Provide a 9 pages analysis while answering the following question: Prerequisites for The European Union Formation and Its Development. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the

Provide a 9 pages analysis while answering the following question: Prerequisites for The European Union Formation and Its Development. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required. At this stage in history, and despite realization of the importance of integration, only six European countries, Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris (Biggs, 110-111). Great Britain, possibly encouraged by the fact that it was not part of continental Europe, refrained from signing this treaty.

The second major stage in the formation of the EU came in the form of the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and the subsequent creation of the European Economic Community. This treaty, as Gordon Weil explains, established the principles, laws and institutions for much closer economic cooperation, leading towards integration, between the member states. Again Britain refused to sign the treaty and rejected the prospect of European integration. As Loukas Tsoukalis explains, Britain's resistance, as was the case with other European countries, was based on the simple fact that it feared that it would loose its national identity and that the British state would loose its sovereignty over the country. Quite simply stated, resistance to integration was based on the fear of the consequences of integration to national identity and sovereignty (439-441).