ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU) has been pressured to take action on prostitution and the "trafficking" of women, resulting in a series of measures on the latter issue, including binding joint actions and frameworks of the European Council, the top institution of the EU. The European Union is the successor institution of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the later European Community (EC), originally founded by the Treaty of Rome with the purpose of developing a single economic market. Originally, there were six member states; after several enlargements, there are now 28 members, at least until the UK leaves. The 1996 accession of Sweden, Austria, and Finland and the 2004 accession of Central and Eastern European States (CEES) have been important for the development of the policy area of trafficking of humans. While originally the main goal of the EEC and EC was economic integration, the Maastricht Treaty, which established the EU, expanded the scope of its supranational competences.
