ABSTRACT
Questions of trade are fundamental to the European Union’s DNA. In 1957, the original parties to the Treaty of Rome decided to create a customs union, a single trade area with a common external tariff. Through trade, the architects of the European Economic Community (EEC) hoped to consolidate peace, bring about economic prosperity and cement certain capitalist ideals at the heart of Europe. In this they were largely successful. Many of the fundamental ideas about markets and their benefits, as well as the structures spawned to promote them, can still be seen in the EU’s current make-up – the EU is first and foremost a large, coordinated market, tempered by elements of ‘social Europe’, and its treaties, laws and judgments reflect this.
