gether to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The ECSC, Euratom, and EEC eventually merged into one administrative system known as the European Community which was later joined by Great Britain, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and eventually East Germany after it merged with West Germany. During the 1960s and 1970s, cooperation among the member countries was not very successful. Member countries could not put the needs of other member countries before theirs. If a country felt that a proposed ruling would harm its own economy it would not accept it. In the 1970s after a recession and the sharp increase in the cost of oil, many member countries imposed border taxes and trade quotas in order to protect their economy. By doing so, they undid the unification process which took a long time to accomplish. In the 1980s a new drive came about to reunite Europe after the countries were recovered from the recession. The Single European Act was introduced to reform the original treaties and completely eliminate barriers to creating a single unified market. For that reason, the Single Market legislative program, the most ambitious and comprehensive 'supply side? program ever launched in the world has tremendously increased production, boosted competition, and reduced prices which increased demand to help stimulate the growth of the European economy and enhance the living standards throughout Europe.
             In order to put the Single Europe Act into effect, the first task of the member countries was to eliminate all barriers. The broadest barriers have been, as you might expect, those which have been set up by the governments. Although some travelers within the European Union may still occasionally experience some delay at the Union's internal borders if the immigration officers chose to examine their passports or perform spot checks on them for drugs or other controlled substances, routine frontier controls on goods have completel...