The history of the European Union (hereinafter EU) started in 1957 with the Rome treaty, that established the European Economic Community (hereinafter EEC), including in itself Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Germany1. It all started after the Second World War, when Europe was recovering from the destruction the war brought. Europe wanted to prevent another war, so new measures were needed to be taken. As parts of those steps new communities were established, such as EEC, European Coal and Steel Community (hereinafter ECSC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (hereinafter Euratom) the common goal for these communities was the European integration. Another significant reason for establishing the ECSC was to monitor and in some way to control Germany, because Germany had started both World Wars, there was little trust from other states. The EEC’s main goal was to establish a common market between the signatory states, harmonise the economic development, raise the standard of living and promote a closer relationship between the States2. In 1965 these three communities gained a common set of institutions with the signing of the Merger Treaty in Brussels, this was the first stepping stone of creating the EU.
But the EU was not officially established until February 1992, when the Maastricht treaty or the Treaty on European Union, was signed. It brought significant changes in the institutional system as the “three-pillar” structure was introduced, and the EEC was renamed as the European Community (hereinafter EC).3 More changes came when in 1996 the Treaty of Amsterdam was signed, this brought changes in the EC Treaty, by renumbering the Articles and deleting obsolete provisions. The treaty also brought changes in the pillar structure, by changing the institutions and the decision making in the pillars. …
