The power of indicators in making European states governable in the Europe 2020 strategy

The European Union (EU) is fundamentally an economic union. It was formed in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome. The initial target of the six founding members was to begin a process towards a European single market. This project focused mainly on the removal of barriers to free trade between the parties of the treaty. However, from the very beginning there was also an aim towards deeper political co-operation and a broader European project. Today, this has resulted in a union of 28 states with different industrial and public finance structures, political governing systems, social policy targets, national health systems, agricultural production structures and changing domestic political settings. During the last decades, the EU has been focusing (more or less) on closer integration in terms of a common constitution, a monetary union, and taking steps towards common foreign and security policy. Simultaneously, voices critical of closer integration and increased power of the union over its member states have become louder, ultimately leading to the decision of the UK to exit the EU as a result of a referendum in 2016. One of the key arguments of those advocating the Brexit decision was the claim that the UK would be economically stronger and better off outside the union, and would have the power to decide its own financial and economic policies.