Well the effects and outcome maybe is different than what they originally planned but you can't deny that it all started to create stability and peace in the region. Economic growth is one of the things that prevents people going to war and shoot eachother.
Only desperate people go to war.
I don't believe for one minute the EU\Common Market\Euro has ANYTHING to do with the last 68 years of peace in Europe, nor has it anything to do with Economic growth that has come since 1945, China isn't in the EU and look where they are now, the US isn't in the EU either, it just happens that we have had economic prosperity in Europe along with the rest of the World.
Desperate people don't go to War, Political Leaders go to War, desperate people get SENT to DIE.
The EU has pathetic Immigration controls that allows people to travel across a whole continent to claim Asylum here in the UK.
The European Court of Human Rights tells the UK GOVERNMENT that it must allow people in Prison the right to vote or that we can't deport a known Terrorist . I do admit the ECHR does have good ideas like Worker protection etc but the good things are overshadowed by the Lunatic ideas they come out with. The EU needs reforming from the ground up or the UK should simply pull out.