What has the EU done for Europe?

The EU has delivered more than half a century of peace, stability and prosperity, helped raise living standards and launched a single European currency: the euro. More than 340 million EU citizens in 19 countries now use it as their currency and enjoy its benefits.

Does the EU keep the peace?

We are right to ask if Europe can keep the peace. The answer is “no”. Peace in Europe owes much to other factors and the EU has done little to build peace beyond its borders. Peace within Europe has become fragile as the euro unleashes competitive pressures that pit national economies against one another.

How long has Europe been peaceful?

Europeans are now living in a 70-year period of peace. It is longer than any other in all history, in more than two thousand years. The core of today’s European Union composing France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, knew war every generation back to before Roman times.

How does the EU maintain peace?

The EU makes a real contribution to security by preventing the outbreak of conflicts or by promoting stability in its own neighbourhood. The EU’s policy instruments assist conflict prevention through the provision of resources or expertise to strengthen government institutions in fragile states.

Can the EU be accurately described as a peace project?

The answer is “no”. Peace in Europe owes much to other factors and the EU has done little to build peace beyond its borders. Peace within Europe has become fragile as the euro unleashes competitive pressures that pit national economies against one another.

Is the European Union a force for peace?

For many arguing that the UK should remain in the EU, the first and foremost claim is that it is a force for peace. A few years ago, the EU was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.

Is there a price of peace inside the European Union?

If peace was such a pre-eminent value for the EU the idealist might have expected more. Perhaps, though, this is a price of peace inside the Union. If the EU allows itself to be drawn into external conflicts prompted by its most powerful members and their interests then it could easily succumb to violence.

Does the European Union have a foreign policy?

Beyond the unilateral conduct of its members, the EU has for some time now sought to pursue a foreign policy supposedly premised on achieving peace for the world. Ever since the 1970s it has tried to adopt an independent role in global affairs, an identity based on peace.

What is the EU doing to support peace in Northern Ireland?

Closer to home, the EU has been supporting peace initiatives in Northern Ireland ever since 1995: over the next few years, it’s committed to providing a further €229m to support ‘projects that contribute towards the promotion of greater levels of peace and reconciliation’.