Fabio Nitsche, Martin Tieber, Chloé Cloison
First draft:
Why
was joining the EU the best move France could make at the time?
Introduction
With
the current Eurozone crisis, many member countries reflect on their
reasons for joining the EU. Especially the nations gravely affected
by the crisis are in doubt if staying in the Union would prove to be
a wise decision. This thinking gave rise to many anti-European
parties throughout the continent. Although economically and
politically strong countries like France were also hit hard by the
crisis, they are willing to spend billions in order to keep the Union
together. To understand this move it is important to know the
reasoning behind the creation of the European Union and the
intentions of its “founding fathers”.
1.
Reasons why France was one of the founders of the EU
The
European Union was founded by France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux
states in 1957 with the signing of the Treaty of Rome. It was the
successor of the European Coal and Steal Community (ECSC) and the
European Economic Community (EEC). These organisations were created
to prevent war between France and Germany and to strengthen the
economic recuperation as well as the political relations in Europe.
Being a founding member of all these organisations, France was
rewarded with huge influence within the European Union and solid
economic growth. With the end of the Second World War Europe had
endured a century marked by conflicts, mainly between Germany and
France, so French politicians sought a solution to prevent these two
nations from ever confronting each other again. By including the
Benelux states, France acquired the means to put pressure on Germany,
should the need arise, due to a longer common border. Additionally
the threat of the USSR expanding further to the west, as well as the
possibility of another dictator rising should be diminished.
2.
Benefits from 1951 to 2013
Although
this seemed to be reason enough, France also benefitted from the
Union. Faster restoration from the devastation brought about by WWII,
less complicated trade between the member states. Throughout the
second half of the 20th century their membership in the continuously
growing European Union opened new markets for the French economy.
This led to an immense rise in exports, resulting in the expansion of
many nationally restricted French companies, such as Peugeot, Citroen
and L’Oréal. Due to the economic upwind the political relations
prospered. Facing the powerful Warsaw Pact, Western Europe’s
several centuries lasting conflicts were resolved, in order to
strengthen the European unification. This attitude became even
stronger as Francois Mitterrand became president of France in 1981.
Together with the Federal Republic of Germany’s chancellor Helmut
Kohl, who was also a strong supporter of the idea of a unified
Europe, he established the foundation for a common currency. It took
another 20 years until this currency, the euro, was finally put into
circulation. Using its influence in the last 30 years, France
profited, more than most other EU-members, from the Union’s
uninterrupted growth.
3.
Future benefits
Although
the still continuing financial crisis, which started in the US in
2007/08, spread to Europe, driving some European countries to the
brink of bankruptcy, affected France only slightly. Unlike in
Ireland, Spain or Italy, the French economy more or less recuperated
within the next years, and in 2012/13 was strong enough to support
the ESM, guaranteeing France even more political power in the future.
Due to new countries joining the Eurozone or the Union itself, even
stronger economic ties are created.
As
a result of international trade inside of the Union being
continuously simplified, the French enterprises are often preferred
over Northern American as well as Asian competitors. This is best
shown by the memberlist of the G8, which was founded by 8 strongest
national economies at the time. France still being one of the leading
countries in terms of economy, could eventually be replaced by
emerging countries like Brazil or India, but will due to its
important role in the European Union always be a global player.
Thanks to the pursuit of European expansion, France will be able to
stand its ground in the future.
Conclusion
Since
the Middle Ages, France has always been an essential part of Europe.
Through its contribution as a founding member of the European Union,
as well as being a strong supporter of the monetary union, the French
assumed an even bigger role in Europe’s economic, cultural and
political development in the second half of the 20th and the
beginnings of the 21st century. After the loss of most of their
territories abroad, the waning colonial power, managed to reestablish
another sphere of influence in Europe. This sphere is going to
further expand due to new members joining the Union and also as a
result of France’s money lending policy, which force the receiving
countries in partial dependence. Although some may argue that it was
a faux-pas to create the EU, the bigger picture shows, especially on
the example of France that it was the right thing to do.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Feedback Summary:
The
feedback was overall not bad, some comments were made correcting
colloquial expressions. There were some phrases in our text, which were
criticized, and several suggestions were made how to improve the text
overall.
