The economies of the EU member countries is a key divisive factor, there is a ‘tier’ system beginning to appear within the Eurozone where the richer nations have much more influence. An example of this is Germany’s dominance of the bailout talks and its influence over the financial policy in countries like Greece, who are in financial crisis. German leaders wanted to manage the budgets of the countries that received bailouts. Germany believes that their low unemployment rate coupled with their economic prosperity, that they do, in fact deserve the right to lead the EU. Germany has quietly led the EU since they sought to shape the economic future of the EU. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, according to David Marsh was, “the man who had driven German unification with miraculous speed. He knew he had to enshrine the larger Germany in a new European order to ease its neighbors’ fears. The euro would be the monetary equivalent of the ugly yet necessary military compact between NATO and the Warsaw Pact that supervised East and West Germany after World War II.” Figure 3. EU member countries’ unemployment rates. This figure illustrates the percentage of unemployment and the colors highlight their respective currency use. Note. From The Economist, Taking Europe’s Pulse, May 2014. Another area where the EU has far exceeded expectations is trade and international affairs. Europe has become an unquestionable economic power, which Andrew Moravcsik (2009) believes is a genuine global economic superpower at least on par with the United States and far ahead of countries such as China or India. See figure four for more specifics. According to the European Commission, “The EU is in prime position when it comes to global trade. The openness of ... ... middle of paper ... ...ne International. Retrieved from http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/after-the-fall-of-wall-a-report-card-on-post- cold-war-european-integration-a-613866.html The Economist. (2014). Taking Europe’s Pulse, May 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2014 from http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/05/european-economy-guide *Note: Figure 1 and 3 taken from website listed above* The German Federal Statistics Office. (2014). German Exports, May 2014, Retrieved June 20, 2014 from http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-12-760_en.htm?locale=en White, D.S. (2010) Euro Woes as Debt Crisis Grows, April 2010. Retrieved June 22, 2014 from http://www.examiner.com/article/euro-woes-as-debt-crisis-grows Witney, N. (2008). Re-energizing Europe’s Security and Defense policy, European Council on Foreign Relations. http://ecfr.3cdn.net/c66a5b8b70f2e804a0_6xm6iywb0.pdf.
Over the course of sixty years, the European Union (EU) has evolved to become one of the most economically and politically integrated regions in the world. Compare and contrast the EU with one other major global trading bloc, such as NAFTA or ASEAN, with which you are familiar.
In recent years, the European debt crisis has raised people’s anxiety for the Euro and whether the Euro is destined to fail has been extensively discussed. This paper will try to investigate the reasons that destabilize the Euro critically and critically policies of the euro zone to avoid the meltdown of the common currency will also be focused.
The European Union has been helped economically ever since World War II. Right after World War II’s end, Europe was struggling to hold on. The countries of the modern-day European Union thought it would be a good idea to come together and help each others struggling economy. To this day, this decision has had a very positive outcome on the EU’s economy. As shown in Diagram 1, the European Union combined together has the world’s highest GDP at 18.3 Trillion USD as compared to the United States’ 17.4 Trillion USD GDP and China’s 10.4 Trillion USD GDP. The idea
"What Really Caused the Eurozone Crisis?" BBC News. BBC, 19 June 2012. Web. 21 May 2014.
Working together, maybe Europe can find a perfect balance. Maybe it won’t. Time will only show the result of this effort. Perhaps such expansion it will produce a larger and more powerful Europe faster than any of us could have imagined, and those who doubted such a fast growth will be proved wrong. Or perhaps, it will produce a weaker Europe, a Europe plagued with trying to support less productive provinces, while the continent struggles to be more and more competitive. Or it might even result in the stunting of EU growth as small nations enter and soon withdraw, feeling as they may that the massive Union bureaucracy cannot keep up with their demands as a growing nation.
Cox, He, Mclean, Russel, Tse, Waananen. (2011) . Charting the American Debt Crisis, New York Times- Politics
In 1999, mergers and acquisitions involving international groups totalled $16.86bn, almost twice the figure of 1998 (Wagstyl 2000). It is no wonder that it is now much more difficult to distinguish CEE and EU countries by their regional trade structure. The change in the geographic composition of trade toward the EU was fast and sizable (EBRD 1999). Estonia’s share of exports to the EU is not as high as that of Hungary and Greece and the Czech Republic source a share equivalent to France’s of their imports from the EU (Fidrmuc, Wörgötter, and Wörz 1999). In terms of the depth of economic integration, throug...
