The way in which government and politics operate in West European politics
             says a lot about the future of the nation. Most Western European systems
             are classified as parliamentary because of the fusion of powers between the
             executive and legislature. Most are also advanced industrial democracies,
             confronting the same fundamental issues of democracy that concern American
             The European Union (EU), which was drafted in 1984, concentrated on goals
             relating to political unification for Europe (Norton, 2002). The EU called
             for a federal-type Western European government, with a two-house
             legislature. When examining the effects of the EU on Western European
             politics, it is important to look at the roots of its existence. The
             beginning of the EU's existence was actually the creation of the
             Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) in 1948. The OEEC
             was created to advance the rebuilding of war-torn Europe and to help
             distribute American financial aid (Marshall Aid) for Western Europe.
             In 1951, France and Germany created the European Coal & Steel Community
             (ECSC), which merged the coal and steel industries of the two countries
             (Norton, 2002). In 1957, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium
             and Luxembourg signed the Treaty of Rome, merging the OEEC and the ECSC
             into one economic and common marketâ€"the European Economic Community (EEC).
             In 1973, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark joined the EEC. Greece
             followed suit in 1981 and Portugal and Spain in 1986. In 1992, the EEC
             became the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden
             joined. The Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia,
             Lithuania, Estonia, Malta, and Cyprus plan to join in 2004.
             In the early 1990s, the EU started working on a Common Foreign and Security
             Policy (CFSP) and a Common European Security and Defence Policy (CESDP)
             (Norton, 2002). In 1993, the EU combined aspect...