The History of the European Union

     Belgium is a member of the European Union, as are several other ports that I am traveling to, including: Germany, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. There are many other countries that are a part of the European Union as well. Because so many countries that are on my itinerary are part of this Union, I want you to know a little bit more about it!
   Many countries in Europe wanted to prevent another world war after WWII. They especially did not want Germany to have resources necessary to go to war. This led to the European Coal and Steel Community. This organization was founded in 1952. It was created to block Germany from buying coal and steel, which are used to produce weapons. The founders of this organization were Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. In 1957, the community creates two more organizations through the Treaty of Rome. In 1967, from the Merger Treaty, these three organizations became the European Community. Several countries were added to this community between 1967 and
1993 when the European Union became established under the Maastricht Treaty.
    The Euro was introduced in 2002, where 12 of the countries adopted it. Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom did not want to adopt the Euro. They could not be forced to adopt it either because it was not a part of their original contract. Many countries that are added to the EU today do not meet the requirements to use the Euro, so they may still have their original currencies. The Euro coin has a national front and a common side. The Euro note is the same for all of the countries.
     There are now 28 members of the EU. There are around 500 million people who are a part of this community. Although it is fully surrounded by EU countries, Switzerland does not want to become a member because they want to keep their banking system. They are however, very close to EU policies.