The History and evolution if the european union
Defining Europe
- Council of europe
- European broadcasting area
- European Free trade association
- European economic area
- Schengen area
- Euro zone
- European union
History of the european community and EU
- WW1
- Treaty of Versailles 1919
- WW2
- Winston churchill in 1946 suggested that europe needed ‘...a kind of united states of europe’
European coal and steel community (ECSC) in 1952
- France, west germany,ITaly, Luxembourg, the netherlands, and belgium
- 50 year life span
- Benelux countries promoted the idea of a common market (thy had benelux customs union)
- Federalist
- Functionalist
European Economic Community 1957 (EEC Treaty/ Treaty of Rome)
- ‘DETERMINED to lay the foundations of an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe,
- RESOLVED to ensure the economic and social progress of their countries by common action to eliminate the
barriers which divide Europe,
- AFFIRMING as the essential objective of their efforts the constant improvement of the living and working
conditions of their peoples,
- RECOGNISING that the removal of existing obstacles calls for concerted action in order to guarantee steady
expansion, balanced trade and fair competition,
- ANXIOUS to strengthen the unity of their economies and to ensure their harmonious development by reducing
the differences existing between the various regions and the backwardness of the less favoured regions,
- DESIRING to contribute, by means of a common commercial policy, to the progressive abolition of restrictions
on international trade…’
Article 3
For the purposes set out in the preceding Article, the activities of the Community shall include, under the conditions and
with the timing provided for in this Treaty:
(a) the elimination, as between Member States, of customs duties and of quantitative restrictions in regard to the
importation and exportation of goods, as well as of all other measures with equivalent effect;
(b) the establishment of a common customs tariff and a common commercial policy towards third countries;
(c) the abolition, as between Member States, of the obstacles to the free movement of persons, services and capital;
(d) the inauguration of a common agricultural policy;
(e) the inauguration of a common transport policy;
(f) the establishment of a system ensuring that competition shall not be distorted in the Common Market;
(g) the application of procedures which shall make it possible to co-ordinate the economic policies of Member States
and to remedy disequilibria in their balances of payments;
(h) the approximation of their respective municipal law to the extent necessary for the functioning of the Common
Market;
, (i) the creation of a European Social Fund in order to improve the possibilities of employment for workers and to
contribute to the raising of their standard of living;
(j) the establishment of a European Investment Bank intended to facilitate the economic expansion of the Community
through the creation of new resources; and
(k) the association of overseas countries and territories with the Community with a view to increasing trade and to
pursuing jointly their effort towards economic and social development.
European Atomic Energy Community (EUROATOM)
Fundamental Freedoms
Enshrined into the EEC Treaty 1957:
Goods
Services
Persons
Capital
‘In other words, the very essence of the EU are the four freedoms: of movement for goods, services, capital and people.
The four freedoms are to the EU what golf is to a golf club. You can play golf, watch others play golf, talk about golf, or
join me at the 19th hole. But you cannot turn the golf club into a bingo hall unless everybody else agrees with you.’
Wolfgang Münchau, Financial Times,November 12, 2017
Article 4
1. The achievement of the tasks entrusted to the Community shall be ensured by
an ASSEMBLY,
a COUNCIL,
a COMMISSION, and
a COURT OF JUSTICE.
Each of these institutions shall act within the limits of the powers conferred upon it by this Treaty
Initial members
EEC was particularly successful; the Member States economic growth was strong;
Britain was no longer a major world power. British Empire was no more;
No India;
Suez Crisis.
Britain’s first application to join…
Harold MacMillan in 1962.
Charles de Gaulle, President of France vetoed Britain’s application.
England in effect is insular, she is maritime, she is linked through her exchanges, her markets, her supply lines to the
most diverse and often the most distant countries; she pursues essentially industrial and commercial activities, and only
slight agricultural ones. She has in all her doings very marked and very original habits and traditions.
- Charles De Gaulle, 1962
Merger Treaty 1965
By 1959 there were three communities
European Coal and Steel Community
European Economic Community
European Atomic Energy Community
Under the Merger Treaty the three communities shared the same institutions (rationalisation)