European Union: History, Objectives, and Impact

The Need for a European Trade Zone

The Treaty of Rome contained viable proposals for the creation of a European common market. The objective was to create prosperity and unite the EEC, both politically and economically.

Policies related to the free movement of goods, services, people, and capital were established. Common laws were created and a free market was ready to start.

The European common market created economies of scale in manufacturing, research, and innovation.

As production increased, costs would be reduced. In this way, European countries were able to compete more effectively with countries such as the USA or Japan.

The European Union

The Treaty of the European Union, or the Maastricht Treaty, was signed in 1992 in Maastricht, allowing free movement between EU member states. Other details decided there were the monetary union, elections to the European Parliament, new rights, policies to favor less developed regions, and common objectives related to foreign policy and defense.

Eleven member countries started using the euro in 2002 and gradually more states adopted it as their currency.

The euro makes the free movement of people, capital, goods, and services easier.

Objectives of the European Union

• Stimulate economic and social progress through a single market and single currency and to provide resources for research, education, and the creation of employment.
• Reinforce European identity on an international level by donating humanitarian aid to countries outside the EU, finding solutions to international problems.
• Create European citizenship so that all European citizens have common rights and adhere to common duties.
• Create an area that enjoys freedom, security, and justice and ensure that every European can move freely between member states. This includes fighting against terrorism and crime.
• Develop and maintain a feeling of belonging to the EU via the creation of laws and regulations common to all member states.

Heterogeneity within the European Union

The EU member states are very heterogeneous, with important differences between and within them, on both a social and economic level. The aim of the Maastricht Treaty was to ensure that economic liberalization created greater equality rather than inequality, by reducing regional differences.