Many experts and scholars divide regional integration into five levels: the establishment of a free trade area, a customs union, a unified market, an economic and monetary union and a political union. European integration has transcended the free trade area stage from the beginning. A customs union was realized on July 1, 1968. The unified European market was basically established in 1993. The euro was successfully launched on January 1, 1999. First, in November 1999, 2 member countries have achieved monetary union, are currently in the stage of building and improving economic and monetary union, and are actively creating conditions for the realization of political union.

Customs Union The EU started from the Customs Union to establish a common market and developed towards the Economic and Monetary Union, the highest form of economic integration. Therefore, the Customs Union is the basis for the existence and development of the European Union. On July 1, 1968, the EU completed the tasks mandated by the Treaty of Rome to eliminate trade restrictions and tariffs between member states and unify the external tariff rates of each country, and established a customs union one and a half years ahead of schedule. However, although all tariffs have been eliminated and unified customs tariffs have been established among EU member states, customs procedures and many invisible barriers between member states still hinder the free flow of goods for a long time. On January 1, 1994, the EU promulgated a new customs law, which simplified customs procedures and procedures and unified customs rules.

Unified Large Market During the Milan Summit in June 1985, the European Commission formally proposed a white paper on building an internal unified large market, which listed 300 specific measures (finally set at 282), and proposed It is necessary to establish a "borderless" unified market within the European Union and truly implement the free circulation of people, goods, capital, and services.

In December 1985, the White Paper on the Unified Market was approved by the Board of Directors.

In order to promote the implementation of the "White Paper", the "Single European Document" was signed at the summit meetings held in Luxembourg and The Hague on February 17 and 28, 1986 respectively, proposing specific implementation of the 282 measures in the White Paper. plan and timetable, and proposed to formally establish a unified market by early 1993 at the latest. In addition, the document also made the first important revision to the Treaty of Rome, replacing "unanimous consent" with "effective majority" as the decision-making procedure for matters related to the unified market, which effectively facilitated the council and committee to build a unified market. effort. On January 1, 1993, the European Unified Market was announced to be basically completed and officially put into operation. After continuous improvement, the following results have been achieved:

1. Through a series of regulations on public procurement and construction markets, transparency and market supervision have been strengthened, and the public market has been opened (yet Excluding transportation, energy and telecommunications);

2. Harmonized the laws and regulations of direct tax, value-added tax and consumption tax among member states, reducing tax differences among member states;

3. Liberalize capital markets and financial services;

4. In terms of standardization, on the one hand, the EU adopts unified technical regulations, and on the other hand, member states mutually recognize technical standards and certifications, eliminating

5. Through mutual recognition of academic qualifications and technical certificates, natural persons can freely go to work in other member countries. By canceling border inspections among member states of the Schengen Agreement, people can move freely;

6. By harmonizing the corporate laws and legislation related to intellectual property rights (trademarks and patents) of member states, it creates an environment for enterprises A good foundation to facilitate industrial cooperation;

In order to further eliminate obstacles to the free movement of people, in June 1985, the five countries of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg established the Schengen Agreement in Luxembourg, a town on the border between France and Germany. Signed the agreement on the free movement of persons, referred to as the "Schengen Agreement", Italy (November 27, 1990), Spain and Portugal (November 18, 1991), Greece (November 6, 1992), Austria (1995 April 21, 2018) also joined successively. On March 26, 1995, the Schengen Agreement first came into effect in the seven countries of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain. People from the seven countries and people from other EU countries can travel freely among the seven countries. People from third countries only need to Once you obtain a Schengen visa from one country, you can travel freely among the seven countries within the validity period of the visa.

Italy and Austria began to implement the Schengen Agreement in October and December 1997 respectively. From March 31, 1998, both Italy and Austria also canceled all border inspections with Schengen countries. Greece on January 1, 2000 Implementation of the Schengen Agreement has also begun. In December 1996, Denmark, Finland and Sweden signed a protocol agreeing to join the Schengen Agreement. The UK and Ireland are not currently members of the Schengen Agreement. The Ayo signed in October 1997 integrated the achievements of the Schengen Agreement. On May 1, 1999, the "Ayo" came into effect, and the Schengen Agreement Secretariat was officially merged into the European Council Secretariat.

Economic and Monetary Union (Economic and Monetary Union) is referred to as Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). As early as Article 2 of the Treaty of Rome, the EU proposed "the establishment of an economic and monetary union." In December 1969, at the initiative of French President Pompidou, the six founding countries of the European Union held a summit and made a principled decision to establish the European Economic and Monetary Union, and in 1970 they proposed the "Werner Report" ), proposed the idea of ??establishing an economic and monetary alliance in three stages within 10 years. However, due to the impact of the U.S. dollar crisis and the oil crisis in the early 1970s, this effort failed. Countries had to seek other ways of monetary cooperation to reduce the impact of the U.S. dollar crisis.

In 1989, the Special Committee headed by European Commission President Delors once again proposed a report on the establishment of an economic and monetary union in three stages, known in history as the "Delores Report". The report was adopted at the Madrid Summit in June 1989, and the European Economic and Monetary Union began to enter a period of substantial construction. The first phase of the Economic and Monetary Union started on July 1, 1990. Its goal is to require member countries to further strengthen coordination on the basis of the European Monetary System, eliminate national foreign exchange controls, promote capital circulation, and at the same time, each member country joins the European Monetary System. The second phase of the exchange rate mechanism to reduce exchange rate fluctuations began on January 1, 1994. The European Monetary Bureau was established in Frankfurt to further coordinate the currencies of each member country. policy and strengthen the European Monetary Unit, and determine unified standards and timetables for joining the Economic and Monetary Union; the third phase will begin on January 1, 1999 at the latest, to gradually cancel the currencies of the euro area member states and gradually promote the European single currency until Completely establish an economic and monetary alliance.

On January 1, 1999, the third phase of the European Economic and Monetary Union officially began, and the euro began to be officially used in banking, foreign exchange transactions, and public bonds.