Essay on The European Union

With the onset of globalization, trade barriers have diminished. This results in easier and faster transport of goods, and increase in foreign investments that create more job opportunities. In addition, the perpetuation of free trade reduces the possibility of beginning a war. However, let us be reminded that its economic pros are not universal and absolute. Although most benefit from it, unfortunate nations may still lag far behind. Furthermore, rich countries can take advantage of low wages, cause environmental damages to poor countries with limited pollution regulation and control, and impede home

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.

 Some argue that the current degree of integration is an economic union with an  evolving common political structure (but this is not entirely true given that all countries  do not share a common fiscal policy).   EU Objectives    Provide for free internal flow of production factors:   o Labour   o Capital   o Products    Provide protection for European industry and workers (free trade within and  protection outside countries)  o Tariffs and quotas applied to most basic commodities and services    Steel, Coal, Textiles, Agricultural Products    Banking,

have to agree on one issue. There is also a financial cost of being a

The less developed countries cannot protect their infant industries under the policy of free trade and in general the terms of trade are favorable for the developed countries, and unfavorable for the poor countries. The less developed countries find it difficult to compete with the economically advanced countries. Free trade can lead workers from poorer countries to work long hours and forced to live in shanties without electricity even, just so they can work and send money back to their families.

The EU and the trade agreements entered into by member countries are examples of economic integration and cooperation. The benefits of joining an economic or trading bloc and reducing trade barriers can be plenty and they encourage countries to join them, and can be gained by all of the countries who are part in the economic integration agreement.

While free trade could potentially mean a lot of benefits, its superiority over protectionism is strictly theoretical, under the conditions that you disregard all the unique conditions of each country involved, and the possibility of exploitation of workers, resources and legal loopholes by large corporations. Realistically industries will be monopolized by whichever country that does it cheapest, thus making any competition in that industry from the other countries extremely unprofitable and unsustainable. Each country would only be able to focus on sectors that they have a comparative advantage in, while the other industries would stagnate, laying off masses of workers, causing high unemployment rates in the country. Furthermore, businesses are focused on their own profit so they’ll go for labour wherever it’s cheapest, which increases income disparity. Theoretically, free trade can bring about the largest amount of trade and aggregate wealth for everyone by making each country specialize in what it has an advantage in, to produce more for less, lowering the market prices to be more affordable, greatly boosting trade, and raising quality of life. Essentially free trade aims to maximize income for each country under the contemporary conditions. However even if everything miraculously goes as planned and that hypothetical situation is reached, even under these perfect conditions free trade will allow no further development of industry.

Trade between the US and the EU leaves a ripple effect, not only through their own economies, but throughout the world economy, given that these are two of the world’s wealthiest nations. “The transatlantic economy is the largest and wealthiest market in the world, accounting for over 50 percent of world GDP in terms of value and over 40 percent in terms of purchasing power.” Years of trade between these two giants has demonstrated the mutual benefits of trade and has set the standard for both developed and developing countries. Their example shows the interdependence that different countries uphold and the efficiency that would result if all embraced this inter twine rather than fought to independently produce their own goods, encouraging

Secondly, all form of trade has a net positive effect on the economy. The idea that closed borders and less trade would help countries is an age old idea, an idea that once was abandoned when the mercantilistic system was replaced in favour for open borders and free trade. Almost all economists are agreeing that isolating a country from globalism is a bad idea, it does not bring more wealth, quite the

(1) Regional trading blocs, such as the EU and NAFTA, are growing in importance. What are the implications of these trading blocs for international business policies? Are they helpful or harmful to the regions? How may they affect global investments?

There are many benefits of trading within the EU, the agreement in 1993 was effectively the start of what we now refer to as the single market, it removed the borders of a member country for trade enabling the free movement of goods between members without the encumbrance of the customs process and reducing the need of a significant amount of accompanying documents that was required for goods being moved across borders. Previously it was necessary for goods to be shipped with certificates of origin, Invoices, packing lists with a full breakdown of package contents. If moved by road, which is the normal method of transport within the EU, a CMR transport note

One of the main objectives of the European Union (EU) is the establishment of the internal market, which shall consist of “area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured. The internal market is based upon a customs union achieved through the abolition of the imposition of customs duties and charges having an equivalent effect and the prohibition of discriminatory taxes on intra-EU imports. The internal market is enhanced by the provisions on free movement of workers, freedom of establishment, free movement of services, and free movement of capital. Whereas Articles 28 to 30 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provide for the establishment of an EU common external tariff and the elimination of customs duties, Articles 34 and 35 of the TFEU (with exceptions under Article 36) go further, and prohibit quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect. Taken together, Articles 28 to 32 and 34 to 36 serve to ensure the free movement of goods within the EU and to facilitate the operation of the internal market.

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.

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 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.