Diversity

The EU and the member states:

In 1952/58, the six founding members of the so called "Montan Union" (based on coal and steel) were: Belgium, France, Germany - West, Italy, Luxemburg and The Netherlands. The success story created by this special economic zone attracted further member states:

    • 1973 Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom
    • 1981 Greece
    • 1986 Portugal and Spain
    • 1990 the European Community territory and population was effectively enlarged when East Germany reunited with West Germany
    • 1995 Austria, Finland, and Sweden
    • 2004 Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia
    • 2007 Bulgaria and Romania
Europe and specifically the EU

- can mean different things to different people:

  • an integrated Europe, including the Eurozone, the European Union and the Single Market
  • a separate superstate, involving fortress Europe or a Europe of the Regions
  • new ways of looking at Europe, including Eastern Europe, Central Europe and the European core states
  • old ways, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the peripheral states

The intention

- to inaugurate the Free Economic Zone and later the EU and the Single Currency Zone was:

  • to create one internal market, so as to launch Europe as an economic superpower
  • to eradicate obstacles to trade and so enable businesses to benefit from new economies of scale
  • to enable more cross-border competition so as to wipe out inefficient firms

How will this be achieved:

  • Removal of barriers to the four freedoms of movement (people, goods, services and capital) within the EU
  • Barriers were: regulatory, technical, legal, bureaucratic, cultural and protectionist
  • EU Directives telling member states’ governments to put changes into effect

The Euro is part of this strategy

- to unify the economic systems and creating competition:

  • Euro bank notes and coins introduced January 2002
  • Common currency for 12 of the 25 member states of the EU
  • Apart from new EU entrants, non-eurozone states are UK, Sweden and Denmark