Why And The Advantages And Disadvantages Of The European Union

In its historical context discuss why and how the EU was set up and the advantages and disadvantages of membership.

The European Union (EU) was founded in 1957 and is constructed of 28 member countries comprising a total population of half a billion people with a collective currency – the Euro, and economy worth £11 trillion . There are 21 million companies operating within the EU zone generating a GDP of £10.9 trillion in 2012 . The magnitude of the EU’s global presence spans immensely from economic and political policy to health, safety and regulations – both as an enterprise and an individual, human rights legislations, and trade, but mainly through the 70 years that the world has been free from war. However, understanding and analysing the complexity, its growth, its aims and its continuation owe to the social, ideological, and economic contexts during the time that it was formed.
World War 2 (WW2) left widespread atrocities spanning across all of Europe. Countries were devastated with the human costs of the war surging into the 50 millions, industries in turmoil and there was a collective consensus that future wars had to be prevented. The amount of wartime spending left Europe with mass instability; both economically and politically, with spending from the US government amounting to $350 billion, which, in turn had detrimental effects on the economy’s of the Super Powers. A

Since it’s formation, countries have joined in waves and groups, and sometimes this is due to current affairs or world events such as, the fall of the dictatorships in Spain, Portugal and Greece. However, each country must satisfy the pre-requisite entry criteria set by the Union. These conditions are known as the ‘Copenhagen criteria’ and include a free-market economy, a stable democracy and the rule of law, and the acceptance of all EU legislation, including the