Origins of the EU

The Postwar Vision

The European Union has its roots in a simple idea: countries that trade together are less likely to fight each other. After two world wars that devastated Europe, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed in 1950 that France and Germany pool their coal and steel production — the raw materials of war — under a shared authority.

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established by the 1951 Treaty of Paris with six members (France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg), was the first step. The 1957 Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC), establishing a common market. Over the following decades, economic integration deepened and membership expanded.

From EEC to EU

The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 transformed the European Community into the European Union, adding political dimensions like a common foreign and security policy and cooperation on justice.

Key milestones include:

• 1985: Schengen Agreement — abolishing border controls between member states
• 1992: Maastricht Treaty — creating the EU and paving the way for the euro
• 1999: Euro introduced as a currency (physical coins and notes from 2002)
• 2004: 'Big Bang' enlargement — 10 new members, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe
• 2009: Lisbon Treaty — reformed EU institutions and created the position of President of the European Council

The EU now has 27 member states after the UK's departure in 2020.

Key Treaties at a Glance

No single document created the EU. Each treaty amended the ones before it, layering new powers on top of the old — diplomats call the accumulated result the acquis.

Worked example: tracing the treaty chain

Imagine a Model UN delegate is asked why the EU can regulate a product sold in Portugal. Trace the chain backwards: the 1957 Treaty of Rome created the common market; the 1986 Single European Act committed members to removing the remaining barriers by 1992; and the 1992 Maastricht Treaty folded all of this into the new European Union. Because each treaty stays in force until later amended, the authority to set common product rules survives across all of them. Understanding a treaty as one link in a chain — rather than a standalone document — is the key habit for analysing EU competences.