The Brief History of EU
After the World War I, the European idea was present in the political debate, but did not lead to concrete steps. Then, after the devastation brought about by the World War II, European leaders came to believe that cooperation and joint efforts are the best way to ensure peaceful, stable, and prosperous Europe. The process began with May 9th, 1950 speech by Robert Schuman, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, who proposed France and the Federal Republic of Germany to combine the coal and steel industries. This concept was implemented in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, which established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) with six member countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Germany. The success of the Treaty encouraged the six countries to expand the process to other areas (McIver, 2011).
In 1957, the Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC). They, respectively, have been aimed at the creation of the customs union and the break-up of internal trade barriers within the Community, and at the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes (McIver, 2011). In 1967 there was a merger of the executive bodies of the three communities, which set up a basic structure that is recognized today, with major institutions such as the European Commission, European Council, European Parliament and Court of Justice.
The next milestone in the process of European integration was the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, which defined the three main points of the European Union: the first - is the European Community, the two new ones - this is an inter-governmental co-operation in international politics and security, as well as justice and home affairs. In addition, the Maastricht Treaty defined the framework for the single currency and greater political integration (McIver, 2011).
Further steps were discussed at the Intergovernmental Conference, which began in 1996 in Turin and in the signing the Treaty of Amsterdam in June 1997. The Lisbon Treaty in 2009 ensured the further integration of the EU members (McIver, 2011).
The Relevance the EU has in the Global Arena
With the help of the system of legislature a common market was established in the EU countries, which guarantees the free movement of people, goods, capital and services, including the abolition of passport controls in Schengen Zone, which includes both the Member States, and other European countries. The Union passes laws in the sphere of equity and internal affairs, as well as develops a common policy on trade, agriculture, fisheries, and regional development. Seventeen countries in the Union have put into circulation a single currency, the euro, forming the euro area (Watts, 2008).
Being subject to public international law, the Union has the authority to participate in international politics and to sign international agreements. There are diplomatic missions of EU around the world, and there are EU representatives in the United Nations, the WTO, the Big Eight and Group of Twenty. EU delegation is led by EU ambassadors (Watts, 2008).
EU combines features of an international organization and the state, but formally it is neither one nor the other. In certain areas, decisions are made by independent supranational institutions, and others - are made through negotiations between the Member States. The most important institutions of the EU are the, the Court of the EU, the Council of the EU, European Commission, the European Council, the European Central Bank and the European Court of Auditors (Watts, 2008).
A Hypothesis of the Future of EU
European Union has significantly expanded in the number of its members which makes it hard to follow the Maastricht Criteria. In the economic policies of the EU should reconsider its priorities to compete on equal terms with fast-growing economies like China, Brazil, India and the United States. However the recent economic crisis, the number of new members and the crisis in Greece, Portugal, and Spain make EU choose the phase of stabilization instead of dynamic growth. The influence of France and Germany will increase, as they are not only the largest economies in the EU, but also the cultural centers which generate European values. Admission of new members will be difficult, due to the adaptation of the existing. But on the whole EU will not break down in the short-term period as the US needs it as a supporter of its policies.
EU in the Global War with Terrorism
The European Union, as one of the major actors in the international system actively fights against the new threat to the world community. In the EU, the following bodies are responsible for the fight against terrorism:
• Co-ordinator for Combating Terrorism (currently this post is held by Gijs de Vries);
• Europol (the Department to combat serious crimes, Directorate for Combating Terrorism);
• Special Commission on Combating Terrorism of the Council of Europe;
• The Committee of Experts on Combating Terrorism of the Council of Europe (CODEXTER)
In September 2001 at a meeting of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the European Union in Brussels, Britain initiated the expansion of the powers of the European Police - Europol - in the fight against terrorism. Among the proposed measures were the simplification of extradition of persons accused of terrorism, the introduction of strict state control over banking and the provision of unlimited access to the archives of the Internet providers and telephone companies (Vries, 2006).
The UK proposal was a response to the report of the European Parliament, which said that the European Union will need to create their own special services that would ensure the implementation of EU plans to form a rapid reaction force. This report has been prepared on the basis of investigations carried out by the European Parliament in connection with the U.S. National Security Agency electronic spying system "Echelon" (Vries, 2006).
Three months later, in December 2001 at the European Union summit the general approach to the problem of European countries to combat international terrorism was formulated. The document stipulates that Member States shall strive within the framework of the common European policy on security and defense and build capacity to counter terrorist threats. In practical terms, there was an agreement reached in principle on the introduction of a single European arrest warrant (at the initiative of Spain), suppression of the financing channel of extremist organizations and the formation of the list of terrorist organizations, whose activities in the EU should be banned (Vries, 2006)..
Three years later, it became apparent that the degree of coordination of special services within the EU in the fight against terror is clearly insufficient. As a result on the 17th of February, 2004 Ministers of Internal Affairs of Germany, France, Spain and Italy have agreed to establish a collective security system in four countries. Interior Minister suggested the governments and parliaments of their countries some bills unifying anti-terrorism laws in those states, and the model of such legislation are considered those developed in France and Spain.
Immediately after the terrorist attacks in Madrid in March 2004, Austria proposed to create a single European intelligence agencies to combat terrorism. Austria came from the fact that European security needs a single analytical center. However, the five largest European countries - Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy have rejected the idea (Brussels, 2004).
The result was a compromise - to create the office of the coordinator for the fight against terrorism in EU. This decision was taken at an emergency meeting of European interior ministers immediately after the attacks. The functions of the coordinator were to manage all counter-terrorism activities in the territory of a unified Europe, including the issues of intelligence, security, and control of financial flows .
In late 2004, EU member states have decided to consolidate the importance of the legislative provisions on the mandatory introduction of biometric data in passports. By the end of 2005 it was practiced (Vries, 2006).
On the 27th of September 2005 the members of the European Parliament during the plenary session rejected the draft of the EU directive on data retention of e-mails and phone calls in order to combat terrorism. The MPs felt that the move is a threat to the privacy of Europeans. Authorities of the EU Member States were invited to examine the issue and to express an opinion on the legalization of such practices. The draft of the directive submitted for consideration at the suggestion of the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Sweden, suggested mandatory storage of data on e-mails, the content of web sites and telephone calls of citizens of the EU countries in the archives for a period of up to three years in order to combat terrorism (Mix, 2013).
