Europe 1992: an overview

The European Community (EC) has embarked on a program popularly referred to as Europe 1992. The aim of the program is to achieve a unified European market that will overcome the economic stagnation and unemployment of the early 1980s and improve the position of EC members in the global economy. In 1985, the European Commission proposed almost 300 specific reforms that would reduce trade barriers between EC countries by 1992. By July 1990, the Commission had begun negotiations on 60 percent of these reforms, and many of them have already been adopted. ; Linda C. Hunter examines the key measures that will contribute to European economic integration. She points out that while the gains from unification may be large, unification will benefit countries in the interior of Europe-such as Germany-more than EC-member nations on the periphery-such as Portugal, Spain, and Greece. Hunter observes that the countries on Europe's periphery may become discouraged and delay the process of unification. She concludes that while the EC may not meet all its goals by 1992, it will have made progress in liberalizing its internal trade, making Europe more integrated than it was in 1985.