Question

The primary purpose of the European Common Market (European Community) was to:

• A. Create a central location for the distribution of goods.
• B. Force Eastern European nations to change their trading partners.
• C. Establish a tariff-free flow of goods among member nations.
• D. Promote a one-product economy.

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

Establish a tariff-free flow of goods among member nations.

The primary purpose of the European Common Market was to establish a tariff-free flow of goods among member nations. In 1957, the European Common Market was formed by six industrialized Western nations to expand trade by ending tariffs and allowing capital and labor to move freely across the borders of these European nations. The Common Market was a trade agreement, not a distribution center for goods. It was only for Western industrialized countries. The Common Market did not reduce dependence on foreign oil reserves as the Arab Embargo of the 1970s demonstrated. The Common Market was for industrialized and diversified economies.