Some would say the European Union is the modern day Soviet Union and now with the introduction of the euro, it has succeeded in what the Soviets could not dare to accomplish. How amazing that a single currency could change the fate of Europe and bring it back to a super power that it always was. In order to stand up to the influential nations of this world the European Union did the unthinkable, created the euro. While others would agree, as predicted by many financial analysts, the creation of the euro currency was one of Europe’s greatest accomplishments. The establishment of the European Union (EU) in Europe created an alliance whereby it would be greatly constructive as a nation to be strengthened economically, politically and ideologically, with a one level currency. Hence, the introduction and final association with the euro was established on January 1, 1999. This currency which was used primarily for trade and deficit diminutions was now established as the main foundational monies of all the European countries involved. Through this cooperation and attainment, the European Union gained strength in the economic frontier through consumer and business initiatives and frontiers. Basically, the EU was on the verge of bankruptcy and in order to save this great nation the euro was adopted and procured. Yet many member states did not regard the euro as their main currency, they feared the issues surrounding
... it has been harder to tackle issues and make decisions. The Lisbon Treaty is supposed to solve this problem, but looking at the prospects, it will need an alliance between two countries such as France and Germany to really get something done in the EU. It is a blessing for Europe that Germany and France are able to maintain such a good relationship, but it would be better for the sake of Europe, and the sake of democracy if they need not to bundle their power to keep Europe efficient.
Europe will not run the 21st century because of a combination of economic, institutional, and cultural factors. However, for the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the economic aspects of European society that will impede EU ascendency. I do not believe that the EU will cease to exist in the coming century, but I do believe it will become obsolete because it will be unable to make the necessary changes to their demographic problems, defense policies, and economic culture in response to the increasing American ascendency. Europe has long been known as the continent home to the great powers of the world. From Caesar to Napoleon to the British Empire, the European empires have continuously been at the helm of the ship of progress. The wars of the 20th century however, left Europe in a wake of destruction and chaos period before. The continent was devastated and had little hope to recover. In this new era of European descent, the great American Era came into existence. The US, one of the remaining superpowers, became the helping hand that Europe needed. With the aid allocated by the Marshall Plan and the creation of programs and institutions, Europe had a future. The creation of the European Union (EU) united the European countries over the common goal of preventing war another war. The United States intended for these programs to be a stepping-stone to build the economic and institutional powers of Europe, because a stronger Europe was good for the US. However, instead of using these as a springboard to create self-reliant union, the EU remains reliant on US military and hard power to support them their social efforts.
As one of the largest members of the World Trade Organization, the EU is a driving force behind multiple trade agreements and plays an integral role in promoting open trade in developing countries.
Eurozone crisis has had huge impacts not only on the economy of the UE but also on the other countries who have economic and financial relations with the members of the union. The reason why we have decided to examine the Eurozone crisis in detail is to have a better understanding of the mechanisms behind this extremely important and complex problem and also to make accurate inferences about the solution alternatives. In our pape...
On January 1, 2002, it was the talk of the town, the talk of the world, actually. The Euro – the largest financial creation known to our modern world. Living in Germany during this momentous transition has provided for interesting insight into the Euro’s true impression on the people. Of course, the change from using the deutsch Mark to using the Euro was not the only real impact. It is the deeper financial integration with 11 other countries that permeates and concerns the minds of the Germans.
“From time to time it is worth reminding ourselves why twenty-seven European nation states have come together voluntarily to form the partnership that is the European Union.” 1
There are several key components of the European history that have led to the creation of the individual nations within the EU and the larger supranational Institution we call the European Union. As Curtis and Linser (2004) “The European Union is the most important development in European history since World War Two” (Curtis & Linser, 2004, p.4). And I tend to agree that this story line is the most important since it was the starting’s to one of the largest supranational organizations that shaped modern Europe and continues to shape it today. To start the European Union could not have been created without the nations that are part of this supranational organization. Many of the nations that make up the EU have been either long-term super powers, France, United Kingdom or Germany, but also areas plagued with conflict. The conflict is however the more important of the two. The conflict between Germany and the rest of Europe in WW2 was the sparks that created...