Chapter 4 THE EUROPEAN UNION Background The devastation of the war and the necessity to rebuild Europe inspired statesmen like Konrad Adenauer, Winston Churchill, Alcide de Gasperi, Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet and Paul-Henri Spaak to set about creating a new order for Western Europe. The implementation of this new regime started modestly with the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950. He proposed a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) transferring sovereignty to a supra-national ‘High Authority’ to share the production of these two basic war industries and prevent the reoccurrence of war between the two arch-enemies, France and Germany. The Treaty of Paris 1951 laid the foundations and created this first European Community. The founding Member States, besides France and Germany, were Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The success of the High Authority, under Jean Monnet, encouraged the founders to create two more European Communities. In 1957 two treaties were adopted in Rome. One set up the European Economic Community (EEC), the other created the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). The Preamble of the EEC Treaty of Rome discloses the long-term aim of “lay- ing the foundations of an ever closer union of the peoples of Europe”. Indeed, fifty years after 1957, a much closer union has been achieved and the dream of an almost federalist Europe has been crystallized step by step. The principle of uniting peoples, not States, contributed to a progressive evolution towards integration of the peoples of Europe, transferring the sovereignty of states in certain domains gradually to the organs of the EEC, the European Community (EC) the European Union (EU). The creation of a harmonised legal regime contributed to the uniformity of the social and labour laws in the Member States that are relevant to our study. The evolution of the integration of Europe can be surveyed ratione personae and ratione materiae. 33 From ILO Standards to EU Law: The Case of Equality between Men and Women at Work The Scope of European Integration Ratione Personae The six founding Member States of the three Communities were joined in 1973 by the UK, Ireland and Denmark. In 1981 Greece became the tenth Member. In 1986 Spain and Portugal joined and in 1995 Sweden, Finland and Austria became Members. The EC of fifteen members was enlarged in 2004 by ten new members: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. In January 2007 Bulgaria and Romania joined, increasing the membership of the EC to twenty seven States, almost doubling the number of Member States as of the beginning of the century. The population of the EU reaches almost 500 million people who are governed by the same legal system and by the same norms. The Scope of European Integration Ratione Materiae The sources of EU law deserve special attention. However, at this stage only the basic Treaties progressively adopted during the last five decades will be enumerated: – The Treaty of Rome (EEC) 1957 – The Single European Act (SEA) 1986 – The Treaty on European Union (TEU) (The Treaty of Maastricht) 1992 – The Treaty of Amsterdam (ToA) 1997 – The Treaty of Nice 2000 – The Treaty on the EU Constitution, was rejected by the referendum in France and the Netherlands in spring 2005. – The Treaty of Lisbon 2007. These are the primary sources of law of the EC/EU. The Constitution has not yet been adopted and is not binding. The Reform Treaty launched by the Brussels European Council and the Lisbon European Council 2007 revived the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights to endow it with legal force, and it is hoped that the revised instruments will be ready for ratification before 2009. The Treaty of Rome 1957, the founding Treaty, launched the economic aims of the EEC by creating a barrier-free area where four freedoms dominate: freedom of circulation of persons, freedom of circulation of goods, freedom of circulation of services, and freedom of circulation of capital. These freedoms were implemented by 1992, the date stipulated in the Single European Act (SEA) 1986 for the completion of the single internal market. The aims of the EEC are enshrined in Article 3 of the Treaty of Rome. The SEA amended the Treaty of Rome, accelerating integration and enlarging the scope of activity of the EC to include environmental and consumer protection. The SEA amendments also 34.