Some see it primarily as a peace project that
grew out of a desire for stability and security
after two world wars devastated the continent.
Others argue it’s a super-state that infringes
on the national democratic freedoms
of its member states.
Either way, one thing is clear:
The EU started out as a trading bloc
in the aftermath of the Second World War.
In 1957, France, West Germany, Belgium,
the Netherlands, Italy and Luxembourg
signed the Treaty of Rome
creating the European Economic Community.
Their hope was to avoid conflict by trading
with each other.
As membership grew, it became a fully fledged
single market, allowing the free movement
of goods and services, and what started as
just an economic union has also become a political union.
Today, the EU is based on the rule of law.
Its members remain sovereign, independent
states,
but in matters of mutual interest,
they delegate some of their decision-making powers
to key EU institutions,
of which they are all a part.
Those institutions create policies ranging
from
climate, health, human rights, education
and research, foreign relations and security,
to justice and migration.
All of its 500 million citizens are entitled
to live, study and work anywhere
they wish within the EU.
The bloc is also, in part, a monetary union,
with 19 of its members sharing a
common currency, the euro.
Of course, in a 2016,
a narrow majority of the British
electorate voted to give up its membership
and – as the “Leave”
campaign put it –
“take back control” from Brussels.
It remains to be seen what impact this very first
departure of a long-term member will have on the union.
