European Union
2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government
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European Union
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| Motto: In varietate concordia (Latin) "United in diversity" |
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| Anthem: Ode to Joy (orchestral) |
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| Political centres | Brussels Strasbourg Luxembourg |
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| Official languages |
23
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| Demonym | European | |||||
| Member states |
27
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| Government | Sui generis | |||||
| - | Commission | José Manuel Barroso (EPP) | ||||
| - | Parliament | Hans-Gert Pöttering (EPP) | ||||
| - | Council | Slovenia | ||||
| - | European Council | Janez Janša (EPP) | ||||
| Formation | ||||||
| - | Paris Treaty | 18 April 1951 | ||||
| - | Rome Treaty | 25 March 1957 | ||||
| - | Maastricht Treaty | 7 February 1992 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 4,324,782 km² ( 7th¹) 1,669,807 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 3.08 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2008 estimate | 497,198,740 ( 3rd¹) | ||||
| - | Density | 114/km² ( 69th¹) 289/sq mi |
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| GDP ( PPP) | 2007 ( IMF) estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $14,953 billion ( 1st¹) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $28,213 ( 14th¹) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2007 ( IMF) estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $16,574 billion ( 1st¹) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $33,482 ( 13th¹) | ||||
| Currency |
13
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| Time zone | ( UTC+0 to +2) | |||||
| - | Summer ( DST) | ( UTC+1 to +3) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .eu | |||||
| 1 | If listed among entities with traditional nation state status. | |||||
The European Union (EU) is a political and economic community of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Europe. It was established in 1993 by the Treaty of Maastricht, adding new areas of policy to the existing European Community founded in 1957.
With almost 500 million citizens the EU is generating an estimated 33% share of the world's nominal gross domestic product (US$16.6 trillion) in 2007. The EU comprises a single market created by a system of laws which apply in all member states, guaranteeing the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital. Fifteen member states have adopted a common currency, the euro. Passport control between many members has been abolished under the Schengen Agreement. The EU maintains common trade and agricultural policies, and a regional development policy. It has developed a role in foreign and security policies, and in justice and home affairs. The EU represents its members in the World Trade Organization and attends at G8 summits and at the United Nations. Twenty-one EU countries are members of NATO.
The functioning of the EU involves a hybrid of intergovernmentalism and supranationalism. Particularly the need for modereration of the single market has prompted the establishment of bodies capable of making decisions without the consent of national governments. The exact distribution of competences between member states and Union is explicitly defined in the proposed Treaty of Lisbon.
Important institutions and bodies of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Court of Justice, the European Central Bank, and the European Parliament which citizens elect every five years.
History
European Coal and Steel Community
The political climate after the end of World War II favoured Western European unity, seen by many as an escape from the extreme forms of nationalism which had devastated the continent. One of the first successful proposals for European cooperation came in 1951 with the European Coal and Steel Community. This had the aim of bringing together control of the coal and steel industries of its member states, principally France and West Germany. This was with the aim that war between them would not then be possible, as coal and steel were the principal resources for waging war. The Community's founders declared it "a first step in the federation of Europe"", with the hope that this would enable Europe to pursue the development of Africa. The other founding members were Italy, and the three Benelux countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
European Communities
Two additional communities were created in 1957: the European Economic Community (EEC) establishing a customs union, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for cooperation in developing nuclear energy. In 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities, although more commonly just as the European Community (EC).
In 1973 the European Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Norway had negotiated to join at the same time but a referendum rejected membership and so it remained outside.
The first direct, democratic elections of members of the European Parliament were held in 1979. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the European Parliament, and also the first international election in history.
Greece, Spain and Portugal joined in the 1980s. The Schengen Agreement in 1985 created largely open borders without passport controls between most member states. In 1986 the European flag began to be used and leaders signed the Single European Act. This revised the way community decision making operated to take account of its greater membership, aimed to further reduce trade barriers and introduce greater European Political Cooperation.
European Union
In 1990 after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the former East Germany became part of the Community as part of a newly reunited Germany. With enlargement toward eastern Europe on the agenda, the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the European Union were agreed.
The Maastricht Treaty came into force on 1 November 1993. Maastricht established a revised structure and the name 'European Community' officially replaced the earlier 'European Communities'. The European Community now formed one of three pillars of the new European Union, which included co-operation in matters of foreign policy and home affairs. The term European Union generally replaced the term European Community, which will be abolished by the Treaty of Lisbon along with the pillar system.
Austria, Sweden and Finland joined in 1995. The Amsterdam Treaty in 1997 amended the Maastricht treaty in areas such as democracy and foreign policy. Amsterdam was followed by the Treaty of Nice in 2001, which revised the Rome and Maastricht treaties to allow the EU to cope with further enlargement to the east.
In 2002, twelve member states adopted the euro as a single currency. Since then, the Eurozone has increased to encompassing fifteen countries. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when ten new countries, most of which former parts of the Eastern Bloc, acceded the Union. Three years later, two more joined.
