Europe and
the European Union

The evolution of the European Union (EU) from a regional economic agreement among six neighboring states in 1951 to today's supranational organization of 27 countries across the continent stands as an unprecedented phenomenon in the annals of history. Dynastic merges for territorial consolidation were long the norm in Europe. On a few occasions even country-level unions were arranged - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were examples - but for such a large number of nation-states to cede some of their sovereignty to an overarching entity is truly unique.

Although the Union is not a federation in the strict sense, it is far more than a free-trade association such as ASEAN, NAFTA, or Mercosur, and it has many of the attributes associated with independent nations: its own flag, anthem, founding date, and currency, as well as an incipient common foreign and security policy in its dealings with other nations.

Following two World Wars, a number of Europe's leaders became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations (France and Germany) both economically and politically. In 1950 the eventual joining together of all Europe was proposed. The first step to achieve this goal was the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris.

The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957 the European Economic Community (EEC) was created with the goal of eliminating trade barriers among members by forming a common market. In 1967 the institutions of three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC).

In 1973 the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In the 1980s the EC further expanded with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of a common currency. In 1995 Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the community, raising the membership total to 15.

A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on January 1, 1999 and became the unit of exchange for all of the Union states (except United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark). In 2002 citizens of 12 EU countries began using the euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - and in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania joined, bringing the current membership to 27.

In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the Treaty of Nice set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of institutions. An effort to establish a constitution, begun in October 2004, failed to attain unanimous ratification. A new effort, undertaken in June 2007, calls for the creation of an Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement, known as the Reform Treaty, which is to serve as a constitution. Unlike the constitution, however, the Reform Treaty would amend existing treaties rather than replace them.