How the European Economy Works and How This Integration Can Be Affecte Coursework - 1

How the European Economy Works and How This Integration Can Be Affected by the Recession - Coursework Example The European Union is undoubtedly one of the most flourishing business regions in the world with rich countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain. The efforts to build the integration in 25 years have paid off with a formidable team such as the European Union.   However, due to increasing global linkages, such as through bilateral and multilateral agreements, it became inevitable that the region is dragged by the recession in other countries such as what happened in the USA. The financial crisis that happened in the United States has affected a lot of its close partners such as Mexico. The European Union is one of those regions with a partnership with the US. Aside from this, the region’s economy has also some of its weaknesses. This, together with the global financial crisis that started from the US has become a threat to the region.In this paper, there is an attempt to analyze the effect of the global recession on the European Union and its member countries . First, we conduct a short study on what the integration has achieved so far in 25 years, then we look at the current figures to see the effect of the recession and lastly we analyze what this means for the future of the European Union, with a particular focus on the European business environment.Efforts to foster unity and integration between and among the European countries began in 1949, after the Second World War, when West Europe created the Council in Europe, although at this time the continent is still split between East and West   (European Commission).  Ã‚   The integration began with six European nations: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg when the Coal and Steel Treaty was signed, then expanding to nine in 1973 with the addition of Denmark, United Kingdom and Ireland   (European Commission). It took around 20 years before the expansion took place. Prior to the expansion, plans of having a single currency among the EU states was already coined,   but was only formally introduced in 2002, distributing them in 12 member countries   (European Commission). Currently, the member states of the EU number to up to around 27, with the addition of some countries like Spain, Finland and Greece.