History
European Integration process started in 1950s when leaders of various European countries joined forces to avert a 3rd war over the European Continent. It was widely expected that if third world war happens then most probably it will take place on the European Continent and with the invention of Nuclear Weapons this war could potentially lead to total destruction of Europe.
Although EU integration has taken a different course today due to dissolution of Soviet Union, but until 1990s a desire to deter Soviet expansionist plans can also be considered as one of the main reasons for closer integration. End of the Cold War was a very significant event in 20th century, it affected almost every economic and political system of our planet. With the end of Cold War EU integration took a new meaning and in subsequent years lots of countries from Central and Eastern Europe have joined EU.
This inclusion of new members and introduction of Euro in addition to no border controls has fundamentally changed EU in remarkable ways. Although many of these developments haven't been as successful as Eurocrats argued initially. And a direct result of these developments is the rising tide of euroscepticism in Europe.
2014 European Parliament Elections were a watershed moment in the history of European Integration process and EU. It was the first time that so called Eurosceptic parties namely UKIP(United Kingdom Independence Party) from the UK, National Front from France, Danish People's Party from Denmark and Coalition of the Radical Left or SYRIZA as it's popularly known from Greece emerged as the leaders in their respective countries.
This election has shown that there is something wrong with the whole integration process or atleast the way in which it has been managed by European Political Elites. In my future blog posts I'll shed light over various aspects of European Integration Project and I hope this will allow me to educate myself and others about European Integration Process.
