European Union and European Commission - Report Example

EUROPEAN UNION Any country can never exist on its own despite its economic powers, technological levels or the kind of leadership it posses. Due to this reason, bodies such as the European Union are formed to help countries come together and achieve a common goal or solve a common problem. The European Union is a group of twenty seven independent states that are based on the European community and they body was founded so that the countries enhance and increase their cooperation politically socially and economically (Newman 59). The body was first founded in 1958 following the Rome treaties which led to the establishment of a body named as the European Economic Community which later changed its name to European Union. The European Union was formed as an after math of the Second World War with the aim of fostering economic cooperation in order to uplift the economic situation in the countries that participated in the war. The idea behind the formation of this body was that those countries which go trade together and interweave their economic activities have a low probability of having conflicts since it would affect the benefits they enjoy from the cooperation (Newman 88). The initial aim of the body was to increase the economic activities in the six founder countries which were Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Netherlands but other countries have joined the group to increase the tally to 26. The 26 countries enjoy huge markets that are created by the free market policy among these countries and hence each country develops towards their full economic potential. The European Union has been very influential in international trade not only to its member states but to the whole world. It has made significant influence in the global market through the success among its member states which has motivated other countries and bodies to enumerate them and their policies in order to enjoy their kind of success. The member states of the European union has removed trade barriers among the member states making few restrictions and better regulations which have led to fair competition among the member states. This has led to integration of the states economically and hence promoting industrial growth in the member states regardless of their size or economic power (McNamara 23). The union has made and passed laws that dictate free and fair trade among the member countries which has helped each country grow individually due to larger markets and access to better products. Such laws have made countries such a Baltic states wish to join the union in order to enjoy the benefits or joining the organization is not an easy process as economic evaluation and law compliancy has to be evaluated a process that takes much time. The European union has the power of action which an individual country would not have for example it would be difficult for a single country to control how it trades with many countries but the organization makes it easy to control how the country trades with the other members( McNamara 11). This kind of protection has helped countries especially those that are less able to speed up the rate of economic growth which would have been much slower or impossible for the country if it acted as a single nation. Super powers such as the united state have a lot of command in the global market and the existence of this body has helped countries to compete with such super powers through creation of group power. Without the European Union, superpowers in the world market could exploit the weaker countries since they would hold unassailable positions in the trade. The European Union therefore provides realistic competition and fair trading that could not be experienced if the member states operated solely in the global market (McCormick 41). The union has become a sizable competitor in emanation of trade in the Far East through which countries such as china who are growing rapidly have come up. In general, the European Union has provided a fair platform for trade among its member states and in the global market and has set an example to other countries which are forming such economic organization in a bid to improve their economic standards e.g the African Union The organization began as an economic union but has diversifies to a political union over time since the political environment also affects the economic environment. The European Union has evolved into an organization spanning policy areas from development aid to environment and to affect the diversification it changed its name in 1993 from EEC to EU(Bindi and Irina 3). The operation of the European Union is based on the founder treaties that promote voluntarily and democratic agreement among the countries which could not be possible without political involvement of the union. The European Union has led to mobility of factors of production among the member states which have promoted economic stability and increased the economic growth rate of the ember countries and their individual bargaining power while trading with other countries. The European Union has introduced a single currency among the member states that has made it easier for trading between countries of the organization. A single currency has reduced the chances of one country enjoying the benefits of a strong currency to exploit other countries. These nations therefore enjoy fair competition amongst themselves by use of the common currency (Bindi and Irina 3). Free movement in the member countries has helped integrate more the economy since one perform business freely in any of the countries provided they are legally registered as members of one of the member states. The European Union upon its formation had the goal of spearheading protection of human rights in individual countries, as a union and worldwide as well (McCormick 44). The signing of the treaty of Libson and the charter of fundamental rights in 2009 by all the member states ensured that the member states made a commitment towards upholding these virtues. The European Union also creates emphasis on transparency and democracy in institutions and as it grows in continues to insist on transparency in its governing institutions (Bindi and Irina 37). The parliament of the organization has been given many powers although it is not allowed to override the parliaments of the individual countries Over the years, the organization has made achievements and failures although the significant achievements override the failures. The