The objective of this paper is to reflect on how the historical lessons on the process of integration followed by the European Union (EU) can be used to shape and reflect about the process of economic integration that is been implemented in the East African Community (EAC). It will do so by providing a historical view of the process of common market (CM) and monetary union (MU), highlighting the main drivers and obstacles in both processes. It will focus on both the common market and the monetary union, because understanding the problems with the current monetary union in the Eurozone requires first understanding the institutional complexity and completeness required to implement the common market.