Sejarah Uni Eropa (bahasa Inggris + update)

What is the European Union?

The European Union is a political and economic union which has 27 (twenty seven) member states today. The European Union had developed a single market, by a standard judicial system that apply in all of its member states. In the European Union, there are policies that allow people and goods to travel within its member states, services and capital to operate within its member states and there are also legislations on human rights and interior affairs. Not only that, these policies are made unanimously by the governments of its member states in terms of trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Within the European Union, there is a policy called the Schengen Zone, where one who travels within countries which have signed the Schengen Agreement does not have to go through passport control. In 1999, a monetary union is established, and it has been applied since 2002. Today, the monetary union within the European Union consists of 19 (nineteen) member states which uses the euro as their currency.

Origins

After World War II, the leaders of the European countries had an idea to unite Europe, so that the spread of extreme nationalism could be prevented. In 1948, the Hague Congress, became the forerunner of the European Union, which led to the establishment of the European Movement International and the College of Europe. In 1952, the European Coal and Steel Community, which was the first step of a European federation, was established, supported by Alcide de Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman and Paul-Henri Spaak.

Treaty of Rome

In 1957, the governments of Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome, which was the forerunner of the European Economic Community. They also established a customs unions, signed an agreement which was the forerunner of the European Atomic Energy Community for a cooperation in developing nuclear energy. Both agreements were signed on Wednesday, 1 January 1958.

After the Treaty of Rome

The European Union began on Wednesday, 1 January 1958. At the beginning, the European Union had 6 (six) member states, which are Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany. In the 1960s, there were tensions within the Euopean Union, because the government of France had decided to limit supranational authority, so, on Thursday, 10 August 1961, the United Kingdom and Denmark attempted to join the European Union, because it was vetoed by France. On Friday, 9 February 1962, Spain attempted to join the European Union, but it was rejected due to Spain not being a liberal democracy, but a military dictatorship under Francisco Franco. In the same year, Norway also attempted to join the European Union, but it had also been vetoed by France. Also in the same year, Algeria gained its independence from France. Since then, Algeria is no longer part of the European Union.

On Wednesday, 10 May 1967, the United Kingdom attempted to join the European Union, then on the next day (Thursday, 11 May 1967), Ireland followed suit. In the same year, Norway attempted to join the European Union, then it was rejected because of the results of a later referendum (in 1972) where 53% of voters voted not to join the European Union.

On Monday, 1 January 1973, three Western European countries, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, had been officially declared as European Union member states. In the 1970s, three Southern European countries which are on their beginning of their transition to liberal democracy, attempted to join the European Union. On Thursday, 5 June 1975, the United Kingdom held a referendum to get out of the European Union, but 67.23% of voters voted not to. In the same year, Greece attempted to join the European Union, then Portugal and Spain followed suit in 1977.

On Tuesday, 1 May 1979, Greenland, an overseas territory of Denmark, was granted autonomy and a separate parliament. On that day, the Siumut party, a Eurosceptic and pro-Greenland independence political party, became a majority in the elections. In the same year, a direct European Parliament election was held for the first time. On Thursday, 1 January 1981, Greece was officialy declared a member state of the European Union. On Tuesday, 23 February 1982, the parliament of Greenland held a referendum on the matter whether Greenland should be an integral part of the European Union or an overseas territory of Denmark (not part of the European Union). On that referendum, 53.02% of voters voted that Greenland should be an overseas territory of Denmark. In 1985, Greenland was declared no longer part of the European Union. In the same year, the Schengen Agreement was ratified to abolish passport control on the borders of the European Union member states and some countries which had signed a bilateral agreement with the European Union.

In 1986, the flag of the European Union had been officially used. In the same year, Spain and Portugal were declared as European Union member states. On Tuesday, 1987, Turkey attempted to join the European Union, then Morocco, which is actually an African country, followed suit, but it was rejected because Morocco was not a liberal democracy. On Friday, 28 April 1989, Austria attempted to join the European Union.

After the collapse of the Iron Curtain

On 3 October 1990, after the collapse of the Iron Curtain, West and East Germany was unified and Germany remained a member state of the European Union. On the same year, two Southern European countries, Cyprus and Malta attempted to join the European Union. In 1991, Sweden followed suit. Then, in 1992, the Treaty of Maastricht was ratified, then in the same year, Finland and Switzerland attempted to join the European Union, but when Switzerland attempted to join, the European Union rejected that attempt. In 1993, the European Economic Area was established and the Copenhagen Criteria was made for future countries to join the European Union. In that criteria, the prerequisite were: a mature democracy, rule of law, human rights, respect and protection of minorities and such.

