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European Union Research Paper

Decent Essays

The European Union
The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 different countries. It consists of about half a billion citizens, and its combined economy represents about 20 percent of the world’s total economy (Briney, 2015). Today The European Union works as a single market, with free movement of people, goods and services from one country to another. There is a standard system of laws to be followed, and since 1999 many countries share a single currency called the Euro (Europa.eu, 2015). This essay will explore the background history of the European Union and the benefits and drawbacks of the European Union.
The EU was created after the Second World War to unite the neighboring countries of Europe. It was established by six European countries in 1951: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands and West Germany (Briney, 2015). Today it consists of 28 countries united to create an economic and political community (Gov.uk, 2014).
The Union initially developed from the European Coal and Steel Community Treaty by the founding countries which was signed in Paris in 1951. It was created for the free movement of coal and steel among countries with the free access to sources of production. The Treaty expired on 23rd of July 2002 (Europa.eu, 2010). This Treaty was very successful as it created better relationships between member countries, which lead the countries to sign the Treaty of Rome on the 25th of March 1957. The Treaty of Rome

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