Introduction
Europe made up more than 30 countries and even
more distinct cultures; it is now trying to adjust to new economic systems
throughout the world. Today with the trend toward big trading blocks like:
N.A.F.T.A. or G.N.A.T.T. Europe is trying to advance it's old Trading block
called the European Economic Community (EEC)
to become the European Union. The
current membership of 15 country's is ruled by one European Parliament. Under the E.U. each country will be under one
currency called the Euro dollar (which is to come into effect on January 1st of
1999), one central banking system, and will be regulated with the same set of
laws. In effect the country's of the
E.U. will eventually become one. The way
to a unified Europe is not a easy one; problems caused by countries unwilling
to give up their sovereignties, and by
countries afraid of the new Union continually slow it's progress.
Problems Facing
the European Union
Sovereignty or
Unity?
This raises many
conflicts with Europeans. For thousands
of years Europe has been torn time and again by wars which were largely fueled
by ethnic or religious differences.
Today however Europeans are asked to put aside their differences and
become one. With nationalism still
strong throughout Europe many people are strongly against the E.U. Analysts strongly suggest, however, that the
E.U. is the only way Europe can improve it's economy. Unemployment in most of
Europe is running above 10 percent and countries like Germany and France are
suffering from net investment outflows, European economies are groaning under
the weight of rigid regulation, high labor costs, high taxes and generous
social services that have become too expensive to sustain. Meanwhile, labor
protests are on the rise, companies cut costs and governments try to slash
budget deficits.
Expansion
The E.U. causes another major problem for
Europe and the rest of the world that is the expansion of the Union. Countries
from the former Warsaw Pact are eager to join the European Union but Russia is
opposing that move because of their xenophobic fears. This poses an new question for the world; Are
the satellite countries of the former Soviet Union truly sovereign states or
are they still puppet states controlled by Russia? The view today has to different sides: the
European, who are willing to accept Warsaw Pact states into NATO and the E.U.
given they meet the requirements; And the U.S. policy which is against any
expansion of NATO or the E.U. into the
countries in question.
The European
Union?
The European
Union is the name of the organization for the countries that have decided to
co-operate on a great number of areas, ranging from a single market economy,
foreign policy's, same sets of
environmental laws, mutual recognition of school diplomas, to exchange of
criminal records are among the few (The
E.U. is roughly similar in working to the United States of America. The states being Countries and the U.S. the
E.U.) The E.U. currently includes 15
countries and has 11 official languages, and many more internal ones. E.U. has
noted , however, that the current eleven official working languages will be
unworkable; an expansion to sixteen or more (with some former Eastern Bloc
countries joining) will be impossible. It is therefore expected, in my view,
that the number of working languages will be limited to three (English, French
and German) or five (with Italian and Spanish).
A little known
fact about the European Union's flag is that it has only 12 stars. The stars
are not meant to represent countries. Rather, the number of twelve stars was
chosen to be a symbol of completeness and of unity, as it corresponded to the
number of stars in the zodiac, the number of months in the year and (for the
purpose of winning over the mainly Christian European people) to the number of
Jesus's apostles.
E.U. members listed in order of membership:
1. Belgium
2. Germany
3. France
4. Italy
5. Luxembourg
6. Netherlands
7. Denmark
8. Republic of
Ireland
9. United Kingdom
10. Greece
11. Portugal
12. Spain
13. Austria
14. Finland
15. Sweden
Official
languages of the E.U.
· German (88.8
million Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy and Luxembourg)
· French (63.3
million, in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy)
· English (60.0
million, in UK and Republic of Ireland)
· Italian (56.4
million, in Italy)
· Spanish (39.2
million, in Spain)
· Dutch (21.1
million, in the Netherlands and Belgium)
· Greek (10.3
million, in Greece)
· Portuguese (9.8
million, in Portugal)
· Swedish (9.0
million, in Sweden and Finland)
· Danish (5.2
million, in Denmark)
· Finnish (4.7
million, in Finland).
The E.U.
