5.2: The European Union

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5.2 The European Union

Which country is NOT a member of the EU?

1. Norway
2. Finland
3. Romania
4. Portugal

Which of these EU countries uses the € ?

1. the UK
2. Sweden
3. Denmark
4. Austria

How many member states does the EU have today?

1. 17
2. 28
3. 9
4. 24

The European Parliament is located in:

1. Rome
2. Brussels
3. Strassbourg
4. Brussels & Strassbourg

This week we can elect a new European:

1. commission
2. member
3. parliament
4. leader

Which of these parties is Euro-sceptic?

1. CDA
2. FvD
3. Gr. Links
4. D66

Which country voted to leave the EU?

1. Italy
2. Greece
3. the UK
4. Russia

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What was the outcome of the "Kieswijzer"?
Write the name of the party with capital letters only,
like this: PVDA or FVD or D66

Word Duty

European Coal and Steel Community: cooperation of six European countries in a common market for coal and steel, founded in 1950

European Economic Community: economic cooperation of European countries, successor of the ECSC, since 1958

European Union (EU): economic and political cooperation of European countries, successor of the EEC, since 1993

European identity: the feeling that one is a European

euro-scepticism: disbelief in the added value of the EU

KEY WORDS

The EU was founded after World War II as an economic cooperation of six countries. The main aim was - in the words of the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in 1950 - to make another war ‘not only unthinkable, but materially impossible’. Have the founders succeeded?

From ECSC to EU: a brief history

The European Union (EU) has had different names in the past. Using the name European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), it started off in 1950 as a cooperation of France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. These six countries decided to create a common market for coal and steel, the main raw materials needed for heavy industry and weapon industry. By sharing their supplies of coal and steel, they wanted to make war between them ‘materially impossible’. In 1958, the ECSC was turned into the European Economic Community (EEC). The EEC members worked together on more fronts than only the production of coal and steel. Customs duties were abolished. 

To create food security for its members, the EEC influenced the food production with subsidies and quotas. This worked so well that it led to overproduction of, for example, wheat, milk and meat. People spoke of ‘butter mountains’ and ‘wine lakes’. The EEC also started to make communal rules to fight environmental pollution. A European parliament was founded, to which since 1979 all member states’ citizens could directly elect its representatives. The EEC was successful. Between 1973 and 1986, it got six new members. The members wanted to expand their cooperation even further. This happened in 1993. Then the EEC also changed its name to the European Union (EU).

exterior and interior of the European Parliament in Strassbourg

One great common market

In 1993, the twelve EU members decided to form one big common market in which there was free movement of goods, services, people and money. Within this area, the borders disappeared so the citizens from these European countries were in more contact with each other. The EU also promoted programmes that brought people together to share knowledge and ideals and, in this way, to work on a European identity. Students could get grants to follow part of their education in another member state. In 2002, the euro was introduced. Most member states exchanged their own currency for new coins and notes.

61% of Europeans say they see themselves as a “Citizen of the European Union”. However, before pro-Europeans get too excited, it’s important to point out that fully half of those polled also say they feel that EU Member States DON’T share close values, versus only 42% who believe there are common European values.

Logo of the Erasmus programme, one of the EU community programmes in education.

The EU doubles in size

The common market led to prosperity for most member states. In 1995, three more countries joined. Once the Cold War was over in 1989, many Eastern European countries started to look towards the EU as a new role model. However, most were too poor and politically unstable to be admitted to the Union. In the 1990s, the EU offered help to the new governments of these countries as they moved from communism to capitalism and democracy. Around the year 2000, many of these countries had become serious candidates to join the Union and in 2004, no less than ten new countries were accepted. Currently the EU has 28 member states.

Political situation in Europe during the Cold War

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Recent challenges (1)

Today, the EU has become less popular than it used to be. Which factors have contributed to this? Firstly, not all member states were happy with the thirteen new members than joined after 2000. Though these countries met the economic and political criteria for joining the Union, most were still poorer than the ‘old’ member states. People from these countries could now freely move within the EU and go to countries where they would get paid more than at home. Many worked for lower wages than local residents, which was seen as unfair competition in some country’s labour markets.

Polish girls celebrating the entry of Poland into the European Union, April 2004.

While before 1993, a Dutch family going on holiday in France had to go through two passport controls and change money twice, they could now just drive on and hold on to the money they were carrying.

Recent challenges (2)

Secondly, after years of overproduction, the EU has been cutting back on agricultural subsidies for some years now. Also to protect the environment, the EU now uses quota to prevent farmers increasing their production. This has made the EU unpopular, particularly among farmers. Large industries also feel that the EU is trying to control them too much, by dictating environmental and other rules.

 European farmers protest against regulation in the agricultural sector. Brussels, 2015.

Recent challenges (3a)

Thirdly, with the introduction of the euro, prices in most countries rose. According to many, the euro has made life more expensive. In 2008, an economic crisis hit Europe. It started as a bank crisis: some large banks in the USA went bankrupt because of their involvement in the trading of dubious financial products. When European banks involved in the same businesses, also ran into problems, the EU obliged countries to spend large sums of money to save their banks; measures were required to protect the savings of their citizens, often tied up in pension funds. Spending so much money on banks whilst many citizens were struggling to get by with less money, caused a lot of distrust. 

The Dutch currency "gulden" was replaced by the European Coin Unit "Euro" on January 1st, 2002.

people celebrating the arrival of the European currency.

Recent challenges (3b)

In 2009, it became clear that Greece was not managing to recover from the banking crisis. The country was on the brink of going bankrupt. Bankruptcy for Greece would have had a huge effect on all EU states, because they share a currency and a common market. In 2010, 2011 and 2016 the EU and other international organisations offered large sums of money as emergency loans to Greece, on condition that Greece would reform its economic and political system. Many European citizens were unhappy about these developments. More countries were suffering from economic problems, and citizens demanded that their government should spend money on their own countries instead of giving it to Greece. Some believed it would be best if Greece left the European Union, a so-called Grexit.

Cartoons about the Greek economic Crisis. 

The Refugee Crisis (1)

The latest challenge confronting the EU is the so-called refugee crisis. This refers to the great increase of people who travel from the Middle East and Africa to Europe since 2014/15, mainly caused by the war in Syria (2011-today). Millions of Syrians are fleeing from the violence and destruction in their country. Many try to get to Europe, overland via Turkey or by boat across the Mediterranean Sea. EU regulations determine that refugees have to ask for asylum in the first country they enter - often Greece or Italy. 

A poster announcing a show of a white artist performing as a black person in 1900. The act usually consisted of funny dances.

War refugees at a train station in Budapest, Hungary, waiting for permission to go to Germany, September 2015.

The Refugee Crisis (2)

 In 2015, the number of people coming in became too big for these countries to handle on their own. The EU came up with a plan to distribute the migrants more equally across its member states, but many states did not cooperate. Thus, people started to travel to other European countries without being registered anywhere; this increased fears that there might be terrorists among them. Hungary tried to stop the migratory flow at its borders by building fences.

Refugees are stopped at the Hungarian border.

Refugees arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos on Oct. 1, 2015, after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey in an inflatable boat

Brexit

Currently political parties in many member states want to limit EU influence in their country or even to leave the Union. They do not believe in the added value of the EU anymore. This view is called euro-scepticism. In June 2016, a small majority of the British voted in a referendum to leave the EU. Procedures for a British exit were started in 2017.

British prime minister Theresa May has tried to get a Brexit Deal passed in parliament. Three times the deal was rejected.

Pro and Anti Brexit demonstrations in London

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