To be honest, I had never heard of the European Union before this lesson. Perhaps I had, but I don’t remember learning about it. As it mentions in our lesson, the cultural impact of the European Union has been significant.
It was created in 1957, several years after the end of World War II. The basic premise of the European Union is to protect the basic political, social, and economic rights of the citizens. Directly from their website, it reads:
Goals
The goals of the European Union are:
-promote peace, its values and the well-being of its citizens
-offer freedom, security and justice without internal borders
-sustainable development based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive market economy with full employment and social progress, and environmental protection
-combat social exclusion and discrimination
-promote scientific and technological progress
-enhance economic, social and territorial cohesion and solidarity among EU countries
-respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity
-establish an economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro.
Values
The EU values are common to the EU countries in a society in which inclusion, tolerance, justice, solidarity and non-discrimination prevail. These values are an integral part of our European way of life:
-Human dignity
Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected, protected and constitutes the real basis of fundamental rights.
-Freedom
Freedom of movement gives citizens the right to move and reside freely within the Union. Individual freedoms such as respect for private life, freedom of thought, religion, assembly, expression and information are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
-Democracy
The functioning of the EU is founded on representative democracy. Being a European citizen also means enjoying political rights. Every adult EU citizen has the right to stand as a candidate and to vote in elections to the European Parliament. EU citizens have the right to stand as candidate and to vote in their country of residence, or in their country of origin.
-Equality
Equality is about equal rights for all citizens before the law. The principle of equality between women and men underpins all European policies and is the basis for European integration. It applies in all areas. The principle of equal pay for equal work became part of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Although inequalities still exist, the EU has made significant progress.
-Rule of law
The EU is based on the rule of law. Everything the EU does is founded on treaties, voluntarily and democratically agreed by its EU countries. Law and justice are upheld by an independent judiciary. The EU countries gave final jurisdiction to the European Court of Justice which judgements have to be respected by all.
-Human rights
Human rights are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. These cover the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, the right to the protection of your personal data, and the right to get access to justice.
One of the major things that stands out to me is how it eliminates all border controls between its members. This allows the free flow of both goods and people. They allow any item that is made or manufactured in one of their countries to be freely traded to another member without tariffs duties. You can also operate a business in any member country. I feel like that was, and still is, a huge deal. Think of how well that cooperation must work. Take the US for example. A lot of companies used to get items from places like China because it was less expensive. Once there was a stiffer tariff put on that, the companies stopped doing so. That has both pros and cons to it, but that is not an issue that any members of the European Union need to face. Although this group comprises of multiple countries, it counted as the second largest economy in 2018 (Amadeo, 2020). I just find the whole thing fascinating and think that it is a great idea, especially due to their circumstances after the war.
References
Amadeo, K. (2020, September 02). How Europe Became an Economic Powerhouse. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-the-european-union-how-it-works-and-history-3306356
The EU in brief. (n.d). (2020). Retrieved from https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/eu-in-brief_en
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