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Evidence on the European
Economy Since 1980
Neil
Fligstein
CCOP Working Paper #2000-04
January, 2000
At the core of the European Union, has been the gradual
creation of the "single market" across western Europe. The European
Union began as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and
expanded to become the European Economic Community (EEC). The original
intent of the ECSC was to stabilize the production of steel across
Europe in order to prevent ruinous competition. The EEC formed to
expand the activities of the alliance to cooperation in agricultural
policies and various industrial policies. The Treaty of Rome which
produced the EEC, had the goal of reducing tariffs and other trade
barriers, thereby promoting free trade and economic growth. Both
Schumann and Monet, the principal intellectual architects of the
EEC felt that if the European societies had economies that were
more integrated, governments would be less tempted to engage in
military activities that would end up in war.
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