Photo Credit: Torstein Frogner
When the EU was bestowed the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, I couldn’t really feel the impact because of the financial crisis. But after reviewing my World History high school textbook, I realized just how profound, the reality of the European Union really is.
From page 745 of A History of the World by Houghton-Mifflin:
To stretch their limited resources of money, raw materials, and people, some Western European nations decided to work together in certain economic areas.
The idea of an economic union was first suggested by French planner Jean Monnet, who is often called the “Architect of United Europe.” Acting on Monnet’s idea, Robert Schuman, France’s foreign minister, proposed in 1950 that six countries — France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands — pool their supplies of important resources.
Share resources? What a crazy idea.
Tariffs were to be eliminated on coal, iron, and steel — all essential goods for industrial development, construction, and transportation. The Schuman plan was adopted in 1951 as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
The ECSC also made it possible for workers from one country in the group to take jobs in any other member nation. This helped make efficient use of the labor forces of six nations.
The Common Market is formed. Iron and steel production rose rapidly under the ECSC, and ECSC members soon planned organizations with wider goals. In 1957, under the Treaty of Rome, these nations formed the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the European Economic Community (EEC).
Euratom was setup to coordinate development of nuclear power for economic growth. The European Economic Community, usually called the Common Market, had broader goals. It sought to encourage the flow of goods within Europe by eliminating tariffs on all products traded between member nations. The Common Market countries also agreed to charge the same import duties on goods bought from other countries, and they worked toward a common agricultural policy. Transportation agreements helped people and goods move easily between member nations, and the free flow of technology and capital promoted growth.
The Common Market brought an economic boom in Europe in the 1960’s. Laborers and farm worker, known as “guestworkers,” migrated from less developed countries in southern and southeastern Europe and from the former French and Italian colonies in North Africa. An estimated 30 million guestworkers traveled to the industrial heartland of Europe, contributing to its economic growth and to their nations prosperity.
Of course the Eurozone has been affected by the financial crisis since late 2009, but it still serves as the example for promoting world peace and economic cooperation.
Photo Credit: Rama
I named this post “The Common Market” because I want to emphasize free trade. Yes there are advantages and disadvantages in having a single market, but I believe that removing trade barriers allows commerce to thrive.
Photo Credit: troye owens
seekknowledgeeveninchina 