Britain, France, and the European Union - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 112

This fulfilled a campaign pledge, and reflected safety concerns after the
Japanese melt down in Fukushima after the tsunami. He also continued
a ban on fracking for natural gas. Third, he recommended a 40% cut in
European Union carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and a 60% reduction
by 2040. Hollande called for a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
The European Union has strong policies to protect the environment.
Unlike the individual countries analyzed in this topic, the EU is a federa-
tion of sovereign countries. Its importance is twofold: (1) as a transition
between being an international collection of nations to becoming a single
government, and (2) for its strong influence in national policies to protect
the natural environment.
The idea of a “United States of Europe” has been proposed multiple
times. Its chief goal has been to end the recurring wars that had brought
so much death and destruction to the Continent. The worst were the First
and Second World Wars that pitted Germany against France, Britain,
and Russia. In the first, 16 million soldiers and civilians died, and in the
second, 60 million or more died in Europe. Many wars in the past centuries
centered along the Rhine River with quarrels between the historic enemies
of Germany and France. After the war, wise leaders from these two coun-
tries decided the best way to start would be to foster economic cooperation.
In 1950 the French foreign minister Robert Schuman, proposed a
European Coal and Steel Community as the centerpiece of a supranational
organization. He said the goal was to “make war not only unthinkable but
materially impossible.” Without steel there could be no guns, munitions,
tanks, or battleships. Because of the location of coal mines, iron ore, and
water transportation, the steel industry was centered in a geographical
area of northeast France, northwest Germany, and the Low Countries.
(Ironically, this most polluting of all industries became the foundation
for the environmentally conscious European Union.) The following year
the five countries signed a treaty establishing the ECSC. As envisioned by
the Schuman Plan, this created the High Authority (now the European
Commission) and the Common Assembly (now the European Parliament).
During the 1950s, the benefits of broader economic cooperation became
apparent, so in 1957 the five countries, plus Italy, signed the Treaty of Rome.
The key feature was a customs union among The Six. Goods could be trans-
ported and sold without tariffs and restrictions. This was an immediate