European Union

The European Union [1]
Flag of the European Union [2]
Motto: In Varietate Concordia [2]
Anthem: Ode to Joy (orchestral)[2]
Capital	Brussels (de facto)[3]
Official languages	23
Member states	27
EU presidency	Germany (1st term in 2007)
EU summit	Angela Merkel
Council	Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Commission	José Manuel Durão Barroso
Parliament	Hans-Gert Pöttering
Court of Justice	Vassilios Skouris
Central Bank	Jean-Claude Trichet
Europe Day	9 May 1950
Formation as EEC Formation as EU	Treaty of Rome - 25/03/1957 Maastricht Treaty - 7/02/1992
Area  - Total	7th if ranked[4] 4,325,675 km² 1,670,152 sq mi
Population  - Total (2007)  - Density	3rd if ranked[4] 493,000,000 115 people/km² 298 people/sq mi
GDP (2006)  - Total  - Per capita	1st if ranked[4] $13.4 trillion[5] $28,100[5]
HDI (2003)	0.920 (est.)[6] – high
EU institution sites	Brussels (CoEU, EC, and EP) Frankfurt am Main (ECB) Luxembourg (ECoJ and ECoA) Strasbourg (2nd EP)
Currencies	Euro (€) (EUR), Forint, Koruna (CZE), Koruna (SLK), Krona, Krone, Kroon, Lats, Leu, Lev, Lira, Litas, Pound (UK), Pound (CYP), Złoty
Time zone	UTC 0 to +2[7]
Internet TLD	.eu
Calling codes	Various[8]
Official Website	http://europa.eu/

The European Union (EU) is a supranational and intergovernmental union of 27 democratic member states in Europe and some of their respective overseas territories. The European Union was established under that name in 1992 by the Maastricht Treaty. Many aspects of the Union existed before then through a series of predecessor relationships, dating back to 1951.^[9]

The European Union is the largest political and economic entity on the European continent, with around 500 million people and an estimated GDP of US$13.4 trillion. The Union has a single market consisting of a customs union, a currency called the euro — adopted by 13 member states, a Common Agricultural Policy, a common trade policy,^[10] and a Common Fisheries Policy.^[11]

The Schengen Agreement abolished passport control for some member states, and customs checks have been abolished at many of the EU's internal borders, creating, to some extent, a single area of free movement for EU citizens to live, travel, work and invest.^[12] A Common Foreign and Security Policy was established as the second of the three pillars of the European Union.

The most important of EU institutions include the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Court of Justice, the European Council, the European Central Bank and the European Parliament, elected by EU citizens every five years.

Status

The EU members have transferred considerable sovereignty to it, more than that of any other non-sovereign regional organisation. In certain areas the EU begins to take on the character of a federation or confederation. However, in legal terms the member states remain the masters of the Treaties, which means the Union does not have the power to transfer additional powers from states onto itself without their agreement through further international treaties. In many areas, member states have given up little national sovereignty, particularly foreign relations and defence. Because of this unique structure most simply classify the European Union as a sui generis entity.

On 29 October 2004, EU member state heads of government and state signed the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. This was later ratified by 13 member states. However, in most cases ratification was based on parliamentary action, rather than popular vote, and the process faltered on 29 May 2005 when French voters rejected the constitution 55% to 45%. The French rejection was followed three days later by a Dutch one, in which 62% of voters refused the constitution as well.^[13]

History

Robert Schuman

The idea of unity in some form has been present in European culture for centuries. One of the first modern proposals for peaceful unification through co-operation and equality of membership was made by the pacifist Victor Hugo in 1851. Following the catastrophes of the First and the Second World Wars, the impetus for a new form of cooperation greatly increased, driven by the determination to rebuild Europe and to eliminate the possibility of another World War.

To support the idea of forming a European federation or government Winston Churchill called for a "United States of Europe" in 1946. The French foreign minister Robert Schuman presented a proposal On May 9 1950 for the creation of an integrated Europe, stating that it was indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the "Schuman Declaration", is considered to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.

