Founding member of what is now called the EU
General European background
The Federal Republic of Germany, one of the world’s major
industrialized nations, is a founding member of what is now
called the EU, which was created in 1957 under the Treaty of
Rome.
The signatories to the treaty agreed to form a common
market by abolishing all customs barriers within the Union. This
involved creating common external tariffs for imports from
non-member countries, allowing freedom of movement of capi-
tal and labor within the Union, as well as harmonizing economic
policies, legal and taxation systems, and social conditions. In
recent years, the EU has been increasingly active in the area
of company law harmonization, including requirements for the
format of fnancial statements, and has issued directives on
consumer protection, fair-trade practices, antitrust regulations,
and specifc taxes.
In 1993 the single European market came
into existence. The Maastricht Treaty, which established the EU,
also entered into force in 1993. This treaty between the 15 (at
the time) Member States of the EU defnes the following three
fundamental objectives:
– Economic and monetary union
– Common foreign and security policy
– Close cooperation in legal and internal matters
EU Forecast
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