An Evaluation of the Success of the European Union

AN EVALUATION OF THE SUCCESS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 1
AN EVALUATION OF THE SUCCESS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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AN EVALUATION OF THE SUCCESS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2
Introduction
The European Union refers to an economic and political union which is made up of 28 nations
which are all located in the Europe Region. The current estimated population of the European
Union is about 513 million people. The European Union was formed during the year 1993
although it traces its origin from the year 1951 when the “European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC) and the European Economic Community (ECC)” were formed (Urwin 2014, p.49). The
major goal of the EU is to ensure peaceful coexistence among its member countries. The other
objectives include formation of a common area for Europeans which has no borders amongst
them, formation of a single market for the Europeans, development based on science and
technology among the member nations, sustainability and stability in development, social
exclusion prevention, solidarity among the member nations, creation of a common foreign and
security policy and the respect for nation’s cultural practices including languages. This report has
analyzed the success of the European Union based on its objectives for formation.
Discussion
The European Union has been successful in fulfilling its primary objective of promoting peace
among its member countries (Freire and Simão 2013, p.175). The European region has not been
free from war but the member nations have remained peaceful since the formation of the
European Union and armed conflicts among them have not been witnessed. Peace has been
maintained through various economic partnerships established by the European Union among its
member nations. The European Union has ensured cooperation among its member nations
through diplomatic negotiations among them which are carried out in an efficient rule-based
manner. For instance, during the year 2017, 92 days were set for European Union member

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nations’ ministers' meeting in which joint policies were made and peaceful coexistence was
strengthened. This shows that the European Union has been successful in maintaining peace and
good results are anticipated in the future.
The European Union has been successful in creating a common area for all Europeans without
boundaries. Europeans have been able to move freely across the member nations of the European
Union. European Union citizens can study and work anywhere in the European Union. They also
have the right to living anywhere they wish in the member nations of the European Union.
European Union protects the rights of the integration process through the “European Union
Charter of Fundamental Rights”.
The European Union has also been successful in creating a single market among its member
nations. The single market created has enabled free movement of goods, capital, people and
services across the European member nations (Messerlin 2011, p.410). The price for goods and
services has been maintained low for the member countries through the elimination of custom
taxes charges among the member nations. This has fostered economic growth of the European
Union and today its gross domestic product is more than $17 trillion though less compared to
that of the United States which is above $20 trillion (Liñán and Fernandez-Serrano 2014, p.685).
It contributes much towards the world economic growth accounting for more than 30 percent of
the World’s total gross domestic product.
The European Union has also been successful in creating a common currency Euro, although it’s
only used by 19 countries out of the 28 nations comprising the union (Streeck 2015, p.5). Euro is
the secondly widely used currency after the U.S Dollar in the whole world. Britain did accept the