Subsequently it led to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community by (West) Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries. It was accomplished by the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1951.^[14] The first full customs union - European Economic Community (the Common Market) was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and implemented on 1 January 1958. This later changed to the European Community which is now the "first pillar" of the European Union created by the Maastricht treaty. The EU has evolved from a trade body into an economic and governmental partnership. As president of the Convention on the Future of Europe, the former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing proposed to change the name of the European Union to United Europe, though this proposal was rejected.

Geography

EU 1952–2007

The European Union encompasses an area of 4,336,790 square kilometres (1,674,444 sq mi) and represents the seventh largest territory in the world by area. The member states of the European Union have land borders with 21 other nations.

Several overseas territories and dependencies have close associations with particular EU member states, for example Greenland, the Isle of Man, the Azores and Madeira.

See also: Special member state territories and their relations with the EU

Members

The EU describes itself as "a family of democratic European countries".^[9] On 23 July 1952, six founding members formed the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which was transformed into the European Community, later renamed to European Union, in waves of accession as follows:

• Greenland, which was granted home rule by Denmark in 1979, left the European Community in 1985, following a referendum

Politics

The most prominent policy goal is the development and maintenance of an effective single market. Significant efforts have been made to create harmonised standards designed to bring economic benefits through creating larger, more efficient markets. Since the Treaty of Rome, policies have implemented free trade of goods and services among member states, and continue to do so. This policy goal was further extended to three of the four EFTA states by the European Economic Area, EEA. Common EU competition law restricts anti-competitive activities of companies (through antitrust law and merger control) and member states (through the State Aids regime). The EU promotes free movement of capital between member states (and other EEA states). The members have a common system of indirect taxation, the VAT, as well as common customs duties and excises on various products. They have a common external customs tariff, and a common position in international trade negotiations. Other single-market policies include energy market policy and the European Common Aviation Area. The introduction of the Euro, not yet adopted by all member states, created the Eurozone, a single currency area including 13 member states with more than 300 million people.

The Airbus A380 has been subsidised by EU funds

A second major goal has been the free movement of persons. Citizens of member states can live and work anywhere within the EU with their spouses and children, provided they can support themselves. This has been extended to the other EEA states and Switzerland.

In terms of funding, the two major policies are the Common Agricultural Policy (with the Common Fisheries Policy) and the structural and cohesion funds, which improve infrastructure and assist disadvantaged regions. Together they are known as the cohesion policies. The EU also has funds for emergency financial aid, for instance after natural disasters. The funding extends to programmes in candidate countries and other Eastern European countries, as well as aid to many developing countries, through programmes such as Phare, TACIS, ISPA. The EU also funds research and technological development, through four-year Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development.

In a more political sense, the EU attempts to create - with much controversy - a sense of European citizenship and European political life. That includes freedom for citizens of the EU to vote and to stand as candidates in local government and European Parliament elections in any member state.^[15] The European Parliament is now attempting to create pan-European political parties, and almost all members have joined at least a federation of national political parties.

Common Foreign & Security Policy

EUFOR former Commander General David Leakey

Defence and security are traditionally matters for states, since they are fundamental to sovereignty, and EU policies in this area are recent. The EU is developing a common policy on asylum and immigration.

• A common foreign policy is a future objective.
• A common security policy as an objective, including the creation of a 60,000-member European Rapid Reaction Force for peacekeeping purposes, an EU military staff, a European Defence Agency and an EU satellite centre (for intelligence purposes).

Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters

• Cooperation in criminal matters, including sharing of intelligence (through Europol and the Schengen Information System), agreement on common definition of criminal offences and expedited extradition procedures.

Current issues

Issues currently facing the EU cover its membership, structure, procedures and policies. They include the status and future of the constitutional treaty; enlargement to the south and east; problems of financial probity and democratic accountability; relative economic viability; revision of the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact; and the Common Agricultural Policy.

