Navigation

European Union

History

 

The beginning

The European Union is an association of 25 states in Europe that have agreed to integrate and coordinate much of their economic policy and some other policy areas. Until it crystallised into a political concept and became the long-term goal of many states, the European ideal was unknown to all but philosophers and visionaries. The notion of a United States of Europe was part of a humanist-pacifist dream which was shattered by the conflicts which brought so much destruction to the European continent in the first half of the 20th century. The historical roots of the European Union lie in the Second World War. The idea of European integration was conceived to prevent such killing and destruction from ever happening again. It was first proposed by the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, in a speech on 9 May 1950. This date, the "birthday" of what is now the EU, is celebrated annually as Europe Day.

The first step along the path of European unification was the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951 to coordinate coal and steel production by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg. In that post-war period the Community was primarily seen as a way of securing peace by bringing victors and vanquished together within an institutional structure which would allow them to cooperate as equals.

Creating an economic community

Emboldened by the success of the ECSC, the six countries sought to deepen their collaboration and decided to create an economic community, built around the free movement of workers, goods and services. In 1957 the countries signed the Treaties of Rome which established the European Atomic Energy Community (Euroatom) and the European Economic Community (EEC). The EEC created a custom union thus eliminating all tariffs among the member states and then by 1968 adopting a common set of tariffs on imports from countries outside the community.

In 1967, the ECSC, the Euroatom and the EEC were merged into the European Community (EC). From this point on, there was a single Commission and a single Council of Ministers as well as the European Parliament. By the end of the decade the EC achieved more common policies, notably an agricultural policy and a commercial policy.

The first enlargement

The success of the EC led Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom to apply for Community membership. They were formally admitted in 1972. This first enlargement, which increased the number of member states to nine, was matched by a deepening of the Community’s tasks; it was given responsibility for social, regional and environmental matters.

The need for further economic convergence and monetary union became apparent in the early 1970s. The launch of a European Monetary System in 1979 helped stabilise exchange rates and encourage member states to pursue strict economic policies, enabling them to give each other mutual support and benefit from the discipline imposed by an open economic area. With the signing of the Single European Act (SEA) in 1986, the EC set itself the task of creating a single market by 1 January 1993. The SEA also set the target of achieving European monetary union.

Further enlargement and integration

The Community expanded southwards with the accession of Greece in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. These enlargements made it even more imperative to implement structural programmes designed to reduce the disparities between the twelve member states in terms of economic development.

Following the end of communism in Eastern Europe, member states determined to strengthen their ties and negotiated the new Treaty on European Union, the Treaty of Maastricht the main features of which were agreed at the Maastricht European Council on 9-10 December 1991. The Treaty of Maastricht, which entered into force on 1 November 1993, set an ambitious program: monetary union in 1999, new common policies, European citizenship, a common foreign and security policy and internal security. The Treaty of Maastricht introduced new forms of cooperation between the member states—for example on defence, and in the area of "justice and home affairs". Thus the Treaty created the European Union (EU).

The single currency—the euro—became reality on 1 January 2002, when euro coins and notes replaced national currencies in twelve of the fifteen countries of the Union.

The member states negotiated a further Treaty, the Treaty of Amsterdam signed on 2 October 1997, which adapted and strengthened the Union's policies and powers, particularly in judicial cooperation, the free movement of persons, foreign policy and public health.

Enlarging and deepening the Union

On 1 January 1995, three further countries joined the European Union. Austria, Finland and Sweden expanded the Union to its current size of fifteen and opened up further dimensions at the heart of central and northern Europe. Following lengthy negotiations, ten more countries—Estonia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia—are about to formally join the EU in early 2004. Bulgaria and Romania, while continuing negotiations, hope to join in early 2007. Another country, Turkey, applied for membership but still awaits a decision by the EU to begin accession negotiations.

To ensure that the EU can continues functioning efficiently with 25 or more members, on 28 February 2002 the Union set up the European Convention created to prepare a reform of its policies and institutions that should lead to the adoption of a new EU Constitution in 2004. Then, an Intergovernmental Conference of the member states will be convened to adopt a Constitution.

 

Updated on at Thursday, June 14, 2007