Europe in Ten Points

The European Union in 1995 is a monument to the dedication of the early pioneers. It is the world's most advanced form of multisectoral integration, affecting economic, social, industrial-relations and foreign policies and citizens' rights in its 15 Member States. The Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (1951) and the Treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic Community and Euratom (1957), as amended by the Single European Act (1986) and the Maastricht European Union Treaty (1992), form the constitutional basis of the Union, binding its Member States more firmly than any conventional agreement between sovereign States. The Union itself generates directly applicable legislation and creates specific rights which can be invoked by its citizens. The momentum of the integration process caused Austria, Finland and Sweden to join the Union at the beginning of 1995. The collapse of the Berlin Wall, followed by German unification and the liberation from Soviet control and subsequent democratization of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, transformed the political structure of the continent. And the Fifteen are now committed to both deepening and widening the Union.