EUROPEAN UNION neighbors, which culminated in the Second World
By Jumer Palacio, BSAT-II War. As of 1950, the European Coal and Steel
“Promote peace, its values and the well-being
of its citizens; also offer freedom, security and justice
without internal borders…”
These are some of the goals of the European
Union on which also wanted to combat social
exclusion and discrimination, promote scientific and
technological progress, enhance economic, social and
territorial cohesion and solidarity among EU
countries, respect its rich cultural and linguistic
diversity and establish an economic and monetary
union whose currency is the euro.
European Union also has values on which it is
an integral part of having European way of life in
which inclusion, tolerance, justice, solidarity and non-
discrimination prevail. These values are linked to the
human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of
law and human rights.
But what is European Union actually, and
how does it give its members sustainable
development based on balanced economic growth
and price stability by which highly competitive
market economy with full employment and social
progress is provided?
In A Nutshell
The European Union is a unique economic
and political union between 28 EU countries that
together cover much of the continent.
The EU has delivered more than half a
century of peace, stability and prosperity, helped
raise living standards and launched a single
European currency: the euro. More than 340 million
EU citizens in 19 countries now use it as their
currency and enjoy its benefits.
The EU's main economic engine is the single
market. It enables most goods, services, money and
people to move freely. The EU aims to develop this
huge resource to other areas like energy, knowledge
and capital markets to ensure that Europeans can
draw the maximum benefit from it.
The European Union is the largest trade block
in the world. It is the world's biggest exporter of
manufactured goods and services, and the biggest
import market for over 100 countries.
A Brief History
The European Union is set up with the aim of
ending the frequent and bloody wars between
Community begins to unite European countries
economically and politically in order to secure lasting
peace. The six founding countries are Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the
Netherlands. The 1950s are dominated by a cold war
between east and west. Protests in Hungary against
the Communist regime are put down by Soviet tanks
in 1956. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome creates the
European Economic Community (EEC), or ‘Common
Market’.
From then, series of developments have been
provided while facing multiple challenges
economically, financially and politically among the
internal faction of the European Union. With 70 years
in existence, EU strived for Economic growth from
which they have enlarged the trade and agricultural
capabilities of each member from which they
associated and created the “Single Market”.
The people involved which also recognized as
the Founding Fathers of EU are Konrad Adenauer,
Joseph Bech, Johan Beyen, Winston Churchill, Alcide
de Gasperi, Walter Hallstein, Sicco Mansholt, Jean
Monnet, Robert Schuman, Paul-Henri Spaak and
Altiero Spinelli. They all take part in the
developments and the expansion of the EU.
Thus, it enabled the EU to become an
awardee of the Noble Prize in 2012.
Countries in EU
With the creation of EU on 1958, the six
founding countries are Belgium, France, Germany,
Italy, Luxembourg and Netherlands. In 1973,
Denmark, Ireland and United Kingdom joined. Greece
joined EU in the year 1981 while Portugal and Spain
joined in 1986. Nine years after, Austria, Finland and
Sweden decided to join.
With the 21st century embarked the success
of the EU as 10 countries namely, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta,
Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined. Continuing to
enlarge the association, Bulgaria and Romania joined
in the year 2007 and recently joined Croatia 6 years
after.
While also the essence of this study is to find
out the countries, the Schengen Area is one of the
greatest achievements of the EU. It is an area without
internal borders, an area within which citizens, many
non-EU nationals, business people and tourists can
freely circulate without being subjected to border
checks. Since 1985, it has gradually grown and
encompasses today almost all EU countries and a few
associated non-EU countries.
While having abolished their internal
borders, Schengen States have also tightened
controls at their common external border on the
basis of Schengen rules to ensure the security of
those living or travelling in the Schengen Area.
The countries in Schengen Area are Austria,
Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy,
Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
obliged to introduce it and currently uses pound
sterling (GBP) as its currency.
To be able to join the euro area the EU
member states are required to fulfil the so-called
'convergence criteria'. These are economic and legal
conditions agreed in the Maastricht Treaty in 1992
and are also known as 'Maastricht criteria'.
To join the euro area, a country's currency
must have had a stable exchange rate for 2 years.
There are other strict conditions as regards to
interest rates, budget deficits, level of government
debt, and inflation rates.

The Euro
The euro is the most tangible proof of
European integration – the common currency in 19
out of 28 EU countries and used by some 338.6
million people every day. The benefits of the common
currency are immediately obvious to anyone
travelling abroad or shopping online on websites
based in another EU country.

The purpose of the euro, or rather single

currency is that it offers many advantages, such as
eliminating fluctuating exchange rates and exchange
costs. Because it is easier for companies to conduct
cross-border trade and the economy is more stable,
the economy grows and consumers have more
choice. A common currency also encourages people
to travel and shop in other countries. At global level,
the euro gives the EU more clout, as it is the second
most important international currency after the US
dollar.

The euro (€) is the official currency of 19 out

of 28 EU member countries. These countries are
collectively known as the Euro area. These countries
are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

While the 9 countries has committed to adopt

the euro once it fulfills the necessary conditions, at
the moment, Bulgaria uses Bulgarian lev BGN as its
currency, Croatia uses Croatian Kuna HRK, Czech
Republic on the other hand uses Czech Koruna (CZK).
Denmark uses Danish krone DKK as its currency,
Hungary uses Hungarian Forint HUF and Poland uses
Polish Zloty PLN. Romanian Leu RON is the currency
used by Romania and Swedish krona SEK is used by
Sweden. Furthermore, The United Kingdom (UK) has
negotiated an opt-out from the euro and thus is not