We
corrected most of our faults, which were mostly made due to time
issues. Yet we had to argue with some suggestions, because our statement
that the Benelux states would stand with France and not Germany was
criticized. We were questioned why the Benelux states would do such a
thing. Simply because they were overrun twice by the Germans. In both
World Wars. And to prevent this of course they would stand with France.
We included several corrections from the other group's text into our own.
While
looking through the questions ourselves, we saw that some of our key
ideas got repeated in different paragraphs, but as the French's
intentions remained the same, we had to mention some parts more than
once. All unclear references have been cleared, assuming you have a
basic knowledge of history.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Corrected version:
Why
was joining the EU the best move France could make at the time?
Introduction
With
the current Eurozone crisis, many member countries reflect on their
reasons for joining the EU. Especially the nations gravely affected
by the crisis are in doubt if staying in the Union would prove to be
a wise decision. This thinking gave rise to many anti-European
parties throughout the continent. Although economically and
politically strong countries like France were also hit hard by the
crisis, they are willing to spend billions in order to keep the Union
together. To understand this move it is important to know the
reasoning behind the creation of the European Union and the
intentions of its “founding fathers”.
1.
Reasons why France was one of the founders of the EU
The
European Union was founded by France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux
states in 1957 with the signing of the Treaty of Rome. It was the
successor of the European Coal and Steal Community (ECSC) and the
European Economic Community (EEC). These organisations were created
to prevent war between France and Germany and to strengthen the
economic recuperation as well as the political relations in Europe.
Being a founding member of all these organisations, France was
rewarded with huge influence within the European Union and solid
economic growth. The end of World War II marked the conclusion of a
conflict-ridden time period, mainly between Germany and France. As a
result French politicians sought a solution to prevent these two
nations from ever waging war against each other. By including the
Benelux states, France acquired the means to put pressure on Germany,
should the need arise, due to a longer common border. Additionally
the threat of the USSR expanding further to the west, as well as the
possibility of another dictator rising should be diminished.
2.
Benefits from 1951 to 2013
Although
this seemed to be reason enough, France also benefitted from the
Union. Faster restoration from the devastation brought about by WWII,
less complicated trade between the member states. Throughout the
second half of the 20th century their membership in the continuously
growing European Union opened new markets for the French economy.
This led to an immense rise in exports, resulting in the expansion of
many nationally restricted French companies, such as Peugeot, Citroen
and L’Oréal. Due to the economic upwind the political relations
prospered. Facing the powerful Warsaw Pact, Western Europe’s
several centuries lasting conflicts were resolved, in order to
strengthen the European unification. This attitude became even
stronger as Francois Mitterrand became president of France in 1981.
Together with the Federal Republic of Germany’s chancellor Helmut
Kohl, who was also a strong supporter of the idea of a unified
Europe, he established the foundation for a common currency. It took
another 20 years until this currency, the euro, was finally put into
circulation. Using its influence in the last 30 years, France
profited, more than most other EU-members, from the Union’s
uninterrupted growth.
3.
Future benefits
Although
the
still continuing financial crisis, which started in the US in
2007/08, spread to Europe, driving some European countries to the
brink of bankruptcy, affected France only slightly. Unlike in
Ireland, Spain or Italy, the French economy more or less recuperated
within the next years, and in 2012/13 was strong enough to support
the ESM (European Security Mechanism, created to save economically
endangered countries), guaranteeing France even more political power in
the future.
Due to new countries joining the Eurozone or the Union itself, even
stronger economic ties are created. As
a result of international trade inside of the Union being
continuously simplified, the French enterprises are often preferred
over Northern American as well as Asian competitors. This is best
shown by the memberlist of the G8, which was founded by 8 strongest
national economies at the time. France still being one of the leading
countries in terms of economy, could eventually be replaced by
emerging countries like Brazil or India, but will due to its
important role in the European Union always be a global player.
Thanks to the pursuit of European expansion, France will be able to
stand its ground in the future.
Conclusion
Since
the Middle Ages, France has always been an essential part of Europe.
