European Union

From ArticleWorld

The European Union (also referred to as EU) is a union formed of European countries that are considered member states. It was established under the current name in 1992 with the Treaty on European Union but had early forms even before that. The activities it is involved in include several public policies including health, economics, foreign affair and defense. The European Union has been characterized as being in the same time a federation, a confederation and an international organization.

History

During European history several attempts at uniting countries have been witnessed. In the past the unions were created by force with the Roman Empire being the best example. Countries were conquered and they formed an Empire. Many historians do not agree that such dominance and conquering can be considered the forming of a Union. The reason behind the difficulty in establishing an European Union stands in the many differences in both language and culture that can be found in the countries. This is why military subjugation became the means to create such an alliance. The first ever attempt at creating a unity based on collaboration and equality of members was made by Victor Hugo in 1851. The setting for the needed European Union was given by the two world wars that created big losses for everybody involved. The first union was the European Coal and Steal Community that saw France, Italy, Benelux and Germany as members. The European Economic Community was established in 1957, as a result of the first union. Its implementation date was January 1, 1958. Its name later changed to the European Union and evolved from a trading act to what it is today.

Status

The European Union is much more than any alliance previously established. The members have the power to decide what the Union can do and how it gets involved in different fields of activity. Many states have kept complete domination on what they consider to be key elements in foreign affairs and defense strategies. The date of October 29, 2004 saw the signing of a treaty that establishes a Constitution for Europe. 13 member states have adopted it but others haven’t. A French referendum held on May 29, 2005 did not agree with the new constitution and on June 1st the same action took place in Netherlands. Because of this, political controversy still remains an aspect that is not solved and many people from the member states do not look highly of the European Union. Debates are still held and there are still a number of problems that have not been sorted out.