organization has led to existence of peace among the member nations which began with the alliance of the six founder nations after World War 1. International security is one of the main issues covered by the European Union and it has successfully dealt with the threats of a peaceful society through introduction of measures to combat insecurity. The secretary general once said that “for there to exist a good economic environment, it starts with there being peace which is the backbone of economic success”. The organization has been successful in the creation of a single European market that allow free movement of goods, services and capital among its member nations and this allows its members to freely live work or study in any of the member countries. This has increased competition leading to the production of high quality goods and services (McCormick 40). The union has been fighting for equal opportunities and fighting discrimination which is the major problems in Europe. The organization has established orders to combat the inequality and any form of discrimination among the member countries which has set an example for the rest of Europe. The European Union trade represents 20% of all the worlds’ imports and exports showing that it has been a success in global market. EU has encouraged foreign trade increasing its levels among member countries and promoting trade between member countries and the rest of the world who are non-members. For actualization of international trade, consumer protection has been upheld as the organizations success depends upon the purchases of the consumers (McNamara 19). The director of Genera Health and Consumer protection department in the EU ensures that any product produced by the member states is healthy and safe for consumption. The union has been successful in environmental protection as a corporate social responsibility and the issue has been addressed in all the meetings they hold. An example of environment protection act is the insolvent of the EU in the Kyoto drive which was aimed at reducing pollution which causes global warming and also in the Copenhagen process which has an aim to reduce pollution and deal with global warming. The EU has also been involved in the health of the citizens of the member states by introducing a European Health Insurance Card which gives a guarantee if the citizen gets ill in a foreign nation. The organization has encouraged the reduction in air transport costs which encourage movement in the countries and hence boost international integration (McNamara 13). Despite transport cost reduction, the organization also encourages cheaper and better phone connection among the countries for example the calling rate from a member state to another member state if cheaper as compared to rate from a member state to a non member state. The union has also created a variety of educational programs which increase multicultural education and programs for students eg the ERASMUS program (McCormick 40). Despite these incredible achievements by the European Union, there have also been some failures that have along with the operation of EU. The lives of billons of people remain under minimum standards of dignity, rights and prosperity since approximately 5 billion people in the member states are burried in extreme poverty. Many people in this countries lack the basic needs such as health justice and education are have lived life’s struggling in denied democracy and conflicts. The economic model provided by the European Union has proved non-reliable since it is extractive and financially short term in nature. This has led to failure of industries that have tried implementing the model and this explains the failure of the mechanical industry in Belgium. The efforts of the organization to deal with the issue of environmental degradation has proved futile in the failure of the Kyoto plan and the environmental situation has continued to worsen , the Europe continent has been experiencing irregular seasons which is a result of global warming. Climate change awareness did not lead to a real change in production and consumption patterns for the so-called middle class all over the globe The organization aim of maintaining peace among its member nations has been partially unsuccessful since local and regional conflicts have replaced the high intensity world wars of the 20th century. The organizations have been involved in international negotiations most of which have proved futile in the last decade. Research show that people have lost trust in their current models of justice and democracy and can also not trust organizations such as the European organization. The European Union involvement in politics has not been successful since the political space in the member states has shrinked in many ways. The wealth levels have increased by 220% among the Governments but no significant new resources have been allocated to eradicate poverty or respond to climatically challenges or even transforming the poor societies to sustainable societies (McNamara 3). The EU is looking forward to better success in the coming days and in preparation to this, they have formed a partnership with Japan and the partnership is committed to reinforcing ties and building cooperative global partnership in areas beyond trade and economy. This and many other partnerships will improve the trade of the union by creating better markets. The organization is also working together with the UNEP to cater for the environmental crisis and they hope to achieve better success in the future in their aim to create a sustainable environment. The Economic and Monetary Union has equipped the EU with an international currency that is more acceptable in the world market and this is expected to open new doors in the enlargement process in south central and Eastern Europe countries. In conclusion, the EU has been helpful to its members and has helped them grow economically despite the challenges that they have faced. Works cited Bindi, Federiga M, and Irina Angelescu. “The Foreign Policy of the European Union.”Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press, 2012. Print. McCormick, John. “Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction”. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print. McNamara, Kathleen R. “The Currency of Ideas: Monetary Politics in the European Union.” Ithaca, NY [u.a.: Cornell Univ. Press, 1999. Print. Newman, Michael. “Democracy, Sovereignty and the European Union.” London: Hurst & Co, 1997. Print. Read More