The UN is a world organization, but it does little to deal
with economics. Trade and economic cooperation
between countries is very powerful.
European
Union (EU)
Trade agreements and coalitions already exist
in various places all over the world.
You may have heard of NAFTA (North American Free Trade
Agreement). The United States, Mexico, and Canada are
members of that group. That means that those countries exercise
free trade between each other. It is not totally free trade though.
The tariffs between the countries are reduced or eliminated
depending upon the product.
Alex Covarrubias. Creative Commons 2.5, October 2007.
Heraldry. Creative Commons 3.0, 2009.
European
Union
Today, the
European
Union is the
most powerful
and strongest
economic
cooperative in
the world.
Watch the map
to the right as it
grows over
time.
THE POWER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
•The EU has a court system, a parliament, a
budget, collective foreign policy and even
specific leaders of the legislative and
executive branches.
•They have made laws including protection of the environment,
they provide humanitarian aid and provide loans when needed.
•However, the most powerful aspect of the EU is the ability of all of
the member countries to work together economically. Acting
together, the members of the EU have the most powerful
economy in the world. This is not something they could achieve
separately.
•Yet despite this power, many members of the EU still maintain
some economic independence. England, for example, does not
use the EU’s money system, known as the EURO.
Together, the EU
boasts a powerful
GDP.
The EU has even developed its
own military technology to share
with member countries.
The EU donates more
food and supplies than
any other economic
cooperative in the world.
The borders between European
countries are often unprotected
and unguarded.
Rock Cohen, Creative Commons 3.0, July 2007.
If it benefits countries to work together, why do we
see so much fighting between countries in the world?