The European Union (EU)

By 1945 Europe had been through two World Wars where much of the fighting occurred on its soil, and 50 million people had been killed. Cities had been bombed into the ground and many groups such as the Jews had been killed in concentration camps.

People wanted there never to be a war in Europe again. Two people, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman from France were among others wanting to make sure that there was a mechanism for countries to get along and to talk to each other. That mechanism would be increased trade and dependence on each other. Monnet left and Schuman right

To start with, they organised links between some countries in Europe to trade freely in steel and coal. That meant that governments would not put any taxes on any imports. Countries would buy more from each other and more jobs would be created. Countries would be richer, happier and there would be less tension.

By 1957 the first few countries had seen that the plan was working and decided to extend the plan to all sorts of trade. They formed the European Economic Community which later became called the European Union. The first countries to join were Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

In 1973 the UK, Ireland and Denmark joined.

By 1981 Greece had joined.

1986 saw Spain and Portugal joining.

Sweden, Finland and Austria joined in 1995.

Ten countries joined in 2004, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus.

Finally Romania and Bulgaria joined in 2007.

In the future a number of other countries might join. Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia have applied to join and are in negotiations, and Iceland has recently applied to join.

By now many countries have gone further and are using the same currency, the Euro.

Since 1979 in Europe people elect a European Parliament which can pass laws, as well as national parliaments such as Westminster or Cardiff. The European Parliament is located in Strasbourg. 785 members are elected (72 of them from the UK of which 4 are from Wales).

The European Union has its own flag and its own anthem (Beethoven’s Ode to Joy).

Other institutions co-operate with the EU in other fields, such as atomic energy EURATOM, space research (European Space Agency - ESA) and television broadcasting (Eurovision).

By now the European Union affects everyone’s lives in Europe in many ways, either by financing projects, by passing laws and setting minimum standards and by allowing free movement of people and goods from one country to another.

But people see both advantages and disadvantages of being within the European Union. That is what you are going to discuss now.