An Idea Whose Time Had Come

The European Union was born out of its member nations' need to survive. After the devastation of World War II, much of the continent lay in ruins. To rebuild, many Europeans realized cooperation was vital.

In 1950, the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman (who was imprisoned by the Gestapo during the war) came up with a plan in which France and Germany and any other European countries that wished to join would unite their coal and steel production.

The outcome of Schuman's proposal was the European Coal and Steel Community, whose initial member nations included France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and tiny Luxembourg.

The European Economic Community (EEC) was founded in 1957-58 to oversee the economic integration of western Europe. In 1967 the EEC joined the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community to form the European Communities, or EC (the plural was dropped from the name in the 1980s). The European Union is made up of the EC and other related institutions.

Today, the European Union (EU) includes 15 European member states. In addition to the original six, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Ireland joined in 1973; Greece in 1981; and Spain and Portugal in 1985. Austria, Finland and Sweden were included in the last wave in 1995. Now the EU is working on membership applications from Eastern European including Poland, Slovenia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Hungary.

Five institutions help run the European Union: the European Parliament (elected by the peoples of the member states), the Council (representing the governments of the member states), the Commission (the executive and the body that initiates legislation), the Court of Justice (ensures compliance with the law), the Court of Auditors (audits financial accounts).

These institutions are supported by other bodies: the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions (advisory bodies which help ensure that the positions of the EU's various economic regions and social groups are represented), the European Ombudsman (dealing with complaints from citizens at the European level), the European Investment Bank (EU financial institution) and the European Central Bank (responsible for monetary policy involving the euro).