Europe’s Historic Alliance

After recently losing one of its members, the European Union (E.U.) is focused on its future. 

The E.U. is a political and economic partnership made up of 27 countries across Europe. It makes laws and has its own form of money (the euro). E.U. countries share free trade, meaning nations within the E.U. can buy and sell goods and services across E.U. borders without having to pay additional taxes. And citizens of E.U. nations (nearly 450 million people) have the right to live and work in any E.U. country.

In 2016, the United Kingdom (U.K.) stunned the world when its people voted to leave the E.U. Many U.K. citizens believed that the partnership had too much control over their country. The U.K.’s departure from the E.U., known as “Brexit,” became official in early 2020. But it took another year for the U.K. and the E.U. to negotiate how they would interact and trade with one another going forward. Those new rules went into effect this past January.

The E.U. has its roots in the wreckage of World War II (1939-1945). After the war, much of Europe—and its economy—was devastated.

With the idea that countries that trade with one another would be less likely to go to war, six European nations decided to unite their steel and coal industries. In 1957, those countries formed the European Economic Community (EEC), which established free trade among its member nations. More countries joined over the years. What had begun as an economic union eventually grew to include policies to protect human rights, the environment, and more. To reflect those changes, the EEC became the E.U. in 1993.

No country had ever left the alliance—until the U.K.

With Brexit now behind them, E.U. officials are moving forward with a number of goals.

Today, the E.U. is the world’s largest humanitarian donor. It has also taken an aggressive stance on combating climate change. This past December, E.U. countries vowed to cut their production of greenhouse gases in half by 2030.

And the partnership recently agreed to raise $850 billion to help E.U. nations hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Exceptional situations require exceptional measures,” said Angela Merkel of the deal. She is the leader of Germany, an E.U. nation. “A very special [group] of 27 countries of different backgrounds is actually able to act together, and it has proven it.”