THE European Union it is an economic bloc officially created in 1993 from the Maastricht Treaty and the transformation of the former European Common Market. It is considered, by many, as the main regional agreement today, not only because of the importance of its member countries, but also because of its level. advanced integration that they have with each other, with the free movement of people, capital and goods across their borders, in addition to the adoption of euro by the majority of its members.
Currently, the European bloc comprises a total of 28 member countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and UK. The history of this regional agreement is directly linked to the pioneering formation of Benelux and the creation of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community), as we shall see below.
STEPS OF CREATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
In 1944, three European countries united in what would be one of the first attempts to create a unilateral regional agreement between different territories. Thus, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg formed the Benelux Union, which carried the first syllable of each country's name in English. At that time, the objective was to expand trade between its members and reduce customs barriers between them. Although these three countries are part of the current European Union, Benelux still exists today independently.
Faced with the successful multinational enterprise, other countries were inspired and created, in 1952, the ECSC, through the integration of the three aforementioned Benelux members, together with Italy, West Germany and France. The objective, at that time, was only to promote the expansion of the Schuman Plan, a French program to carry out steel integration between the countries in question. The result was an increase in local industrial production, which occurred in the complicated post-war recovery period.
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However, the diplomatic talks to boost Europe's commercial activities did not stop there. And they culminated in the signing of the Treaty of Rome, in the year of 1957, which consisted in the creation of the European Common Market (ECM), also known as the European Economic Community (EEC). The objective was to promote a free trade zone and consolidate sufficient integration to allow, in the future, even the free movement of people.
During the functioning of the MCE, several countries joined and became members. In 1973, they joined the England, Ireland and Denmark bloc. Later, in 1981, Greece also entered and, in 1986, Spain and Portugal also became part of what would then come to be called the “Europe of the 12”.
The objective of full economic and demographic integration of the MCE was finally achieved in the early 1990s, when the Maastricht Treaty was signed. In this way, goods, capital, merchandise and people could move freely between member countries of the bloc, allowing the formation of a practically unitary territory constituted by the different governments. Furthermore, in that same treaty, the MCE was finally converted into European Union.
The creation of the European Union, at that time, also aimed to reach another level of integration, the economic and monetary union, through the creation of a Central Bank and a single currency of circulation, the euro. Thus, the currency was first created just to make statistical references and exchange trading, but still without the common commercial use, which would only be done later. Meanwhile, in 1995, Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the bloc.
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In 2002, finally, the euro was officially implemented by its member countries, which abolished their old currencies. However, some chose to gradually adopt the currency, while others chose not to enter what has come to be called as Eurozone. Of these countries, Denmark and the United Kingdom stood out, which preferred to keep their national currencies, which were always considered the most valued in the financial exchange market.
In 2004, Malta and Cyprus managed to join the European Union, while three countries from the former Soviet Union did too: Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. This bloc expansion process through Eastern Europe also culminated in the entry of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Soon after, in 2007, Bulgaria and Romania also joined the bloc and, in 2013, it was Croatia's turn. There are still several candidate countries to become members, such as Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania.
STRUCTURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
The European Union, in its structure, is composed of a council, a commission, a parliament, a central bank, a court of law and an investment bank. The analysis of the composition of this block serves as a demonstration of its advanced degree of organization and also as reference to other regional agreements that intend to become common markets in the future, such as the Mercosur.
The highest body of the European Union is the European Council, based in Brussels (Belgium) and composed of a president and a council of fifteen state leaders as ministers. This instance is responsible for approving resolutions and taking the most important measures of the entire bloc, especially in the political sphere, with meetings held frequently.
If the European Council is the deliberative means, the executive body of the bloc is the European Commission, composed of a representative of each of the member countries that have carried out their accession process, added to a president elected periodically every five years. In addition to complying with decisions and triggering referrals, the commission is also responsible for regulating companies, people, institutions and even the countries of the bloc, also acting as the international representative of the Union European.
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In addition to the deliberative and executive bodies, there is also the legislative body, which is the European Parliament, headquartered in the city of Strasbourg, France. It acts as a kind of congress for the bloc and, in addition to instituting laws, is responsible for approving the annual budget of accounts. The judiciary, in turn, is represented by the Court of justice, based in The Hague (Netherlands).
As the European Union has a single currency, although not adopted by all countries, it then has the European central bank, which acts in the same way as any central bank in any country: it controls interest rates, sets the issuance of paper money and takes over decisions regarding the economic posture, especially in times of crisis, such as the one that has hit the bloc since the beginning of the current decade. Its headquarters are located in Frankfurt, Germany.
Finally, it is also important to highlight the role of the European Investment Bank, based in the city of Luxembourg, of the homonymous country. This is a financial support organization. Thus, it performs a role similar to that of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) of financial assistance to the countries of the bloc by imposing certain requirements, often called “austerity packages”, which are basically the execution of spending cuts and increased tax collections by governments that take their loans.
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
Graduated in Geography
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