The Enlargement of the European Union

At the end of World War 2, most countries in Europe were in a wreck. Cities were decimated and economy was failing, it was the time to rebuild. The European Union was an effective way to help Europe rebuild. The EU first started as just a common market for steel and coal, but quickly grew into a union of countries united as one. It is a great opportunity for countries in Europe as the it was created for the sole purpose of preserving peace and preventing another World War on the rebuilding continent. The EU is also very beneficial to countries as it has the best economy in the world, for the peace efforts and the ability to support its members.

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.

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.

The EU was created in the midst of a war in attempts to unite Europe under a common government. After 43 years of rebuilding foreign affairs, have their attempts made a positive impact on the modern Europe? Many argue that the EU takes a toll on country's sovereignty. They lack in allowing countries to be apart of the union, without masking the unique culture and diversity of that country. Despite the advantages of being apart of the EU, the disadvantages highly outweigh them in the areas of economic, independence and cultural identity.

The European Union consists of 28 member states and has a population of 503 million inhabitants, and a total surface area of over 4 million square miles. The EU has its own currency, the Euro, and the largest single market in the world. It is a global community and power and has a huge influence on our world today in many aspects, and has been slowly built up to what it is today through humanistic ideology , common interests, new structures, treaties, economic policy and the attempt of equality throughout.

The establishment of the EU was in the works starting from 1945, the end of the Second World War. The United Kingdom started the process of joining the EU in 1969, finally joining the community on January 1st 1973 along with Denmark and Ireland. The official establishment of the European Union as we know it today was on November 1st, 1993 in Maastricht, Netherlands. When England joined the EU, the European Parliament increased its influence in affairs so that all citizens could elect the members of parliament directly. Currently there are 28 members of the European Union, but with the recent developments of brexit, it seems as though the UK might make it so there are only 27 members of the EU. Not only was the European Union established to get rid of war, but with it’s establishment also came a new currency that many members of the EU began to use. From its establishment also came the Banking Union, which ensures safer and more reliable banking to prevent economic crisis like the one that occurred in 2010. As hoped for, the EU also hugely improved international trade and made the EU the top trading partner for 80 countries and the world’s largest manufacturers for goods and services. Free international trade is also the basis for the establishment

These states increased the Union’s population by 30 percent but only increased gross domestic product by four percent. The European Union has an unwieldly governing structure, the most important parts are the Commission and the European Council which make the rules and carry out executive functions. Two lesser but still important parts are the Parliament and the Court of Justice. The Commission has immense power with the domination of the Union budget and setting regulations for the member states. It is also the only permanent part of the executive

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.

While early EU history is marked by efforts to abridge political and economic gaps between formal enemies, recent EU enlargement is a one of tensions between established and new member interests and broader interests of the organization itself. In recent decades, the most prominent issue of EU integration is the ongoing discussion in established member states on expansion prospects. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War opened the possibility for immense political and economic transformation for Eastern European states. The result of this transformation brought the unprecedented possibility for many post-communist states to join the EU. This possibility, however, is met with hostility on domestic level in some of the

The following text deals with the most recent enlargements of the European Union which took place in 2004 and 2007, also referred to as the 10+2 Round. In contrast the term EU-15 is used to describe the states which made up the EU before the 2004 and 2007 enlargements. The issue that is being discussed relates to the economic impact of this enlargement round on the European Union. For practical reasons only some aspects of the economic impact on the European Union will be discussed. This seems to be an important issue since the 10+2 round

Since the beginning of recent crisis, the consideration of becoming European Union’s member for its benefits has been the main focus for many countries. As the incident of WWII proclaimed the shattered of European economy, many country’s economic system could not recovered on their own. Many evidences were obtained and analyzed from countries that became members during EU enlargement. “The EU on average would gain around 1⁄2 percent of real GDP over a six-year period. However, the impact is quite different in the separate EU member states” (Breuss 2001). Even though the problems are varies among different countries, whether they are stabled or are in the process of development, researches have shown that the benefits providing to EU members cause major rises in the economy. And the process of becoming EU member is effortless compared to the overwhelming benefits that they received. Therefore the main argument of this paper is: can growth and productivity be different when a country decides whether or not to join the EU?

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.

In 2004 we will see the biggest enlargement in the history of the EU. All previous enlargements have significantly impacted on the regional focus of the EU's external policies. The countries joining the EU in 2004 are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia and will expand the European Union from currently 15 members to 25.

ACCESSION CRITERIA: HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT AND FURTHER ENLARGEMENT OF THE EU: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO TURKEY

The European Union played a very important role in transforming post-communist countries into democratic states with functioning market economies and the rule of law. The massive transfer of institutional and legal know-how from member