Advantages and Disadvantages of the European Union Research Paper

Advantages and Disadvantages of the European Union - Research Paper Example The discussion will also briefly look at the criteria followed by the states in order to be part of the European Union. Before the World War II took place, the world did not experience common cases of International organizations (alliances) as there are seen today. However, the war served as an eye-opener in that a majority of the states became open for cooperation towards creating these unions. This has largely been attributed to the widespread crisis, both economic and political, that had hit the world following the harrowing war. This prompted the creation of most of the organizations seen today with the European Union being one of them. As a brief history of the European Union, the idea of the alliance was incepted in 1949 and implemented in 1951 when the first founders of the Union came together for the formation of an alliance. The six member nations, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, and Luxembourg created what was first referred to as the Council of Europe. Their main objective was to unify the region while also proclaiming peace which was a much-needed necessity following the WWII. Following this was an expansion of the body and consequently, a new name was adopted in 1957- The European Economic Community. As the name suggests, the body was determined to create and facilitate free trade between member states. In the next 50 years, various countries have joined the body and in 1993, the body adopted the name The European Union, which is what it is known today. Currently, the union comprises 27 member states in Europe with the latest members, Bulgaria and Romania having joined the body in 2007 (S ajdik & Schwarzinger, 2008). The European Union is governed by various policies and guidelines that have been formulated over the years in response to various emerging needs in the alliance. Today, the union allows citizens of the member states to move freely within the encompassed