The Financial Perspective for 2007–2013 was defined in 2005 when EU members agreed to fix the common budget to 1.045% of the European GDP.^[16] UK Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed to review the British rebate, negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in 1984. French President Jacques Chirac declared this increase in the budget will permit Europe to "finance common policies" such as the Common Agricultural Policy or the Research and Technological Development Policy. France's demand to lower the VAT in catering was refused.^[17]

Controversial issues during budget debates include the British rebate, France's benefits from the Common Agricultural Policy, Germany and the Netherlands' large contributions to the EU budget, reform of the European Regional Development Funds, and the question of whether the European Parliament should continue to meet once a month in Strasbourg.

The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), commonly referred to as the European Constitution, is an international treaty intended to create a constitution for the European Union. The constitution was rejected by France and the Netherlands, where referenda were held^[18]) causing other countries to postpone or halt their ratification procedures. The constitution now has an uncertain future.^[19][20] As of January 2007, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain had ratified the constitutional treaty.^[21] The two countries which joined the European Union on 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania, have already accepted the constitutional treaty too, ratifying their accession treaty.

Institutions and bodies

Frankfurt is the seat of the European Central Bank

From 1958, the Commissions of the EEC and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) had their seats in Brussels.

The member states reached agreement on a single permanent seat for the Community institutions, European officials were distributed between Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg, leading, in particular, to a considerable increase in overheads. Brussels was chosen as the seat of the Single Commission and the Council of Ministers. In practical terms, this meant that most European officials were employed there.

Luxembourg sought compensation for the loss of the High Authority and the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), both of which were relocated to Brussels. However, Luxembourg became the seat for the new European Investment Bank (EIB) and was given the assurance that certain meetings of the Council of Ministers would be held there, in April, June and September.

The Court of Justice, the Central Statistical Office, the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, the Advisory Committee and the financial services of the ECSC and the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly also remained in Luxembourg. Meanwhile, France refused to renounce its claim for Strasbourg as seat of the Parliamentary Assembly. An expensive and inconvenient compromise was reached whereby Parliament’s Members met in plenary session in Strasbourg but meetings of parliamentary committees were held in Brussels. Certain plenary meetings were also held in Luxembourg, which was also the seat of the Secretariat of the European Parliament.

The European Parliament in Brussels

The current president of the European Council Angela Merkel

The EU has no official capital and its institutions are divided between several cities:

• Brussels — seat of the European Commission (staff of about 18,000) and the Council of Ministers. It is also the venue of the European Parliament's (785 members) committee meetings and mini-sessions and (since 2004) the host city for all European Council summits.
• Strasbourg — seat of the European Parliament and venue of its twelve week-long plenary sessions each year. Strasbourg is also the seat of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights, which are not bodies of the EU.
• Luxembourg — seat of the European Court of Justice (incorporating the Court of First Instance), the European Court of Auditors, the Secretariat of the European Parliament and the European Investment Bank.
• Frankfurt — seat of the European Central Bank (Composing the European System of Central Banks)
• The European Council, which is a regular meeting of the 27 head of member states and the European Commission president is sometimes also listed as an institution, although since it lacks its own staff, budget and the legal powers held by the above 5 institutions, it is better described as a "quasi-institution".

There are also two advisory committees to the institutions; Committee of the Regions, advising on regional issues and the Economic and Social Committee, advising on economic and social policy (principally relations between workers and employers).
A number of more specialised agencies of the European Union, usually set up by secondary legislation, which exist to implement particular policies. Examples are the EUROPOL (the European Police Office), the European Environment Agency, the European Aviation Safety Agency or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, the Political and Security Committee, established in the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, monitoring and advising on international issues of global security.

Law

Founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community

European Union law is the first and only example of a supranational legal framework. According to the European Court of Justice, in one of its earliest cases, it constitutes "a new legal order of international law".^[22] Sovereign nation states, by becoming EU members, pool their authority for the mutual social and economic benefit of their peoples. The principle of subsidiarity means that laws are passed at the regional level where they are more effective when member states take action by themselves.

