European Union

The Origins of the European Union

The European Union (EU) is an international organization of 28 member states situated in the center and west of the European continent. The historical roots of the EU stem from World War II. “A united Europe was not achieved, and we had war,” declared Robert Schuman, the founding father of the EU in his historical speech on the 9th of May 1950.

After two destructive world wars, in order to prevent another destructive massive conflict, European governments decided that pooling coal and steel production would, in the words of the Schuman Declaration, make war between historic rivals France and Germany “not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.” Thus, economic cooperation became the core of European integration, making war impossible. The achievement of ...