Explain how the European Union (EU) was formed.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Although European economic integration is now noted for its economic benefits, its origin was political in nature. In an effort to stop the vicious cycle of hatred and violence, Belgium, France, (West) Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands in 1951 signed the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty, which was the first step toward what is now the EU.In 1957, six member countries of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)signed the Treaty of Rome, which launched the European Economic Community (EEC)-later known as the European Community (EC). Starting as a free trade area (FTA), the EEC/EC progressed to become a customs union and eventually a common market. In 1991, 12 member countries signed the Treaty on European Union in Maastricht, the Netherlands to complete the single market and establish an economic union. The title the "European Union" (EU) was officially adopted in 1993 when the Maastricht Treaty went into effect. Recently, the Lisbon Treaty, signed in 2007 and enacted in 2009, amended the Maastricht Treaty that served as a constitutional basis for the EU.Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, today's EU has 28 member countries, 500 million citizens, and $18 trillion gross domestic product (GDP). Contributing about 26 percent of the world's GDP, the EU is the world's largest economy, the largest exporter and importer of goods and services, and the largest trading partner with major economies such as the United States, China, and India.