The two main treaties which form the basis of EU law are the Treaty of the European Community, or the Treaty of Rome from 1957, and the Treaty of the European Union, or the Maastricht treaty of 1992. The Treaty of Rome is the so called 'first pillar' of the EU. The "European Community" refers to the competence of the EU to act in the social and economic arena. The Maastricht treaty formed the new European Union, and added two further "pillars". These are a common foreign and security policy and justice and home affairs. In both these fields a consensus among member states is needed to act. EU law covers a range as broad as many member states themselves^[23]. Where a conflict arises between EU law and the law of a member state, EU law takes precedence, so that the law of a member state must be disapplied.^[24] Both the provisions of the Treaties, and EU regulations are said to have "direct effect" horizontally. This means private citizens can rely on the rights granted to them (and the duties created for them) against one another. For instance, an air hostess may sue her aeroplane company employer for sexual discrimination.^[25] The other main legal instrument of the EU, "directives", have direct effect, but only "vertically". Private citizens may not sue one another on the basis of an EU directive, since these are meant to be addressed to the member state. Directives allow some choice for member states in the way they translate a directive into an act of Parliament, or statutory instrument. Once this has happened citizens may rely on the law that has been implemented. They may only sue the government "vertically" for failing to implement a directive correctly. An example of a directive is the Product liability Directive,^[26] which makes companies liable for dangerous and defective products that harm consumers.

See also: EU treaties, Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, The European Community within the Union, Citizenship of the European Union, and Three pillars of the European Union

International relations

Supporters of the European Union argue that the growth of the EU is a force for peace and democracy. They point out that the wars which were a periodic feature of the history of Western Europe have ceased since the formation of the European Economic Community (which later became the EU) in the 1950s.

Others contend that peace in Europe since World War II is the product of other causes, such as the moderating influence of the U.S. and NATO, the need for a unified response to the threat from the Soviet Union, the need for reconstruction after World War II, and a collective temporary tiring of waging war, and that the dictatorships cited came to an end for entirely different reasons.

In more recent times, the European Union has been extending its influence to the east. It has accepted several new members that were previously behind the Iron Curtain. It is hoped that in a similar fashion to the entry of Spain, Portugal and Greece in the 1980s, membership for these states will help cement economic and political stability.

EU leaders regularly participate at the G8 summits - Vanhanen & Barroso

The candidate countries' accessions tend to grow more controversial. The rejection of the EU Constitution by France and the Netherlands, and the slow economic integration of new members have cast doubt on whether the EU will be ready to accept new, far poorer members after 2007. The prospect of large-scale economic migration from Romania and Bulgaria into the major EU economies such as Germany, the UK, France and Italy has also reared its head. These countries have only just begun to manage the major influx from the 2004-accedant member states such as Poland and the Czech Republic (especially in the UK and Germany). Both Romania and Bulgaria also fear that they will suffer a national "brain drain" of their skilled and specialist workforce, similar to that which the 2004 member state entrants are experiencing now and are already suffering of a lack of unspecialised workforce, especially in the constructions field.

The EFTA states of Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are members of the European Economic Area which allows them to participate in most aspects of the EU single market without acceding to the EU. Switzerland, the fourth EFTA state, rejected EEA membership in a referendum; however, it has established close ties to the EU by means of various bilateral treaties.

See also: Iceland and the European Union, Norway and the European Union, Switzerland and the European Union, Ukraine and the European Union, Israel and the European Union, Georgia (country)#Relations with European Union, and Third country relationships with the EU

Candidate countries

Turkey is an official candidate to join the European Union; Turkish European ambitions date back to 1963 Ankara Agreements. Turkey started preliminary negotiations on 3 October 2005. However, analysts believe 2015 is the earliest date the country can join the union because of the large number of economic and social reforms it has to complete, and because the 2007–13 budget takes no account of the considerable costs Turkey's accession will involve.^[27]

EU and Turkey

The Cyprus dispute and Turkey's geographic setting are open questions, as only 3% of its territory lies on Europe. However, the Copenhagen criteria do not impose strict geographic conditions. There are also worries about Pope Benedict XVI's view about the "European Identity", as in a cultural, continent-based Christianity, historically opposed by the Ottoman Empire, especially since he was designated as Pope.^[28]However, he expressed greater support for Turkey's admission following his late-November visit to the country in 2006. Lately, there have been reports on growing differences between the EU and the Turkish government,^[29] including a discontent on the side of the Turkish because they feel as though they are capitulating to the demands of the EU while receiving nothing for their efforts.

