A Short History of the EU
Even though utopian ideas on forming an economic and political union in the continent of Europe have been produced throughout the Middle East and modern times; the realisation of such ideas has been possible in the wake of the massive humanitarian, economic, social and political destructions created by Europe’s two world wars that took place in the first half of the 20th century. Founded in 1949 for the purpose of defending human rights and democracy on the basis of universal references, the European Council is the first international outcome of this approach.
The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded in 1952 by six European countries; West Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Luxembourg, in order to strengthen the two basic raw materials, coal and steel, important in terms of the industry following the 2nd World War and to maintain peace in the continent by taking them under the supervision of a supranational authority.
While the European Economic Community, with the fundamental objective of economic integration among these countries was established with the 1957 Treaty of Rome; the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) was also established on the basis of the same Treaty. With the Merger Treaty signed by the founding members in 1965; one common Council, Commission and Parliament was formed for the ECSC, EEC and EURATOM and the term European Communities (EC) started to be used. A customs union was established among the member countries in 1968.
The Community’s membership reached 12 with the participation of England, Denmark and Ireland in 1972; Greece in 1981 and Portugal and Spain in 1986. The enlargement process continued with Sweden, Finland and Austria in 1995; Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia in 2004 and Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and hence the number of members has become 27.
The Schengen Agreement, stipulating the abolishment of all visa and customs procedures for people within the common borders of the states party to the Agreement, within the scope of the integration process and a common visa and customs procedures towards all third country citizens; was signed in 1985. The Single European Act that would form the basis of the Community determining common policies in many fields and deepening the cooperation of member countries was signed in 1987.
The Maastricht Treaty envisaging an economic and monetary unity based on a single currency and a common central bank system within the Community’s structure together with a political unity based on the perspectives of a common foreign and defense policy was signed in 1992 and the European Communities was transformed into the European Union, to be valid of 1993. Among the member countries; the free movement of goods, capital, services and people has been ensured in the strictest sense of the word. The common currency unit Euro has started to be used in 12 member countries as of 2002.
The minimum conditions necessary to be met by the new members to join the Union have been determined under the name of the Copenhagen Criteria in 1993. These are; a stable institutional structure wherein democracy is secured, the rule of law, political criteria also encompassing terms of respect for human rights and minority rights, a well functioning market economy, economic criteria embodying the capacity to resist the market forces within the European Union and competition pressure and the acceptance of the Community’s acquis communautaire.
The Lisbon Strategy, aiming for the EU to be transformed into the world’s most competitive and dynamic economy through a greater social reconciliation with more and better jobs, capable of recording a sustainable economic growth and one that is information based, has been defined in the year 2000.
In addition; the Treaty of Nice drawing the framework of the institutional changes parallel to the enlargement of the Union was signed in 2001 and entered into force in 2003. The initiative for the European Constitution that represents the most important step towards the formation of the political unity and encompassing important institutional reforms was rejected by France and the Netherlands in 2005 and hence the Lisbon Treaty, containing more narrow-scoped reforms, was signed in 2007. The enforcement of this Treaty, that will enable the Union to act more efficiently and collectively, following the approval of all the countries bear a great importance in terms of the Union’s integration efforts.
