EU countries: history of association, membership, goals and achievements, structure

The European Economic Community was a regional organization. The countries of the EEC have united in order to deepen and expand integration. And this goal was achieved. The successor of the EEC is the European Union, which completely absorbed this regional organization in 2009.

EU countries: list

Initially, the European Economic Community included six states. Among them - Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany. In 1993, the organization was renamed the European Community, as its scope expanded. The number of EEC countries at the time of termination of existence is 12. Among them are the following:

• Founding countries: Belgium, France, Germany (after the unification - Germany), Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands.
• Denmark.
• Ireland.
• United Kingdom.
• Greece.
• Portugal.
• Spain.

Member States had their representatives in each structural unit of the organization.

History of creation

In 1951, the Paris Agreement was signed. It marked the emergence of the European Coal and Steel Community. This is the first association of a whole galaxy. It was based on the principle of supranationality and international law. It was created to further integrate the economies of its members and prevent wars.

Initially, it was planned to create two more communities: defense and political. However, in connection with their conception, the countries have not reached an agreement. It was decided to pay attention to economic integration, not political. In 1957, the Roman agreement was signed. It stipulated the creation of the EEC and the European Atomic Energy Community. The task of the first organization was the formation of a customs union between the countries, and the second - the promotion of cooperation in the nuclear sphere. Already in 1962, the EEC countries set the general prices for agricultural products. This was the first significant achievement of the community. In 1968, the EEC countries abolished tariffs for certain groups of goods.

With regard to expansion, already in 1961, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom applied for membership in the organization. However, they were rejected. The veto was imposed by France on their entry. In 1967, four countries re-applied. In 1973, Denmark, Great Britain and Ireland joined the EEC. In Norway, a referendum was held, and citizens voted against joining the European Economic Community. In 1975 the application was filed by Greece. She joined the organization in 1981. Then Spain and Portugal were asked to join the EEC. They joined the European Economic Community in 1986. In 1987 the application was filed by Turkey. However, its process of accession to the EEC, and now the EU, has not yet been completed. In 1993, the organization was renamed in order to display the expanded field of activity. At the same time, now the European Community has become one of the three pillars of the EU. In 2009, the Lisbon Agreement was signed, according to which the EEC was absorbed by the latter.

Objectives

The EEC countries, as stated in the preamble of the Rome Agreement, united in order to preserve peace and freedom and create the basis for a closer union of the people of Europe. Integration should contribute to a more balanced economic growth. To achieve the stated goals, the following activities were envisaged:

• Creation of a customs union with a common external tariff.
• Establishment of a unified policy in the field of agriculture, transport, trade, including standardization.
• Expansion of the EEC for the whole of Europe.

Achievements

The agreement helped to reduce customs tariffs by 10% and by 20% of import quotas on a global scale. It was planned to spend 12 years to achieve the established goals, but everything happened much faster. France faced some difficulties due to the war with Algeria, for the rest of the members this period was quite successful.

Structure

Initially, there were three bodies (the Council, the Parliament, the Commission) that performed executive and legislative functions, and one legal (Court). All of them were created at the time of the creation of the organization. Then an audit body was added to them in 1975. In 1993, the EEC became one of the three pillars of the EU. To date, the structure of the bodies of this regional organization is fully integrated into the European Union and no longer function separately.