This chapter provides a historical overview of the evolution of European cooperation. It first sketches the historical background to several initiatives for international cooperation after the Second World War. It then discusses the way the EU evolved from the initial founding of the European Coal and Steel Community into what is now the European Union. In doing so it looks at the evolution of its policies, institutions and membership over the decades and highlights major international events and crises that affected developments. The chapter shows that the process of bringing the European countries together was long and winding with many fits and starts. Periods of rapid change and innovation have alternated with long stretches of gridlock and stalemate. The process was often erratic because of fundamentally different views on the nature, pace and scope of integration. While the term ‘European Union’ suggests that the organization was swiftly put in place on the basis of a solid design, the EU in essence is a patchwork that has been stitched together in a step-by-step fashion over the course of seven decades.

The EU is an example of an orderly confidence-building process enabling governments to gradually yield elements of national prerogative to supranational institutions. Seeking to establish a foundation for greater integration to make future wars in Europe impossible, a gradual approach was adopted, starting with the European Coal and Steel Community as an area where the benefits of cooperation after the war were most obvious. Building on this, the Treaties of Rome were signed in 1957 establishing the European Economic Community. A 1978 decision of the European Court of Justice established the principle of mutual recognition of decisions in any one state among all other European states. The Single European Act of 1987 removed the requirement for unanimity in decisions, followed by the Europe 1992 program, which streamlined and then eliminated border controls. The European Parliament evolved from an advisory group of national parliamentarians to a directly elected body. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty called for a common currency and gave legal meaning to the concept of union citizenship. The 2009 Treaty of Lisbon expanded European competences, strengthening the European Parliament. There have been ups and downs, and countries advancing at different paces, yet the Union has expanded to 28 members.