The European Integration Process

The idea of a united Europe was supported for centuries by leaders and intellectuals alike, but only after World War II European states institutionalized forms of international cooperation, with expertise in specific areas such as: the Organisation for Economic Cooperation, the European Economic Community, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the Western European Union (WEU). These organisations have established a closer solidarity among European states, while exhibiting the classic features of a union of states and intergovernmental cooperation. The European Union has witnessed during the last two decades a number of major changes and has taken a new look through a series of successive treaties (the Treaty of Maastricht to which the Union devotes its name, the Treat of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon).