European Union Creation and Brexit

By Farhan Ahmed
Visiting Faculty at Bahria University
 What is the European Union
• The European Union is a unique economic and
political partnership between 27 European
countries.
• It has delivered half a century of peace, stability, and
prosperity, helped raise living standards, launched a
single European currency, and is progressively
building a single Europe-wide market in which
people, goods, services, and capital move among
Member States as freely as within one country.
 European Union Symbols
• The European flag: The 12 stars in a circle symbolize the
ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples
of Europe.
• The European anthem: The melody used to symbolize the
EU comes from the Ninth Symphony composed in 1823 by
Ludwig Van Beethoven.
• Europe Day: The ideas behind the European Union were
first put forward on 9 May 1950 by French foreign minister
Robert Schuman. This is why 9th May is celebrated as a key
date for the EU.
• The EU motto: "United in diversity"
 Why the European Union
• The EU’s mission in the 21st century is to:
• maintain and build on the peace established between its
member states;
• Bring European countries together in practical
cooperation;
• Ensure that European citizens can live in security;
• Promote economic and social solidarity;
• Preserve European identity and diversity in a globalised
world;
• Promulgate the values that Europeans share.
 European Union Creation
• The story began at the end of World War II as
the European Continent lies devastated leaving
US and USSR as the two major world powers.
• The growing rivalry was the beginning of the
cold war.
• The USSR controlled the eastern Europe.
• The western Europe looked to the US for
reconstruction aid.
 European Union Creation
• The old continent was found divided by the iron
curtain.
• In the west the idea of European Unity began to
take hold.
• On the 9th of May 1950 France via its foreign
minister Schuman proposed a Franco-German
reconciliation.
• They placed under a common high authority the
production of coal and steel.
 The Origins of the EU
• Making war unthinkable among Europeans
• Together managing main materials used in
war: coal and steel
• Coal and Steel were the main wealth of
industrialized countries which was also
needed for the manufacturing of weapons.
• The aim is to boost the peace and maintain
security.
 Founders
• New ideas for lasting peace and prosperity…
• Konrad Adenauer
• Robert Schuman
• Winston Churchill
• Alcide De Gasperi
• Jean Monnet
 Creation of European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC)
• The European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC) was set up by the six founding
members.

• As Germany was divided by the iron curtain

only West Germany becomes part of it.
 Treaties of Rome
• To accelerate the development of Europe the six
founding countries meet on the 25th of March 1957 in
Rome to create two new treaties
• The same six countries sign the Treaties of Rome,
setting up the European Economic Community (EEC)
and the European Atomic Energy Community
(Euratom).
• EEC objective was to establish a common market
including allowing free movement of workers and
eliminating tariffs between member states.
 Treaties of Rome
• They found common policies on Transport,
Trade and Agriculture.
• European Atomic Energy Community
(Euratom) which coordinated civilian nuclear
research programs.
• The treaty of Rome entered into force in 1958
but it would take several years for its policies
to be implemented.
 Treaties