Government Structure
The European
Unions main institutions are the European Parliament, the European Commission,
the European Court of Justice, the Council of Ministers and the Court of
Auditors. The Council and the European Parliament are the main decision-taking
bodies of the E.U. The 626 members of
the European Parliament are elected by EU citizens every five years. The
president and the other 19 Members of the European Commission, which has the
sole right to initiate draft legislation, are nominated their individual governments.
.
History, How and
Why?
The creation of
the European Union began after World War II (it was first called the European
Community). The founding members of the Community first combined their big
industries. They then set about creating a single market in which goods,
services, people and capital could move about as freely as within a single
country. The process was gradual spanning 40 years and covering political and
social as well as economic and trade aspects of nations. As they completed the
single market, which formally came into being in January, 1993. The Maastricht
Treaty on the European Union took effect
on 1 November 1993. It strengthened the Community further, by preparing the way
for economic and monetary union (EMU) and a single currency called the Euro.
The Maastricht also added common foreign and security polices and cooperation
on justice and police affairs. The term 'European Union' is actually used to
describe the wider Maastricht framework in which all these activities - old and
new - take place.
The Current
Status of the European Union and it's Plans for the Future
The
implementation of the E.U. has and will create many benefits for it's citizens.
Individual citizens can live and work in the country of their choice, travel
freely within the Union since border controls have virtually disappeared. More goods are available to people, for
example French goods are as accessible as Belgium goods in Spain; as before the
union more French goods might be available due to tariffs. The E.U. has also created a common European
citizenship in addition to a national citizenship.
Currently seven country's have lifted border
controls they are France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Benelux. The main impact of the decision is the
removal of passport checks on Union citizens passing through the airports of
these countries. Italy, Greece, Denmark
and Austria look likely to be the next to bring in the new freedoms,
Since currency fluctuations can block markets
just as effectively as taxes and tariffs the E.U. has moved to create a single
monetary unit. For example if the German
Mark is suddenly devalued in comparison to the Frank goods made in France will
cost substantially more than those made in Germany. To prevent this the Euro dollar was created
it is to come into full circulation by January 1, 1999. "In America, your
economic development wouldn't have been quite so good if you had had different
currencies," said Ulrich Raam, chief economist at Commerzbank in
Frankfurt.
European Union is
also looking to bring the countries of Central and Eastern Europe into
membership. This is strongly supported
by public opinion in the existing states; more than 60 % for bringing Hungary,
Poland and the Czech Republic into the Union, and 55-58 % support for the memberships of Bulgaria, Slovakia,
Romania and Slovenia. So far, however, only Poland and Hungary have formally
applied for membership in the Union.
The Views Against
the E.U.
The balance of
power between the European Union and the Member States is the main object of opposition
against the Union. It is the center of intense debate in most countries. This is especially true in Britain where many
publications have risen up against the E.U. about 20 % of are
against the E.U. Many people feel as the control of major issues should come
closer to the people not further away.
They feel as choices on economic development, social, programs, and
crime laws should be left to the individual states. The only laws that I did not see much
opposition to are for environmental protection.
The second point of conflict against the E.U.
is the Euro dollar. Many people feel that by giving up their
currency they are in fact giving up their sovereignty. This point of conflict
is just becoming apparent since the plans for the Euro dollar have been
postponed and seemed unreal by many people until recently. For example Germany, determined to preserve
the stability of its Mark, demanded strong penalties for governments that
negatively affect the value of the currency.
Lastly Russia is afraid of the expansion of the
E.U. into Eastern Block countries.
Russia currently feels like it is unwanted by the European
community. It is afraid that through the
acceptance of the former Warsaw Pact countries it will loose even more economic
ground and one day might be greatly influenced by the countries it once
controlled.
In Conclusion
I feel that the E.U. is the way to go for
Europe, but it needs to be done carefully.
Europe is a very diverse continent with many likes and dislikes between
it's inhabitants. This can be very
easily illustrated by what happened in Yugoslavia. The creation of the European Union would create a single
monetary unit one bank and in fact one government. In effect creation of a huge
nation, with economic power greater to the U.S. Other European should in my
view be allowed to join the Union, they are in fact independent states, and if
they apply and meet the requirements they must be accepted.
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