by Aaron Dollhausen

Created on: July 25, 2009

For all of the European Union's problems, it stands as a model of what countries could achieve if they were to cooperate. The EU may be enmeshed in a bureaucracy that is not supported by actual policy, policies which are supposed to unite and benefit but lead to strife instead, and may not be completely united politically and militarily. Inspire of all this, the EU's economic potential has the ability to make it a true super-state in every way.

The main reason for the economic success of the European Union comes from two factors: pooled resources and competitive edge. Since the European Union is comprised of twenty seven member nations, its economic output is the largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity which makes it the largest growth domestic product; and therefore, economy; in the world. Besides the Economic Community of Central African States, the European Union is the second largest trade bloc in the world. The effect of these attributes has made the EU are very lucrative market. Besides the impressive economical numbers, the European Union is the headquarters to one-hundred and seventy of the five hundred largest corporations, based on revenue.

The sheer economic development of the EU have allowed European companies significant investment ability which has opened markets in the Middle East and Asia, which are closed to the United States, according to Nick Butler, in his article "Future Perfect Union." In fact, the European Union is the biggest trading partner to both India and China. Additionally, European Union nations are the largest investors in Russia.

These reasons have made the prospect of joining the European Union nearly irresistible to any prospective nation.

Once members of the European Union, national economies are supported by the European Union Employment and Social Policy which encourages job creation, this is indicated by the sidebar entitled "Toward a More Perfect Union" within Felipe Gonzalez's article "European Union and Globalization." This mandate allows potential European employees and business owners several avenues of assistance. These avenues include improvements in vocational training, assistance in setting up businesses, fair pay, and greater safety in the workplace. These were originally defined in the 1992 Maastricht treaty and then signed into law in 1997 in Amsterdam.

The four pillars of the European Union allows for the expansion of the union as a whole. The first pillar is the Economic and Monetary

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