'Despite the extenxive advances in integration in the European Union, Essay

'Despite the extenxive advances in integration in the European Union, the member states remain in the driving seat'. How accura - Essay Example ember States are Seen to Remain in the Driving Seat.† How Accurate is this Description of Where Power Lies in the European Union? Introduction The European Union The European Union which is more formally referred to as the European Economic and Monetary Union is essentially an economic and political Union that that comprises of 28 different countries that are seen to primarily located in Europe. The European Union (EU) is seen to primarily operate through a number of institutions that variously include; the European Union Council, the EU court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Commission as well as the European Parliament. The Union essentially serves to establish a common market for use by its different member states, a factor that caused the Union to eliminate the restive border controls that existed between the member states. This has allowed for the relatively free flow of both people and goods although there are however, random checks that are normally conduc ted to prevent drug trafficking and crime between the different members states (Staab, 2013). The common market formed by the European Union is seen to allow for the legal sale of products that have been manufactured in one country in another different country without the restrictive influence of any duties or tariffs. Taxes across the Union’s different member countries are also seen to have been greatly standardized. The EU is also seen to allow service providers in various fields such as medicine, banking, law, tourism, and insurance to freely operate across all the different member countries of the Union. While the formulation of successive treaties is seen to have helped provide the EU with an extensively elaborate foreign policy making machinery, the various member states of the EU are seen to not collectively mobilize their strength to help the Union fully realize its power. It is this position that is seen to raise question surrounding power in the European Union and t he general postulation that â€Å"Despite the Extensive Advances in the Integration of the European Union, the Member States are Seen to Remain in the Driving Seat.† The History of The Formation of the European Union The idea behind the formation of a unified Union Europe is seen to not be a new one. During the 9th Century, the Frankish emperor is seen to have made efforts towards the unification of Europe and ended up dominating much of Europe. During the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte is seen to have led France in an attempt to try and attain this objective and also ended up conquering a large part of Europe. During the 1930’s, the dream of having a unified Europe is seen to have been borne by Adolph Hitler who sparked the second world war in his attempt to conquer all of Europe. Throughout history, numerous wars