European+Union+(Kent)

=**European Union** = by Kent Christianson

The European Union is an organization of many European countries, which cooperate to achieve economic, social, and political goals. The European Union's history lies back to an economic agreement made during the 1950s. According to the CIA's World Factbook, the basis of the European Union was set up when " The following year (1951) the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris" ("CIA- The World Factbook"). The European Coal and Steel Community was an economic alliance made between 6 West European nations to promote free trade between them. The success of the ECSC encouraged the expansion of the economic alliance and led to the creation of the modern European Union, a supranational and intergovernmental organization of 27 European countries ("CIA- The World Factbook"). The current European Union consists of different organizational branches to create laws and policies that benefit the citizens of the European Union. According to the EU's homepage, "These laws, along with EU policies in general, are the result of decisions taken by the institutional triangle made up of the Council (representing national governments), the European Parliament (representing the people) and the European Commission (a body independent of EU governments that upholds the collective European interest)" ("The EU at a glance"). International laws are created by the EU through the cooperation of the European Council, the European Parliament, and the European Commission and gives the EU certain powers over the countries of EU. Other important instiutions that support the EU are the Court of Justice, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the European Central Bank, that manages the Euro ("The EU at a glance"). The alliance created by the EU consolidates European countries into cooperation but preserves the powers of its individual countries as well. The European Union allows the establishment of multinational, governmental organization that works together to promote the interests of allied European countries.
 * What is the European Union?**

Works Cited "European Union ." //CIA- The World Factbook//. Central Intelligence Agency, 20 Jan 2011. Web. 5 Feb 2011. "The EU at a glance." Europa. European Union, n.d. Web. 6 Feb 2011.