was exactly what was needed in the 1950’s. The EU is unique so unlike anything that has ever been, and the idea for it came to be while the world was still recovering from the catastrophic economic affects that were brought along by World War II which ended in 1945. Europe was drastically affected by the war having been caught in the middle, and since most of Europe was used as a battlefield a lot of it was left to nothing more than rubble.

At the Laeken European Council of December 2001, government and state leaders of the European Union (EU) Member States decided to draft a `Constitutional Treaty' for the EU. The draft would then be discussed, amended, approved or rejected by an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) held in 2003. The aim of Fabbrini's article is thus to contribute to the understanding of the constitutional evolution of the EU through a comparison with the constitutional experience of the United States.

     In the event of an integrated Europe, constructivists recognize that to completely avoid conflict, each state will have to succumb to a “European identity” and all individual identities will have to become merely “cultural gems” within the European system. This, they argue, can be achieved with the success of several steps including economic, judicial, and security integration . The first step has already been attempted with the establishment of the Euro, the common European currency, which has been outperformed by its monetary competitors. A great amount of trust will have to be secured between states before a common court or army can be established, and most likely with as little success as the common currency. So, even by these simplified guidelines the outlook for the creation of a new “European

The European Union was formed with many 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 a peaceful coexistence. However, the EU’s path has not been smooth. Many critical economic as well as political problems have emerged throughout the last decade, raising questions about its credibility.

Formed from 28 Member States, the EU has developed an internal single market which enabled it to control what happens in the Member States. The context in which the EU has developed has caused it to be unique in comparison to all the others and through this essay I will demonstrate how the characteristics and functions of the EU are found to be those only associated with the EU.

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.

Since its founding in 1958, the European Union’s main purpose has been to promote peace, human rights, cooperation, democratic ideals, and the well-being of the European people. It has enabled Europe to emerge from destruction of World War II with a much unified marketplace, connected through a single currency, the Euro. The EU is a unique structure in that it is one of the biggest governing alliances worldwide that has been reasonably successful in its purpose. There are several elements of the structure, such as the European Council, European Parliament, Council of the EU, and the European Commission, as well as many others that help the EU to run efficiently and effectively.

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 exactly been a bed of roses. Especially of late, too many critical problems have emerged, making some to question its very existence.

Driven by the desire to prevent another World War, many of the founding fathers of the European union envisioned a federalist Europe. Monnet was adamant on the idea that the center of the community should exist a supranational body. Originally established after World War Two, what is now the European Union was formally the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The ECSC was established on the basis that trade and pooling of both commodities would prevent rearmament and another war. Established on the 18th April 1951, by the Treaty of Paris, the founding six member states ( France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) have expanded until it tripling in size. Today, after rapid phases and slower periods of integration, the EU is composed of 28 member-states after. Over 60 years of enlargement, the European union has yet to has still not reached its territorial limits, with numerous application still being processed. Undefined frontiers exist in the Balkans and Turkey, as well as in eastern Europeans regions. With economic interdependence, European countries have united economically and politically with the goal of maintaining peace. The question yet to be answered is, how far and deep should political integration go?

The European Union is a fortress of commerce, development, groundbreaking environmental initiatives, proactive human rights champions, and embodies the new era of integration efforts in the post-modern world. Europe is the recipient of global admiration as a prime destination for travelers who seek luxury, elegance, varying cultural experiences, and immersed in ancient history. European integration has produced the almighty EU that is considered to be one of the most respected, notarized, stable and secure intergovernmental and supranational bodies in the world. The appeal of Europe has reached an all time high as increasing global instability rises in neighboring countries surrounding the EU. Immigrants, migrants,

In the past years, the possible future of the European Union (EU) has been of increasing interest to social and political scientists as well as the public. Since 2008, the EU has experienced events such as the economic crisis and the 2014 European Parliament election, which have fostered intense debates around the legitimising basis of the EU (Zielonka, 2014). Furthermore, with the election of David Cameron in the 2015 United Kingdom general election even the possibility of the United Kingdom leaving the EU has been discussed. Although many social and political scientists do not believe such a scenario (REFERENCE), one could argue that there is an increasing need for the EU to redefine itself in order not to experience a genuine ‘downfall’. Consequently, an alternative theory of EU integration challenging the classical intergovernmental and neofunctional understandings of the EU has gained increasing support among political scientists.