Through its contribution as a founding member of the European Union,
as well as being a strong supporter of the monetary union, the French
assumed an even bigger role in Europe’s economic, cultural and
political development in the second half of the 20th and the
beginnings of the 21st century. After the loss of most of their
territories abroad, the waning colonial power, managed to reestablish
another sphere of influence in Europe. This sphere is going to
further expand due to new members joining the Union and also as a
result of France’s money lending policy, which force the receiving
countries in partial dependence. Although some may argue that it was
a faux-pas to create the EU, the bigger picture shows, especially on
the example of France that it was the right thing to do.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Corrected version of the essay:
Why was joining
the EU the best move France could make at the time?
With the current Eurozone crisis, many member countries reflect on their
reasons for joining the EU. Although every nation's economy experienced a
period of enormous growth, nations gravely affected by the crisis are uncertain
if staying in the Union would prove to be a wise decision. This thinking
strengthens many nationalist parties and supports their anti-european opinions
throughout Europe. Nevertheless, economically and politically strong
countries such as France are willing to spend billions in order to keep the
Union together. To understand this course of action it is important to know the
reasoning behind the creation of the European Union, the intentions of its
“founding fathers” and why this was the best possible move at the time.
The European Union was founded by France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux
states in 1957 with the signing of the Treaty of Rome. It was the successor of
the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic
Community (EEC). These organisations had been created to prevent yet another
war between France and Germany and to strengthen economic recuperation as well
as political relations in Europe. Being a founding member of all these
organisations, France acquired enormous influence within the European Union and
solid economic growth. Europe had endured a century marked by conflicts, mainly
between Germany and France. Therefore, French politicians sought a solution to
prevent these two nations from ever waging war against each other again. Additionally
the threat of the USSR expanding further to the west, as well as the
possibility of another dictator rising should be diminished. From the French
perspective the foundation of the ECSC was a genuine move.
Although the aforementioned advantages seemed to be reason enough, France
further benefited from the Union. Faster restoration from the devastation
brought about by WWII, less complicated trade between the Member States and the
opening of new markets in the continuously growing European Union. This led to
an immense rise in exports, resulting in the international expansion of many
French companies, such as Peugeot, Citroen and L’Oréal. Due to the economic
boom and the powerful peace threatening Warsaw Pact, Western Europe’s several
centuries lasting conflicts were resolved and political relations prospered.
The unification movement became even stronger when Francois Mitterrand became
president of France in 1981. Together with the Federal Republic of Germany’s
chancellor, Helmut Kohl, who was also a strong supporter of the idea of a
unified Europe, he established the foundation for a common currency. It took
another 20 years until this currency, the euro, was finally put into
circulation. Using its influence during the last 30 years, France had profited,
more than most other EU Members, from the Union’s uninterrupted growth.
Although the still continuing financial crisis, which started in the US in
2007/08, spread to Europe, drove some European countries to the brink of
bankruptcy, affected France only slightly. Unlike in Ireland, Spain or Italy,
the French economy more or less recuperated within the following years, and in
2012/13 was strong enough to support the European Security Mechanism (ESM),
guaranteeing France even more political power in the future. Due to new
countries joining the Eurozone or the Union itself, even stronger economic
bonds were strengthened. As a result of international trade inside of the Union
being continuously simplified, French enterprises are often preferred over North
American or Asian competitors. This is best shown by the memberlist of the G8,
which was founded by the eight strongest national economies at the time. Though
France is still one of the leading countries in terms of economy, it could
eventually be replaced by emerging countries like Brazil or India, but will
always be a global player, due to its important role in the European Union.
Thanks to the pursuit of European expansion, France will be able to stand its
ground in the future.
Since the Middle Ages, France has always been an fundamental part of
Europe. Through their contribution as a founding member of the European Union,
as well as being a strong supporter of the monetary union, the French assumed
an even bigger role in Europe’s economic, cultural and political development in
the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. After the
loss of most of their territories abroad, the waning colonial power had managed
to reestablish another sphere of influence in Europe. This sphere is going to
expand further as new members join the Union and also as a result of France’s
money lending policy, which forces the receiving countries into partial
dependence. Although some may argue that it was a faux pas to create the EU, the
bigger picture shows, especially by the example of France, that it was the
right thing to do.
Martin Tieber:
http://martinmafntieber.blogspot.co.at/
Chloé Cloison:
Added as soon as we get the address.
