Europe was a powerful continent, which ended with World War II. Europe was in ruins then, but even so it was the beginning of a new golden age. Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman were convinced that the war began because Europe was not united. This is why they founded the European Union (EU). They wanted to build a union that would permanently banish conflict. In 1951 it started with agreements between six countries, moving on to the creation of a common market in 1957. In 1957 the six members were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, now the EU has 25 members. On January 1, 2002, 12 European countries adopted a new single currency, the euro. In June 2004, the 25 EU governments agreed on the Union's first written Constitution. At the moment the European project appears troubled. Economically the EU is falling further and further behind the United States, politically the members are arguing over Iraq, the management of the Euro and the constitution. The new EU constitution represents an effort to maintain and deepen European unity. It must be approved by all 25 countries, otherwise it will be unclear where the new constitution will lead. A piece in our timesVerdun is the bloodiest battlefield in Europe. Due to the fact that in 1916 almost 800,000 people were killed or injured. Louis Delors was also seriously injured. His son, Mr. Delor, now founded the Montaire union of France, Germany and other European countries. Mr. Kohl, one of Mr. Delor's two employees, argued that the introduction of the euro was a matter of war and peace. When the drafting of the European Constitution was delayed, Elmar Brok (EU member) warned that if Europe failed to reach an agreement to draft a European Constitution, Europe would risk an outbreak similar to the First World War. Timothy Carton Ash (observer of European affairs) states in a recent book that the EU is needed to pretend to fall back into the old, bad ways of war and European barbarism. Mr Carton Ash believes that we could never demonstrate that a set of powerful independent European democracies on a continental scale could exist in the same peaceful way, without the existence of the EU. Those who believe in the peaceful effects of the desire for European unity recognize the contribution to peace in post-war Europe. But they believe the EU has played an important role, forcing European leaders to cooperate.