Croatia is an official candidate country to join and started accession negotiations in October 2005. In June 2006, the EU officials projected that the accession of Croatia would likely happen in 2010. The closure of negotiations for all chapters of the acquis communautaire is expected in 2008 or 2009, while signing the Accession treaty would happen in the year after.The Republic of Macedonia has been given official candidate status as of December 2005.^[30]

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are officially recognised as potential candidates.

See also: Accession of Turkey to the European Union, Accession of Croatia to the European Union, and Accession of the Republic of Macedonia to the European Union

Foreign perceptions

The World Factbook, a publication of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) introduced an entry for the European Union in 2004. [4] According to the CIA, the European Union was added because the EU "continues to accrue more nation-like characteristics for itself".^[31]

An official Chinese paper published in 2003 saw the European Union as a rising superpower, "poised to overtake both the United States and Japan as the biggest trade and investment force in China".^[32]

Economy

GDP (PPP) per capita 2006

The European Union has the largest economy in the world considered as a single entity. With a GDP of 13,400,000 million USD (2005) using Purchasing power parity (PPP). The EU economy has grown at around 2% per annum so far this century. In 2006, it is estimated 3.5 million jobs were created in the Eurozone. Germany, the largest economy in the EU, grew 2.5% in 2006 and is expected to grow at around 2.5% in 2007. The EU's rate of growth is expected to increase — growth for 2007 is expected to be at 2.7% — especially as new member states are poorer than the EU average, and have the capacity to grow at a higher rate.

EU member states have agreed a programme called the Lisbon Strategy which aims at making "the EU the world's most dynamic and competitive economy" by 2010.^[33]

Demographics

The European Union is a densely populated, culturally diverse union of 27 member states. The total population size of the EU is approximately 493 million inhabitants as of January 2007 and represents the third largest by population.^[34] and is expected to remain at around 500 million the next two decades. Any growth is expected to come from net migration and new countries joining, since total deaths in the EU will almost certainly outnumber total births from around 2010. The effect of net migration is expected to no longer outweigh the higher death rate after 2025, when the population, not withstanding new joiners, is expected to decline gradually.^[35]

Religion

Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion in southern and eastern EU (Wałęsa & Pope John Paul II, 1981)

The EU has significant religious diversity, mirroring its diverse history and culture. A nominal majority of the population professes Christianity, predominantly Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Despite this, not all EU nations have Christian majorities (in the Czech Republic and Estonia, for example, a majority has no religious affiliation).

The recent influx of immigrants to the affluent EU nations has brought in various religions of their native homelands, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, the Baha'i faith and Sikhism. Judaism has had a long history in Europe and has coexisted with the native populations for centuries, despite centuries of discrimination against Jewish people and several attendant periods of persecution or genocide by European rulers. As the Christian churches have historically wielded much power in Europe, reaction to this has allowed secularism to plant deep roots on European soil which has contributed to the rise in atheism and agnosticism. Many people have no religion.

Culture

Sibiu (l.) and Luxembourg (r.) are the European Capital of Culture in 2007

The cities are designated by the EU for a period of one year

The European Union gave grants to 233 cultural projects in 2004 and launched a webportal dedicated to Europe and Culture, responding to the European Council's expressed desire to see the Commission and the member states "promote the networking of cultural information to enable all citizens to access European cultural content by the most advanced technological means."