A treaty establishing a constitution for the EU was signed in Rome in 2004, intended to replace all previous treaties with a single document. However, it never completed ratification after rejection by French and Dutch voters in referenda. In 2007, it was agreed to replace that proposal with a new Reform Treaty, that would amend rather than replace the existing treaties. This treaty was signed on 13 December 2007 in Lisbon and is known as the Lisbon treaty. It will come in effect in January 2009 if ratified by that date.
Member states
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The European Union is composed of 27 independent sovereign countries which are known as member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. There are three official candidate countries, Croatia, FYROM and Turkey; the western Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia are officially recognised as potential candidates.
To join the EU, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 Copenhagen European Council. These require a stable democracy which respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy capable of competition within the EU; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. Evaluation of a country's fulfilment of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council. The current framework does not specify how a country could exit the Union (although Greenland withdrew in 1985), but the proposed Treaty of Lisbon contains a formal procedure for withdrawing.
Four Western European countries that have chosen not to join the EU have partly committed to the EU's economy and regulations: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are a part of the single market through the European Economic Area, and Switzerland has similar ties through bilateral treaties. The relationships of european microstates Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein and Vatican City can include use of the euro and other co-operation.
Geography
The territory of the EU consists of the combined territories of its 27 member states with some exceptions outlined below. The territory of the EU is not the same as that of Europe, as parts of the continent are outside the EU, such as Switzerland, Norway and European Russia. Some parts of member countries are not part of the EU, despite forming part of the European continent (for example the Channel Islands and Faroe Islands). Several territories associated with member states that are outside geographic Europe are also not part of the EU (such as Greenland, Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles and all the non-European territories associated with the United Kingdom). Some overseas territories are part of the EU even if they are not geographically part of Europe, such as the Azores, the Canary Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Madeira, Martinique, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin.
The EU's member states cover a combined area of 4,422,773 square kilometres (1,707,642 sq mi). The total territory of the EU is larger than all but six countries and its highest peak is Mont Blanc in the Graian Alps, 4807 metres above sea level. The landscape, climate and economy of the EU are influenced by its coastline, which is 69,342 kilometres (43,087 mi) long. The EU has the world's second longest coastline, after Canada. The combined member states share land borders with 21 non-member states for a total of 12,441 kilometres (7,730 mi), the fifth longest border in the world.
Including the overseas territories of member states, the EU experiences most types of climate from Arctic to tropical, rendering meteorological averages for the EU as a whole meaningless. In practice, the majority of the population lives either in areas with a Mediterranean climate (Southern Europe), a temperate maritime climate (Western Europe), or a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate (Eastern Europe).
Governance
The EU is based on a series of treaties. These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties. The treaties lay down the broad policy goals of the organisation and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislation which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants (the principle of ' direct effect'). National courts are required to enforce the EU treaties and the laws enacted under them, as membership of the organisation obliges them to do so. In the case of a conflict where a law stemming from EU legislation conflicts with another national law, the EU law is considered to take precedence (principle of ' Supremacy'). Decisions regarding EU legislation may be referred to the European Court of Justice by national courts. The EU is regulated by a number of institutions, primarily the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, and European Parliament.
The EU is often described as being divided into three areas of responsibility, called ' pillars'. The original European Community policies form the first pillar, while the second consists of Common Foreign and Security Policy. The third pillar originally consisted of Justice and Home Affairs, however owing to changes introduced by the Amsterdam and Nice treaties, it currently only consists of Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters. Broadly speaking, the second and third pillars can be described as the intergovernmental pillars because the supranational institutions of the Commission, Parliament and the Court of Justice play less of a role or none at all, while the lead is taken by the intergovernmental Council of Ministers and the European Council. Most activities of the EU come under the first, Community pillar. This is mostly economically oriented and the supranational institutions have more influence.
Commission
The European Commission acts as the EU's executive arm and is responsible for initiating legislation and the day-to-day running of the EU. It is intended to act solely in the interest of the EU as a whole, as opposed to the Council which consists of leaders of member states who reflect national interests. The commission is also seen as the motor of European integration. It is currently composed of 27 commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state.
The President of the Commission and all the other commissioners are nominated by the Council. Appointment of the Commission President, and also the Commission in its entirety, have to be confirmed by Parliament.
Council
The Council of the European Union forms one half of the EU's legislature. It is an organised platform where national ministers responsible for the area of policy being addressed, meet. Although the Council meets in different compositions, it is considered to be one single body. In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
The rotating Presidency of the EU Council is taken by each member state in turn for a period of six months, during which the relevant member chairs most meetings of the Council. The member state holding the presidency typically uses it to drive and focus on a limited number of policy areas; such as various types of reform, enlargement or external relations with a specific part of the world.
Highest-ranking political leadership in the EU is provided by the European Council (not to be mistaken for the Council of Europe), which is the EU Council when composed of heads of government of the member states (e.g. the prime minister or President) plus the President of the Commission. The European Council meets on at least four summits a year, and is lead by the head of government of the rotating presidency.
Parliament
