European

Union

History
Much of European history has been marked by warfare,
the most destructive and deadly of which were fought
in the first half of the twentieth century (World War I,
1914 1918, and World War II, 1939 1945).
Following World War II, Belgium, France, West
Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands
formed the European Coal and Steel Community in
1952 in order to create a common market for those
commodities. The central idea was that the likelihood
of war would diminish through greater inter-European
cooperation.

Commodity
A commodity is a good for which there is demand,
but which is equivalent no matter who produces
it.
Examples include crude oil, coal, ethanol, salt,
sugar, coffee beans, soybeans, aluminum, copper,
rice, wheat, gold, silver, palladium, and platinum.
The price of commodities is universal and
fluctuates daily based on global supply and
demand.

European Economic Community

The founding members of the ECSC went on to
form the European Economic Community in
1958.
The EEC created a common market that reduced
or removed trade barriers between member
nations. (Trade barriers, including tariffs, have
historically contributed to tension and hostility
between nations).

EEC
The EEC became known as the Common Market and
in 1973, its first enlargement occurred, with
Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Ireland joining.
From out of the Common Market, the European
Union (EU) was formed in 1993 with the main goal
of promoting peace and prosperity through
economic cooperation and growth. Additional goals
include promoting freedom, justice, and security
amongst its members.
Presently, there are 27 member states.

Sixteen EU states have adopted the Euro (),

which has quickly become the worlds second
largest reserve currency behind the US dollar.

The Euro has eliminated

barriers for travel and trade
between the member nations.

Benefits
Benefits of economic union
Free movement of people and goods across national
borders
Elimination of tariffs (taxes on imports)
As a trade block with 500 million citizens (the worlds
largest) the EU has a substantial influence over world
trade
Improved infrastructure interconnecting EU nations

Political Cooperation in the EU while

member nations retain their national
governments, the EU serves as a
supranational governing body for every
EU member state
Benefits of political union:
Promotes common action to solve common and/or
shared problems
As EU citizens, Europeans have the freedom to travel
throughout the Union and vote in EU elections
Provides for the enforcement of treaties
Increases the influence of individual European nations
through a single voice (the EU) in international affairs.

Changes for the EU

Integrating new member states
Western European member states are generally
more wealthy than their eastern counterparts
(who joined the EU more recently), so the EU
spends a great deal on capital improvements in
the former Soviet Bloc nations. This generates
some animosity in western European member
states.

GDP per capita in the EU 2005

(on the map, the EU avg. is 100%)

TURKEY
Turkey seeks, but has not yet been approved for
membership within the EU, largely because of its
refusal to recognize Cyprus and for its refusal to
acknowledge the genocide carried out against its
Armenian population during World War I.

Concerns have also been raised about Turkeys

treatment of its Kurdish minority population.
Additionally, some skeptical observers view
the delay as a result of western European
cultural, religious, and ethnic bias.

Wage Disparity
Western European companies outsource their
labor to Eastern Europe where wages are lower
Eastern Europeans migrate to Western Europe in
search of better work and/or greater economic
opportunity

Debt & Eurozone

destabilization
Although the EU provides economic advantages to its
members through unity as a single trading bloc with
increasing influence on world trade, it also exposes them,
through unity, to economic problems associated with the
unequal economic development and debt of the member
nations.
During the Spring of 2010, the economic crisis facing
Greece, a EU and Eurozone member, threatened to
destabilize the entire Eurozone and weakened the Euro
itself.
Other member nations, including Ireland, Spain, Portugal,
and Italy also face challenging economic conditions that
could lead to greater difficulty for the entire EU

Nationalism vs.
Supranationalism
Membership in the EU requires are loss of national
sovereignty, as member states are required to follow EU
decisions even if, as an independent nation, it disagrees.
From a nations perspective, sovereignty is freedom from
external control.
As the EU grows, cooperation becomes more difficult.
Many citizens remain extremely patriotic towards their
nation, but not towards the EU. EU voter participation is
extremely low and many Europeans feel disconnected from
the EU political process.
Nationalism is loyalty and devotion to ones nation, often
placing primary emphasis on the promotion of the countrys
interests as opposed to other countrys interests.