Europe’s Economic Community

Abstract

The European Community or, as it is more simply known, the EC, currently has twelve members. These are Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy and Ireland. These countries have adopted a common external tariff against imports into the EC and certain common policies in certain key areas such as regional policy, transport policy and policy with respect to the movement of labour and capital. Two important policies are summarised below, but first we consider the static and dynamic effects of abandoning trade restrictions within the EC.