European Union

European Union and Its Impact on Member Countries

The European Union (EU) was founded in 1992 in Maastricht, the Netherlands. It began functioning as a political organization in November 1993 and has gradually become one of the key actors in international affairs. In Europe, the EU has clearly become a political unit toward which the small, and great powers tend to look before anything else and toward which political, regional, and economic activities increasingly tend to be geared. (Harrison 2000, Pp. 7-31)The EU currently includes 27 European states and is structured around three key institutions: the European Parliament (with 736 members), the European Commission (with 27 commissioners), and the European Council. It is through these political bodies that EU legislation the driver of integration is debated, passed, and implemented (Pierson, 67).

Evolution of the European Union

The EU is the most recent stage of the post-World War II European integration process, which was launched in the early 1950s. Over time, European integration has been legitimated by various dominating discourses. Throughout the process, it has been commonly argued that European integration is aimed at maintaining peace in Europe. From the 1950s up to the 1970s, integration was designed not only to restrain the spread of Soviet communism into Western Europe but also to hinder the rise of fascism. The institutional dimension of this process has developed step by step during the past decades. The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), founded in 1951, first governed the coal and steel industries of the six founder states.

In the 1960s, the customs union, a common agricultural policy, and the first seeds of the common market were established for the Community, which now included the ECSC, the European Economic Community, and Euratom. In the 1970s, the political institutions of the Community became stronger; since 1979, the members of the European Parliament have been directly elected every 5 yrs. (years). The late 1980s were a formative time for the development of the European single market, which finally took effect in 1992. After the end of the Cold War, European incorporation has been increasingly legitimized by the argument that without the EU, the member states would be too small to come to terms with the heightening international economic competition (John, 12). The establishment of the EU gave more power to the Union, leading, for instance, to the subsequent monetary union based on a common currency (the euro), and a common foreign and security policy. The common currency became reality in 2002 with the adoption of the euro.

The enlargement process has continued steadily, if unevenly, during all but 7 years. Originally, European integration involved only six Western European states: France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Luxemburg. The first round of enlargement took place in 1973, when Britain, Ireland, and Denmark joined the EC. This round was followed by the accession of Greece in 1981. The southern dimension of the integration was strengthened 5 yrs., when Spain and Portugal became members. After the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 ...