History of the European Union

The European Union is an organization of 27 nations. Its original aim was to form an economic union but, as time went on, the EU developed into a far greater organization.

Today the EU is developing into a political union, trying to bring together the democratic countries of Europe. It is the biggest trading bloc in the world, has more people than the United States and exports and imports more goods than any other country in the world.

After World War II

World War II caused a great deal of damage in Europe. After the war European leaders believed they had to work together to prevent another devastating conflict.

In 1952 the European Coal and Steel Community was founded by six nations: France, Italy, West Germany and the Benelux countries. Its aim was to control coal production and the steel industries of the member states, so that one single state could not build up a powerful industry without the others knowing about it.

The success of the ECSC made the leaders of the six countries cooperate even further. In 1957 two more organisations were founded in Rome. The European Economic Community (EEC) established a free trade zone in which goods and services could move freely between countries. the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) was designed to have countries cooperate on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

In 1967 the three organisations were combined to form the European Communities (EC) .

The 1970s and 80s led to the enlargement of the EC. Denmark, the United Kingdom and Ireland joined in 1973, Greece became a member in 1981, and Spain and Portugal joined the community in 1986. At the end of the 1980s communism collapsed in many eastern European countries. In 1990 a united Germany became the largest country in the community.

In the 1990s EC leaders started to seek greater cooperation in other fields. In 1991 the Maastricht Treaty was signed. Member states vowed to create a political union and introduce a single currency, the euro which replaced the currency of 12 European countries in 2002.

In 1995 Austria, Sweden and Finland enlarged the European Union to 15 countries.

In the early years of the new millennium leaders of the EU started working on a constitution for all member states. They finished and approved it in 2004 but citizens in France and the Netherlands rejected it in national referendums.

The biggest enlargement took place in 2004. Ten new countries of central, eastern and southern Europe entered the EU: Cyprus, Malta, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Two more, Romania and Poland became members in 2007.

One and a half decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain the division of Europe had been overcome.

The European Union- Table of Contents

The European Union- Exercises

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Words

aim = something you hope you can reach or do
approve = to agree on something, to say yes to something
cause = lead to
citizen = a person who lives in a country and has rights there
collapse = if something breaks down and can not continue
combine = to put together
community = here: group of countries that have the same interests
constitution = a set of rules and laws in a country
cooperate = to work together
create = make
currency = the money of a country
damage = harm, destruction
deal = a lot of
design = here: create, make
devastating = badly damaging
develop = to grow
division = to separate something from the rest
economic = everything that has to do with business and money in a country
enlargement = if something becomes bigger =
establish = to begin or create
found - founded = to start something new
free trade zone = area in which countries can trade goods freely
goods = things that are produced so that they can be sold
Iron Curtain = the name that was used for the border between the communist countries and the free countries of Europe
millennium = the time when the next one thousand years begins
overcome = to control or solve a problem
prevent = to stop something from happening
referendum = when people vote on something
reject = to say no to
replace = to take the place of
seek = look for
service = work that is done for someone
sign = to put your name on a document
single = only one
steel = strong metal made of iron that you can form easily
success = when you get or reach what you really want to
trading bloc = group of countries that trade with others as one
treaty = a paper that is signed by two or more countries
unite = two or more things join to make one
use = the action of using something
vow = to promise