• 1973: The Communities expand to nine member states and

introduce more common policies.
• 1979: The first direct elections to the European Parliament. 1981:
The first Mediterranean enlargement.
• 1992: The European single market becomes a reality.
• 1993: The Treaty of Maastricht establishes the European Union (EU).
• 2002: The euro comes into circulation.
• 2007: The EU has 27 member states.
• 2009: The Lisbon Treaty comes into force, changing the way the EU
works.
United Kingdom’s accession to EU
• Many countries asked to join the
communities including the United Kingdom
but France under the leadership of Charles de
Gaulle vetoed the accession request
considering the UK as too close of an ally to
the United States.
 Merger of Institutions (1965)
• The institutions of the three communities
(ECSC, EEC and Euratom)are merged to enable
more efficient functioning.
• There is now a single commission composed
to commissioners chosen by the head of
states.
• Its role is to propose European laws in the
common interests of its members.
 Merger of Institutions (1966)
• There is the council made up of ministers of the
member states and whose role is to approve,
modify or reject the proposals of the
commission.
• There is a parliament representing the people
of Europe and it also gave its opinion to the
proposal of the commission.
• Finally there was a court of justice that ruled
over the legality of decision.
United Kingdom’s Second Request
• In 1967 the United Kingdom renewed its
request for the membership which France
opposed the second time.
• The Norway held a referendum and opposed
the accession.
• In 1973 Ireland, Denmark and United Kingdom
joined the community.
 Development
• In Paris the heads of States and government come to
an agreement to create the European council in 1974.
• Leaders would meet at least three times a year to
together define the broad guidelines of the
community.
• South of the continent after the end of the
dictatorship in Spain, Portugal and Greece.
• The three countries requested membership of the
community.
 Election of Parliament Members
• In 1979 for the first time members of the
parliament are elected by universal suffrage.
• In 1981 Greece joined the community.
• 1984 UK under Margaret Thatcher said they did
not benefit from common agricultural policy.
• UK requested reduction in contribution in
community’s budget.
• In 1986 Spain and Portugal joined the
community.
 Single Market Project
• Twelve members state and the European
Commission give a boost to the internal market
by signing the single European Act.
• In addition to eliminating custom’s fees, the
goal is to remove all the obstacles to the free
movement of people, goods, capital and
services.
• It is the single market project to be completed
by 1993.
 Creation of European Union
• After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany is reunified.
• In the East the USSR collapses and loss contact with
the countries of Eastern Europe.
• On the 7th of February 1992 the European heads of
state signed the Maastricht treaty.
• The European Union was created and got new
powers.
• The treaty envisages an economic union and the
future creation of a common European currency.
 Creation of European Union
• All countries ratify the treaty including
Denmark where two referendums and
negotiations to be exempted from the
common currency are required.
• A new wave of countries request membership
to the union.
• Switzerland and Norway oppose potential
candidacy by a referendums.
 Creation of European Union
• On the other hand in Austria, Sweden and
Finland negotiations succeed and in 1995 the
EU grows to 15 members.
 Schengen Agreement
• Signed in Schengen Luxemburg in 1985, the
Schengen agreement is gradually introduced
from 1995.
• Its objectives is to abolish border controls and
therefore have total freedom of movement
within the European Union.
• The agreement is incorporated into the
European Union through the treaty of
Amsterdam.
 Common Currency Project
• In addition the common currency project
advances which would be called the Euro.
• However, the United Kingdom, Sweden and
Denmark did not want it.
• The remaining member countries set up the
European Central Bank.
• The Euro was officially launched in the market in
1999 although the currency was put into
circulation from the 1st of January, 2002.
 EU Expansion
• The heads of states meet in Nice to try and
improve the structure of the union.
• The outcome of the treaty of Nice is
considered mixed.
• Two referendums were needed in Ireland for it
to come into force.
• On the first of May 2004, ten new countries
are included in the European Union.
 EU Expansion
• All new countries join the Schengen Area with the
exception of Cyprus as part of the island is
controlled by the Turkish Army since 1974.
• After the half failure of the treaty of Nice, the 25
head of the states meet in Rome to again try to
streamline the functioning of the European Union.
• This time they aimed to create a constitutional
treaty that would replace all the existing treaties
with a single text.
 Opposition
• This sparked heated debate across Europe
fearing an overly powerful European Union at
the expense of national sovereignty.
• The French and Dutch population opposed the
treaty via referendum.
• This reflected a period of reflection and in-depth
consultation with then member states.
• On Jan 1st, 2007 Romania and Bulgaria joined the
European Union.
 Treaty of Lisbon
• The same year 27 head of states singed the treaty
of Lisbon which aimed to strengthen and improve
the functioning of the EU after expansion.
• EU’s role is to promote peace, support sustainable
development, fight against social exclusion and
discrimination and safeguard cultural heritage.
• The treaty was ratified by all states by rejected by
Ireland after referendum.
 Economic Crisis
• The global economic and financial crisis had
repercussions on Euro zone which entered
recession.
• Many countries were in crisis especially Greece.
• The country is forced to ask for financial help
from the Euro zone and the IMF in exchange for
which it must implement austerity measures.
 Economic Crisis
• Ireland

• Portugal

• Spain

• Greece

• Cyprus
 Migration Crisis
• In 2013 Croatia joined the European Union.

• The civil war in Syria

• The second civil was in Syria and Iraq

• Violence Afghanistan and African countries

• Despite the construction of wall in 2015 in Turkey, million

migrants cross Mediterranean sea.
Agreement with Turkey and Libya
• In 2016 EU signed agreement with Turkey and
Libra to bar migrants movement in exchange
of financial aid.
• Italy and Greece maintain processing centers.
• The migration crisis divides the Europe and
fuels the rise of nationalist and Euro skeptic
parties.
• In 2016 UK votes in favor of leaving the EU.
 Brexit Issues
• Now UK has 11 months to reach a deal and the choices are
given below:

• No Deal

• Harder Brexit

• Soft Brexit

• Chequers Deal
 Brexit Issues
• United Kingdom becomes first country to leave
European Union
• United Kingdom leaves EU after 47 years of
membership
• It took more than 3 years of political chaos and
angry protests in UK to leave EU
• The UK stopped being a member of
the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31
January 2020
 No Deal
• Britain could immediately crash out of EU with
no transition period
• Britain will use Standard International Trading
Rules
• British laws will be different from EU ones
• Tariffs and Border Checks will potentially kick
in right away
 Harder Brexit
• Currently UK is the part of EU political system
• The harder the Brexit the more of these things
will be left by UK
• UK can make its own rules and regulations and
it could make trade deals with other countries
• Hard Brexit can affect the foreign trade
because of the tariff
 Softer Brexit
• This option will see much more alignment
between the UK and EU
• The softer the Brexit the few things will
change
• But if it was a really soft Brexit, Britain could
stay in single market and custom’s union
• For British businesses this would probably
have the opposite effect to a hard Brexit
 Chequers Deal

• Plans for both sides who support Hard and

Soft Brexit is called Chequers deal

• Under this rule the UK would have stayed

close to EU

• Under this deal the government would sign a

common rule book
• Thank You…