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A new Europe?

Finally, the new postwar spirit of cooperation instead of conflict was exemplified by the European desire to create an organisation that would help the development of European nations.

European Union

After World War II, there were several successive attempts to promote economic and political union in Europe, with the aim of avoiding another war. Based on the Schumann Plan of the previous year, the European Coal and Steel Community was formed by the Treaty of Paris on 18 April 1951 to create a common market for coal and steel between France, Western Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Encouraged by its success, the Treaty of Rome on 25 May 1957 formed the European Economic Community (EEC) to create a common agricultural and industrial market.

By July 1967, this organisation and several others merged into the European Community, with the United Kingdom twice applying to join (1963, 1967) but unsuccessfully. In 1973, the UK, Denmark and Ireland joined, and further enlargement brought in Greece, Spain and Portugal.

In 1986, the Single European Act and, in 1991, the Maastricht Treaty allowed for further expansion. The latter also aimed for fuller monetary and economic integration, despite opposition from British politicians such as Margaret Thatcher.

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