Research Report on the European Union

Thesis Statement:

The European Union must continue to expand its membership to other European nations in order to receive the same economic and social benefits of the members as inscribed in the Maastricht Treaty.

I. INTRODUCTION

Ð'* Historical background

Ð'* Europe's answer

II. THE EUROPEAN UNION

Ð'* What is the European Union?

III. MAASTRICHT TREATY

Ð'* How was it formed?

Ð'* What does it stand for?

Ð'* Policies: How does it work?

Ð'* Effects: What are its benefits?

IV. EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Ð'* More on Integration

Ð'* EU Expansion

V. CONCLUSION

Ð'* So why continue to expand?

I. INTRODUCTION

Ð'* History and background

Europe is the kind of continent that one would say has gone through everything. It has a very complex and interesting history; probably the most often studied in all of world history. The reason for this is because Europe has encountered all kinds of situations and has experienced all sorts of things Ð'- colonialism, ideologies, revolutions, imperialism, discoveries, religion and a lot more. It is a continent of much diversity. This has been caused by many factors, namely its geography. Here you can see how several territories would conflict over resources, first for survival, then later for power. It has gone through the most wars with various nations, not only within its continent but also around the world. It is familiar with both the pleasures of having the best, and the miseries of being at its worst. Its history is very significant and probably the most influential of all.

More recently though, for centuries, Europe was the scene of frequent and bloody wars. Two of the deadliest and most costly wars the world has ever known originated from this continent. Within the short period of 1870 to 1954 alone, two of Europe's superpowers, France and Germany, fought each other three times, with terrible loss of life, before finally realizing that they had to do something about it.

Ð'* Europe's answer

The best answer for Europe was integration.

The historical roots of the European Union lie in the Second World War. The economy of Europe was devastated. Many Europeans hoped that the reconstruction of western Europe would result in an agreement to create a unified European state. But the idea of a unified Europe was undermined by the beginning of the Cold War and lingering suspicions of West Germany (now part of the united Federal Republic of Germany). But still, a number of European leaders were convinced that the only way to secure lasting peace between their countries was to unite them both politically and economically. This idea of European integration was conceived to prevent such killing and destruction from ever happening again.

So two French statesmen, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman, believed that France and Germany might put aside their long-running antagonism if given economic incentives for cooperation. It was on May 9, 1950 that the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed through a speech, to integrate the coal and steel industries of West Germany and France; membership was open to other western European countries as well. The proposal was welcomed by the West German government and also by the governments of Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. As a result, in 1951, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up and came into force in 1952. Thus the European Union was borne.

II. THE EUROPEAN UNION

Ð'* What is the European Union?

The European Union (EU) is a supranational organization dedicated to increasing economic integration and strengthening cooperation among its member states. The EU represents a desire for peace and cooperation among sovereign European states. It is a family of democratic European countries committed to working together for peace and prosperity. The EU is unique and it is more than any other international organization. Its member states have set up common institutions where they would discuss issues and make their decisions on specific matters based on joint interest. This allows decisions to be made democratically at a European level. This pooling of sovereignty is also called "European integration".

The EU we now have today was officially established on November 1, 1993. It was on that day that the Treaty of Maastricht, or Treaty on European Union, was ratified by the twelve members of the European Community (EC), namely Ð'- Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Upon the signing of this treaty, the countries of the former EC became members of the EU. This was when the term "European Union" became official.

III. Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on European Union)

Ð'* How was it formed?

In 1991, representatives from each of the EC countries began negotiations on the Treaty on European Union. In December that year, the European Council met at Maastricht, the Netherlands, to approve the treaty and consider a draft version. After intense bargaining among its members, the treaty was finally signed by the European Council on February 7, 1992. This was not yet official though. A condition of the treaty required that the voters of each member state had to approve of the European Union by popular referendum; the treaty was ratified in October 1993 in Denmark. The European Union was established on November 1, when the treaty went to effect.

Ð'* What does it stand for?

As the leaders and statesmen of the twelve member nations of the EC sign the Maastricht Treaty, they agree upon several various policies; amongst those are summarized in the following:

Resolved to mark a new stage in the process of European integration undertaken with the establishment of the European Communities,

Recalling the historic importance of the