History of EU

   


     EU is short for European Union.It is a center for ecomomy and politics.EU include 27 countries,which are Austria,Belgium,Bulgaria,Cyprus,Czech Republic,Denmark,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Hungary,Ireland,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Malta,Netherlands,Romania,Poland,Portugal,Slovakia,Slovenia,Spain,Sweden and United Kingdom.In the early days,EU was just focus on the common trade policies for coal,steel and agriculture in the past.I will say something about EU’s history.
     In 1951 the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was established. It had six members: Belgium, West Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy and the Netherlands. The venture was very successful.
     In 1957 the ECSC's six members decided to pool other areas of their economies. They signed the Treaties of Rome, creating the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the European Economic Community (EEC). The members began to remove trade barriers to form a 'common market'.

     In 1967 the institutions of the three European Communities - ECSC, EURATOM and EEC - were merged

     In 1970s,Denmark, Ireland the the UK joined the EU.

     In 1979 the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held - citizens of member states were able to vote for candidates. 

     Greece joined the EU in 1981.

     Spain and Portugal joining in 1986.

     In 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the EU.

     On 1 January 2002, the euro was introduced in 12 EU countries

     The EU welcomed 10 new countries in 2004: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

     The candidate countries, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey are expected to join in 2007.

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