In the 1990s, Eastern European countries had recently been transformed into liberal democracies and the Soviet Union became small countries after the collapse of communism. Three former Soviet countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, attempted to join the European Union, then seven other Eastern European countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria, followed suit. On Sunday, 1 January 1995, three Western European countries, Austria, Sweden and Finland, had officially been declared as European Union member states. In 2002, the euro was made as an official currency of the European Union, then the currency was adopted by 12 (twelve) countries.

After the euro becomes the official currency of the European Union

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Western Balkan states had an idea to attempt to join the European Union, because at that time the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo had just came to an end. On Friday, 21 February 2003, Croatia attempted to join the European Union. Then, in 2004, Macedonia and Albania followed suit, then ten countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus, were officially declared as European Union member states in the same year.

On Monday, 1 January 2007, two Eastern European countries, Romania and Bulgaria, had officially been declared as European Union member states. Then in 2008, Montenegro attempted to join the European Union. On 17 February 2008, Kosovo gained its independence (de facto) from Serbia, then the government of Kosovo decided to make an attempt on joining the European Union if Serbia agrees to recognise Kosovo as an independent state (de jure). In 2009, two countries, Iceland and Serbia, attempted to join the European Union, but when Iceland attempted to do so, it was rejected by the ruling party in 2013. In 2016, one country attempted to join the European Union, which is Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereas another country (the United Kingdom) held a referendum to get out of the European Union, where 51.9% of the voters agreed. In 2020, United Kingdom has been officially declared no longer a member state of the European Union.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alternative history: What if the Soviet Union never invaded Afghanistan?

Alternative history: What if Nur Muhammad Taraki was never assassinated? What if the Soviet Union never invaded Afghanistan? Context In 1973, Afghanistan became a republic and Zahir Shah abdicated. Then in 1978, the Saur Revolution happened, when there was a coup d'état led by PDPA under Nur Muhammad Taraki against the republican government led by Daoud Khan. In 1979, Nur Muhammad Taraki was assassinated after he went off the aeroplane in Kabul after returning from Moscow. Because of the assassination of Nur Muhammad Taraki, the USSR invaded Afghanistan. After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, hardline Islamic organisations allegedly funded by Saudi Arabia waged jihad against the communist government. In 1992, the Taliban, a political party formed by hardline Islamic organisations allegedly funded by Saudi Arabia began to gain inroads into Afghanistan. In the 1990s, the Taliban came into power by forcing their radial values to be implemented in Afghanistan. In 2001, the USA invade
Read more

Alternative history: What if Franz Ferdinand was never assassinated?

Alternative history: What if Franz Ferdinand was never assassinated? Context World War I began in 1914. The main cause of it was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by a student of Slavic descent due to discontent over the rule of Austria-Hungary on the Slavic lands. After Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, conflict between imperialist states (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey) and nationalist states (France, Britain, Russia, Serbia, Belgium, Montenegro, Japan, Italy, Romania, Portugal, Hicaz, China, Greece and Siam), which intensified into a worldwide conflict and became World War I. During World War I, the imperialist states lost, then the treaty of Versailles was ratified to end the conflict, which made some German politicians, including Adolf Hitler, disappointed. But what if the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was just an unsuccessful attempt? Skenario During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, nationalism as an ideology had been spreading throughout the w
Read more

Liyangan

Liyangan adalah sebuah situs arkeologi di Kabupaten Temanggung, Jawa Tengah yang terdiri dari candi Hindu dan reruntuhan pemukiman kuno. Situs Liyangan terletak di sebelah barat Gunung Sindoro. Situs Liyangan mendapatkan namanya dari desa dimana situs tersebut berada. Situs Liyangan ditemukan pada tahun 2008.   Di Liyangan, terdapat jejak peradaban yang telah bertumbuh dari fase ke fase sejak abad ke-6 Masehi yang kemudian terkubur akibat erupsi Gunung Sindoro pada abad ke-11 Masehi. Situs Liyangan dikaitkan dengan Layang oleh sebagian arkeolog, dimana Layang merupakan daerah kekuasaan Rakai Layang Dyah Tlodhong. Kalaupun benar, situs Liyangan merupakan daerah kekuasaan watak (daerah otonom) yang dipimpin oleh Dyah Tlodhong, raja Mataram. Rakai Dyah Tlodhong kemudian diangkat menjadi putra mahkota setelah menjadi penguasa di watak Layang saat dia menggantikan Mpu Daksa yang merebut singgasana dari kekuasaan Balitung. Pemerintahan Dyah Tlodhong ditandai dengan adanya pembangu
Read more