Pros and Cons of the European Union

Pros and Cons of the European Union

Do you think it is useful to join into a union especially the European Union to strengthen their economic positions? The question could be simple to answer but an individual must look much deeper into the situation. For instance, what are the pros and cons of joining a union? The European Union has many pros but also many cons.

The European Union was formed in February 1992 with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. It consist of originally twelve members - Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, and Germany. Those twelve members originally formed the European Union until 1995 when three other countries joined the Union - Austria, Finland, and Sweden. The European Union currently is formed of twenty-five members with the ten new members - Cyprus, Malta, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia being added in 2004. In 2007 two other countries (Romania and Bulgaria) could join the European Union. European Union covers a mass majority of the Europe and the current Union membership covers a population base of nearly half a billion people. In 1992 the European Union decided to go for economic and monetary union, involving the introduction of a single European currency managed by a European Central Bank. The single currency, the euro, became a reality in January of 2002, when euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in twelve of the 15 countries of the European Union (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland). (Europa)

The information below will consist of the pros of the European Union. With the development of the European Union the countries are able to have the benefit of the principles of European integration, such as free competition or free movement of goods and capital, which will encourage the movement from a post-socialist economy to a free market economy in East-central Europe. The principle of free movement is saying that you can work and study anywhere in the Union if you are a citizen of the Union. By spending part of their education or training in another European Union country, the citizens can acquire an insight into other work environments and gain skills that are very useful in later life. By having a closer joint effort and sharing the experiences with other European countries will bring democratic traditions and modern way of living to the society of new member states. Also, with it being a single market, there are no barriers between the other countries. With the removal of custom barriers it will enable producers to cut production costs, which will result in export increases. In addition to this the integration into the European Union will encourage foreign investment. With encouraging foreign investment it will create new jobs and will bring new technologies and experience into East-central European industry and trade. The process of adapting to a single market may be difficult, but it is necessary for economic growth in the long run. European Union regional policy seeks to reduce social and economic differences between senior and new member states. That is saying the Union is trying to allow the newer member states to compete with the older member states. This helps to solve the problems of a transition period. (Venckute) There will also be lower interest rates. Why do you think there are going to be lower interest rates? Interest rates depend on the state of an economic cycle. The interest rate has to be right for the economic area. That is the issue; not that they should be higher or lower. The interest rate is so important in all this that is said. It is only going to effect the growth and unemployment reduction, if the interest rate is at the high rate level it will produce nil growth and high unemployment. (Nieboer)

The information below will discuss the cons of the European Union. Many people think the membership of the European Union is a guarantee of democracy, political stability and economic progress. Well, I have news for everybody that membership in European Union does