During the next decades the number of members of the EC has doubled stretching from Eire in the West to Greece in the East (United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal). This was a move beyond the area of economics, since a "community" suggests a society characterized by solidarity and co-operation. The treaty of Maastricht, which was signed in February 1992, "transformed" the European Communities into the "European Union"(EU), proposing a number of institutional changes. The EU, besides economy, plays an important role in most state activities, such as justice, social policies, agriculture planning etc. As globalization has created a new economic environment during the last decade, the EU countries, in order to face competition from the US, decided to develop stronger economic bonds by creating European Economic Community (EEC).
Examining all these processes in Europe after Second World War we can sight many advantages for the countries that participated in these institutions. First of all, peace and stability; post war Europe instead of collapsing due to the great catastrophe it showed great progress . The main problem it had to face was the Franco-German relations. French were reluctant to permit Germany's economic growth and revival of military potential-although it was obvious that the French revival could only place in the context of a wider West European recovery. So when in the early fifties the ECSC appeared, it seen was as a first step towards uniting W.Europe politically. In every case peace is the necessary background for the prosperity of every nation- and such organizations (like the UN) can provide these conditions. Examining, though, the founding treaties of "European organizations" these can be characterized as "economic oriented". The notion of a common market enabled Western Europe countries to have an economic progress as a whole- organizing democratic nations with.
