When the Maastricht Treaty was ratified in September 1992, not only was the European Union founded, but the plans for the building of the European Monetary Union was formalized. The plans, which included the founding of a European Central Bank and inextricably link all of the member states and their economies. The Treaty outlined the terms of membership into the economic agreement, called ‘convergence criteria’, that determined the eligibility of countries to join the union. Initially, eleven of the European Union’s fifteen members were qualified to join the Economic and Monetary Union (as it is formally called). Together, these countries would make up 21% of the world’s economy, ahead of the United States (at 17%) and Japan (10%). Of those eleven states, two were the clear bastions of economic success on the continent: Germany and France. Both countries chose to opt into the EMU, but they did so for very different reasons. France and its citizens saw it as an advantageous move, while Germany joined by having their hand forced. On the other end of the spectrum, Great Britain has permanent derogation from the union, for even more significantly different reasons. Not only were they not prepared to adopt the measures they would need to meet to join the Eurozone, but even if the vote came to a referendum, the violently opposed citizens would not ratify it. The United Kingdom also feared losing its autonomy in a single-currency system where the rest of the constituents are not understanding of their unique traditions and conditions.
When France chose to ratify the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, effectively joining the EU and the EMU, it did not do so out of caprice. The country took the decision to opt-in to the union seriously, and weig...
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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
Baker, Charles A. “Review: Two Views of Vichy France, ” The French Review, Vol.51, No. 5, American Association of Teachers of French, (April 1978), pp. 763-764
“Père Duchesne, no. 313”. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973. Marquis de Ferreriès. Correspondence inédite. “The Réveillon Riot (28 April 1789)”.
In the 1950s, French insecurity feelings forced the state to strengthen its military and presumed Germany as their potential enemy. The state decided not to join the European Defence Community (EDC); where Britain and United States excluded, to stay away from its former archenemy. In other hand, the members of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO); particularly the hegemons US and Britain provided guarantees as the security providers to European in against potential German aggression. The guarantee triggered the French National Assembly to...
Herbert, Sydney. The Fall of Feudalism in France. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1969. Print.
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For example, a shift in confidence can drop consumer spending and investment, which as covered by Fischer, can lead to a massive cycle of underemployment of resources and a drop in aggregate demand. Confidence, which is an individual’s discounted evaluation of future income, is subject to numerous superstitions, biases, and subtle psychological influences. On its own, confidence can obviously impact economies to create recessions and growth, but its intertwining nature with other animal spirits makes it a more unpredictable function. This helps extend and exacerbate economic contractions, as the underlying causes can remain unknown. Corruption by its disposition makes confidence a multifaceted process, and helps lay the tracks for economic busts. Much like the most recent recession and as mentioned previously, corruption played a major role in stimulating the massive amounts of debt in the economy. Corrupt officials and bankers drove up debt, by misleading investors to the risk of their products and instruments. Corruption in this
Goldsborough, James O. “France, The European Crisis and the Alliance.” Foreign Affairs 52.3 (1974): 538-355. History Reference Center. Web, 3 Feb. 2014.
The recent global financial crisis that affected not only America but also Europe and other parts of the world resulted in massive unemployment. This is due to the high costs of operation that many corporations faced forcing them to cut on labor costs. There is need for European government interventions to avert this social crisis and prevent the occurrence of such a crisis in future. Unemployment has hit the service sector harder than other sectors with the following being the most affected: automotive, construction, tourism, finance and real estate. The global financial crisis has also increased consumer prices thus pushing inflation. According to McCathie, “the increase in July consumer prices to 1.7 per cent pushed inflation in the currency bloc up towards the European Central Bank’s target of keeping inflation at below, but close to 2 per cent. Eurozone consumer prices had stood at 1.4 per cent in June” (McCathie, 2010).
France knew that Britain was engaged in a foreign policy called “splendid isolation” Splendid isolation is what kept the n...
In order to be a member of the European Union, an applying nation must first meet the requirements of membership as described in the Copenhagen Criteria. There are geographic, democratic and economic criteria. Geographically, the applying nation must be classified as a European nation, as exemplified by Morocco’s rejection. The applying nation must also have a secure and functional democratic government that only acts in accordance with the law. This means that any citizen should be able participate in the political system and that there are free elections with a secret ballot. The government must also respect human rights and have protection policies for minorities, meaning that a persons’ inalienable rights are protected by law and minority groups can retain their culture and language without discrimination. Economically, a country must have a functional market economy on which it can feasibly support itself and other member nations if need be. The country’s economy needs to be able to compete on a global scale and deal with economic pressures. There are also separate guidelines for countries wanting to convert to the Euro. Finally, countries that want to join must agree to uphold laws and regulations t...
The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 has been termed as the largest single expansion of the EU with a total of 12 new member states – bringing the number of members to 27 – and more than 77 million citizens joining the Commission (Murphy 2006, Neueder 2003, Ross 2011). A majority of the new member states in this enlargement are from the eastern part of the continent and were countries that had just emerged from communist economies (EC 2009, Ross 2011), although overall, the enlargement also saw new member states from very different economic, social and political compared to that of the old member states (EC 2009, Ross 2011). This enlargement was also a historical significance in European history, for it saw the reunification of Europe since the Cold War in a world of increasing globalization (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). For that, overall, this enlargement is considered by many to have been a great success for the EU and its citizens but it is not without its problems and challenges (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). This essay will thus examine the impact of the 2004/2007 enlargements from two perspectives: firstly, the impact of the enlargements on the EU as a whole, and thereafter, how the enlargements have affected the new member states that were acceded during the 2004/2007 periods. Included in the essay will be the extent of their integration into the EU and how being a part of the Commission has contributed to their development as nation states. Following that, this essay will then evaluate the overall success of the enlargement process and whether the EU or the new member states have both benefited from the accessions or whether the enlargement has only proven advantageous to one th...
The United Kingdom was a member of the European Union. The European Union is an example of the second most integrated arrangement, the economic union. Therefore, voting to leave is a direct effort to reverse regional economic integration.