the european union is an example of a regional organization primarily focused on
Politics of the European Union The competencies of the European Union stem from the original Coal and Steel Community, which had as its goal an integrated market. The original competencies were regulatory in nature, restricted to matters of maintaining a healthy business environment. Rulings were confined to laws covering trade, currency, and competition. Increases in the number of EU competencies result from a process known as functional spillover. Functional spillover resulted in, first, the integration of banking and insurance industries to manage finance and investment. The size of the bureaucracies increased, requiring modifications to the treaty system as the scope of competencies integrated more and more functions. While member states hold their sovereignty inviolate, they remain within a system to which they have delegated the tasks of managing the marketplace. These tasks have expanded to include the competencies of free movement of persons, employment, transportation, and environmental regulation.