The European Union Trading Bloc Essay

The European Union is a trading block that integrates European countries because they are located within the same geographical region and which protects themselves from the imports from the non-members. The economic integration in this particular trading block has increasingly shaped the global pattern of trade. EU has many characteristics as a trading block including, the region being a preferential trade area in which member countries agreed to reduce or eliminate tariff barriers on several goods imported from the other members. Some of the countries within Europe also practice the free trade areas whereby the member countries reduce or eliminate barriers of trade on all the goods coming from the other members. The European Union forms a customs union whereby the members negotiate as a single bloc, and all the members accept a common external tariff against the non-members that are involved in the trade. The member countries of the EU include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The EU is, therefore, the largest trading bloc in the world and together the block forms the second largest economy in the world.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The initial discussion regarding the formation of the European Union started back in 1948 after the World War II to promote the integration, stability economic cooperation between the member countries. It was previously known as the Economic community after it was formed following the treaty of Rome in 1957 (Nugent, 14). It comprised of only six members; they included Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Since then the union has established common institutions such as the European Parliament to represent the people, the council which represents the national governments of their countries, and the European Commission which is an independent body representing the collective interests of the Europeans. The single market created by this union can last due to the standardized system of the law that applies in all the member countries. The common policies enable the free and secure movement of the people, goods, capital, and services between the member states.

The Brexit vote to leave the union threw UK trading relations with the rest of Europe into doubt as the country itself is left with questions regarding its trade because the country sends almost half of its export to the bloc (Nugent, 31). The trading bloc within the EU allows for the prosperity of the continent as a whole. Each of the member countries recognizes and promise to implement the common rules to each other standards. The free internal market is created through ensuring that the EU promotes a common framework to prevent one country or company from gaining the competitive advantage through getting rid of the regulations. Companies throughout the member states can sell their products and services throughout the EU member states. These policies open up market and reduce the trade costs.

One of the achievements of the EU is the introduction of the common currency, the euro. This currency is adopted and used in 19 out of the 28 member countries (Nugent, 16). This also helps in the coordination of common monetary policy, the economic and the fiscal policies and the euro as a common currency in the region. Around the globe, the European Union gets an advantage because over 175 million people use the currencies that are pegged to the euro currency (Nugent, 23). The advantages of the common currency include the elimination of the fluctuating exchange rates costs, the growth of the economy because the consumer has more choices, and also encourage traveling and trading.

Work Cited

Nugent, Neill. The government and politics of the European Union. Palgrave, 2017.