ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will consider the historical developments in post-Second World War Europe which led to the establishment of the two main European groupings of States, namely, the European Community (EC) and its movement towards ‘ever-increasing union’ through the formation of the European Union on the one hand, and on the other the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms entered into by the original Contracting States of the Council of Europe at a conference held in London in May 1949. Since that time, membership has grown from 21 to over 40 Member States.
