The European Union (1945–Present)
The European Union is the most ambitious experiment in voluntary supranational integration in modern history. Born from the ashes of the Second World War to make further European war "not only unthinkable but materially impossible" (Schuman, 1950), it has grown into a polity of 27 member states with shared institutions, a common currency, a single market and over 440 million citizens.
A form of governance in which member states delegate sovereign powers to common institutions whose decisions can override national authorities in defined policy areas. The EU combines supranational features (Commission, Court of Justice, directly elected Parliament) with intergovernmental ones (European Council, Council of Ministers).
Origins (1945–1957)
Three impulses drove early European integration:
- Franco-German reconciliation after three wars in 75 years.
- Economic recovery through the Marshall Plan (1948–52) and the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC, 1948).
- Cold War security under American leadership (NATO, 1949).
In a famous speech on 9 May 1950 (now Europe Day), French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, drawing on plans of Jean Monnet, proposed pooling French and German coal and steel under a common High Authority. The result was the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) by the Treaty of Paris (18 April 1951), with six founding members: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The Treaties of Rome (25 March 1957) established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The EEC committed members to abolish internal tariffs (completed in 1968) and adopt a Common External Tariff and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP, 1962).
Enlargement and deepening
| Year | Members joining | New total |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | UK, Ireland, Denmark | 9 |
| 1981 | Greece | 10 |
| 1986 | Spain, Portugal | 12 |
| 1995 | Austria, Finland, Sweden | 15 |
| 2004 | Cyprus, Czech Rep., Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia | 25 |
| 2007 | Bulgaria, Romania | 27 |
| 2013 | Croatia | 28 |
| 2020 | (UK leaves, Brexit) | 27 |
Norway twice rejected membership in referendums (1972, 1994); Switzerland withdrew its application in 2016.
Key treaties
| Treaty | Year | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Paris | 1951 | ECSC |
| Rome | 1957 | EEC and Euratom |
| Merger Treaty | 1965 | Single Commission and Council |
| Single European Act | 1986 | Single Market by 1992 |
| Maastricht | 1992 | Created the European Union; three pillars; euro plan; EU citizenship |
| Amsterdam | 1997 | Strengthened Common Foreign Policy |
| Nice | 2001 | Prepared for eastern enlargement |
| Lisbon | 2007 | Replaced failed Constitutional Treaty; permanent Council President; legal personality |
The Single European Act and the Single Market
Under Jacques Delors (Commission President 1985–1995), the EEC committed to abolishing remaining barriers to the Four Freedoms — goods, services, capital and people — by 31 December 1992. The Single European Act of 1986 introduced qualified-majority voting to push the project through. The Schengen Area of passport-free travel began with five members in 1995 and now includes 29 states.
Maastricht and the Euro
The Treaty on European Union (Maastricht, 7 February 1992) renamed the EEC "the European Community" and embedded it as the first pillar of a new "European Union", added Justice and Home Affairs (third pillar) and Common Foreign and Security Policy (second pillar), and set the convergence criteria for the single currency:
- Budget deficit below 3% of GDP.
- Public debt below 60% of GDP.
- Inflation within 1.5% of best-performing members.
- Long-term interest rates within 2% of the three best.
- Exchange rate stability in the ERM for two years.
The Euro was launched as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999 and as physical notes and coins on 1 January 2002. By 2023 it was the official currency of 20 EU members (the Eurozone). The European Central Bank is based in Frankfurt.
- 9 May 1950 — Schuman Declaration.
- 1957 — Treaty of Rome creates the EEC.
- 1973 — UK, Ireland and Denmark join.
- 1986 — Single European Act.
- 1992 — Maastricht Treaty creates the EU.
- 1995 — Schengen Area begins.
- 1999/2002 — Euro launched (accounting / notes-and-coins).
- 2004 — Big Bang enlargement of 10 new members.
- 2009 — Treaty of Lisbon in force.
- 31 January 2020 — UK leaves the EU (Brexit).
Institutions
The EU's complex institutional structure is governed by the principle of conferral (it has only the powers conferred by the treaties) and subsidiarity (decisions taken at the lowest effective level):
| Institution | Role | Seat |
|---|---|---|
| European Council | Heads of state/government; strategic direction | Brussels |
| Council of the EU (Ministers) | Co-legislator with Parliament | Brussels |
| European Commission | Executive; right of initiative; 27 commissioners | Brussels |
| European Parliament | Directly elected (since 1979); 705 MEPs | Strasbourg / Brussels |
| Court of Justice (CJEU) | Interpretation and application of EU law | Luxembourg |
| European Central Bank | Monetary policy for the Eurozone | Frankfurt |
| Court of Auditors | Financial scrutiny | Luxembourg |
Major challenges (2008–present)
- Eurozone crisis (2010–15) — bailouts for Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus; austerity controversies.
- Migrant crisis (2015–16) — 1.3 million asylum seekers, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Brexit (2016–20) — referendum 23 June 2016 (52% Leave); Article 50 invoked 29 March 2017; withdrawal on 31 January 2020; transition ends 31 December 2020.
- Rule-of-law disputes — particularly with Poland and Hungary.
- COVID-19 (2020–22) — recovery fund "NextGenerationEU" (€750 billion, agreed July 2020).
- Russia's invasion of Ukraine (24 February 2022) — sanctions, energy independence, military aid; Ukraine granted candidate status June 2022.
For FPSC, three EU dates dominate: 1957 (Treaty of Rome), 1992 (Maastricht), 2002 (Euro notes). Add 2004 (big bang enlargement) and 2020 (Brexit) for the complete arc. Remember: the EU has 27 members; the Eurozone 20; the Schengen Area 29 (including non-EU Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein).
Looking ahead
The EU faces a delicate balancing act: deepening integration (banking union, defence policy, common borrowing) while managing renewed enlargement (Western Balkans, Moldova, Ukraine), preserving democratic backsliders, and navigating great-power competition between the United States and China. Its capacity to combine 27 sovereign democracies into a continental polity remains, for better or worse, the most original political construction of the postwar age.