European Union Country example essay topic

Pros and Cons of the European Union Do you think it is useful to join into a union especially the European Union to strengthen their economic positions? The question could be simple to answer but an individual must look much deeper into the situation. For instance, what are the pros and cons of joining a union? The European Union has many pros but also many cons. The European Union was formed in February 1992 with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. It consist of originally twelve members - Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, and Germany.

Those twelve members originally formed the European Union until 1995 when three other countries joined the Union - Austria, Finland, and Sweden. The European Union currently is formed of twenty-five members with the ten new members - Cyprus, Malta, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia being added in 2004. In 2007 two other countries (Romania and Bulgaria) could join the European Union. European Union covers a mass majority of the Europe and the current Union membership covers a population base of nearly half a billion people. In 1992 the European Union decided to go for economic and monetary union, involving the introduction of a single European currency managed by a European Central Bank. The single currency, the euro, became a reality in January of 2002, when euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in twelve of the 15 countries of the European Union (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland).

(Europa) The information below will consist of the pros of the European Union. With the development of the European Union the countries are able to have the benefit of the principles of European integration, such as free competition or free movement of goods and capital, which will encourage the movement from a post-socialist economy to a free market economy in East-central Europe. The principle of free movement is saying that you can work and study anywhere in the Union if you are a citizen of the Union. By spending part of their education or training in another European Union country, the citizens can acquire an insight into other work environments and gain skills that are very useful in later life. By having a closer joint effort and sharing the experiences with other European countries will bring democratic traditions and modern way of living to the society of new member states.

Also, with it being a single market, there are no barriers between the other countries. With the removal of custom barriers it will enable producers to cut production costs, which will result in export increases. In addition to this the integration into the European Union will encourage foreign investment. With encouraging foreign investment it will create new jobs and will bring new technologies and experience into East-central European industry and trade. The process of adapting to a single market may be difficult, but it is necessary for economic growth in the long run.

European Union regional policy seeks to reduce social and economic differences between senior and new member states. That is saying the Union is trying to allow the newer member states to compete with the older member states. This helps to solve the problems of a transition period. (Venckute) There will also be lower interest rates. Why do you think there are going to be lower interest rates?

Interest rates depend on the state of an economic cycle. The interest rate has to be right for the economic area. That is the issue; not that they should be higher or lower. The interest rate is so important in all this that is said. It is only going to effect the growth and unemployment reduction, if the interest rate is at the high rate level it will produce nil growth and high unemployment.

(Nieboer) The information below will discuss the cons of the European Union. Many people think the membership of the European Union is a guarantee of democracy, political stability and economic progress. Well, I have news for everybody that membership in European Union does not guarantee success. Here is an example on how it did not guarantee that success that they were talking about. "The progress of Ireland was mostly determined by the political efforts of its national government. It is important to stress that this time the extent of EU enlargement far outweighs previous stages and the level of European integration is higher.

Hence current prospective entrants will not have such auspicious conditions for adoption". (Venckute) One of the biggest problems of the European Union is the single market rate. Controlling the interest rate is a very powerful weapon to try to balance with the many different economic cycles with only just one interest rate. (Nieboer) Also, membership in the European Union will become a challenge for the national identity of its new member states, because the free movement of people can eventually result in cultural mixture. This then will result in the social and economic gap between East-central and Western European states that will encourage the new member states to try to find jobs in richer parts of the continent.

(Venckute) I would hate to live in a country that is part of a union especially the European Union. It has several characteristics about it that I do not like. For example, I do not like how the Union only has a single interest rate. I think that each economic cycle needs different interest rates for certain situations that occur in the Union. For instance, if you are in the European Union and let's say you are going through a depression you are going to need to lower the interest rate but in the European Union you have no choice.

The information above in the paper about the European Union has many pros and cons. The only reason the countries are entering the European Union or any other union is they feel it makes their country stronger and better economically. Yes, when you enter into a Union you are gaining some things but what some countries do not see are is that you are giving up just as many or more things.

Bibliography

Niebor, Jeremy. The pros and cons of Economic and Monetary Union. 1998 web Jur gita.
European Union: New Members. 2003, web The History of the European Union.
2004 web en.