Cultural cooperation in the European Union has become a community competency since its inclusion in 1992 in the Maastricht Treaty. Actions taken in the cultural area by the European Union include:

• The Culture 2000 7-year programme, the European Capital of Culture programme, the European Cultural Month event, the Media Plus programme, experimental actions and the awarding of various grants.

Languages

The musical setting of the EU anthem "Ode to Joy" is a work of Beethoven

The EU has 23 official languages and three official alphabets (Latin, Greek and Cyrillic) for 27 member states — although there are only three internal working languages in the European Commission: English, French and German. There are 253 potential two-language combinations between the twenty-three languages creating problems in terms of the amount and diversity of translation needed.

Sports

The European Union launched an anti-doping convention. Still it plays a minor and mostly indirect policy role in sport, because (a) sport is normally considered to be outside the competences conferred by the member states to the European Union and (b) sport is in general organised internally, on a European continental level (which is not the same as the level of the European Union), or globally. The European Union does not have specific sport policies. The role of the EU could increase, if (for example) the European Constitution were to be ratified.

Education

Erasmus is the patron for the student program

The European Commission initiated the ERASMUS programme for higher education. It was established in 1987 and forms a major part of the EU Socrates II programme.

ERASMUS is an abbreviation of "European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students". It was incorporated into the Socrates programme when that programme was established in 1995. The Socrates programme ended in 1999 and was replaced with the Socrates II programme in 2000.

The aim of ERASMUS is to encourage and support academic mobility of higher education students and teachers within the European Union, the European Economic Area countries of Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein as well as the candidate country Turkey.

There are currently 2,199 higher education institutions participating in ERASMUS across the 31 countries involved in the Socrates programme and 1.4 million students^[36] have already taken part.

The Bologna process is another Pan-European policy in higher education to create the European higher education area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe.

Infrastructure

EU countries leading the development and application of renewable energy (Offshore wind farm near Copenhagen)

The EU has a policy to improve cross-border infrastructure, see Trans-European Networks.

The European Union has legislated in the area of energy policy for many years, and evolved out of the European Coal and Steel Community. The concept of introducing a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was approved at the meeting of the European Council on October 27, 2005 in London.

The EU is currently imports 82% of it's oil and 57% of its gas, making it the world's leading importer of these fuels [5].

See also: Energy policy of the European Union

See also

• Category:European Union (hierarchical list of all EU articles)
• European Union Statistics, Economy of the European Union, Euro
• Citizenship of the European Union, Council of Europe
• Europe, European integration, Pro-European, Pan-European identity
• Special member state territories and their relations with the European Union

Bibliography

Team Europe at the 2004 Ryder Cup is an example for supranational approach

References

External links

• Official European Union Web portal — official gateway to EU sites

Institutions

• European Parliament
• Council of the European Union
• European Commission
• European Court of Justice
• European Central Bank

Agencies

• The European Defence Agency
• European Aviation Safety Agency
• Europol — The European police office
• Frontex — The external border security agency

Other official pages

• EU Press conferences
• EU Recruitment
• EUR-Lex — EU law and proposed legislation
• ECB Statistics pocket book — Monthly macroeconomic indicators for the individual Member States

Overviews

• European Union in the CIA World Factbook

Maps

• EU Commission, Maps of Europe
• WikiSatellite view of The European Union

History

• EU History site
• History and institutions of the united Europe since 1945 – European Navigator

Other

• OECD's EU country page
• OECD's Economic Survey of the EU
• London Festival of Europe
• Congressional Research Service (CRS) — Reports regarding the European Union

European Union (EU)
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Amsterdam · Athens · Berlin · Bratislava · Brussels · Budapest · Copenhagen · Dublin · Helsinki · Lisbon · Ljubljana · London · Luxembourg City · Madrid · Nicosia · Paris · Prague · Riga · Rome · Stockholm · Tallinn · Valletta · Vienna · Vilnius · Warsaw

Group of Eight (G8)
Canada ·  France ·  Germany ·  Italy ·  Japan ·  Russia ·  United Kingdom ·  United States