The EU - European Union

A Union established after WWII to unite the nations of Europe economically to prevent another war among them.

History:
Ø After WWII Europe was weak, there were 2 superpowers – America and the Soviet Union.

Ø In 1952 the European Coal and Steel Treaty was created. This organisation had 6 members – France, West Germany, Italy and Benelux countries: Belgium, Netherland, and Luxembourg.
Its arm was to;
a. unite Europe’s coal and steel industries and make them more efficient.
b. to promote peace and co – operation.

Ø Five years later [ in 1957 ] at a conference in Rome the membering countries went futher – they decided to form the closer union – EEC – European Economic Community
The founding countries came up with 4 freedoms
1. Freedom of movement for people
2. Freedom of movement for goods
3. Freedom of movement for services
4. Freedom of movement for capital

Ø During nearly 50 years there have been 4 waves of enlargement
1. in 1973 – Denmark, Ireland and the UK were accepted
2. in 1981 – Greece joined EU
3. in 1986 – Portugal and Spain become members
4. in 1995 – Austria, Finland and Sweden

Ø In 1992 the Treaty of EU was signed in Maastricht and send to 12 membering states for ratification: the main objective was to strengthen integration
it contained: a time for individual steps to set up a monetary
union among the membering countries.

a timetable for the competition of a single European
Market
However, this treaty didn’t pass, because it wasn’t ratified by the Danish referendum {The Danes refused to ratify it mostly because of EU fishing policy}

Ø in 1997 The Amsterdam Treaty came out
- it mainly refers to employment and citizen lights

Ø Since January 1999, 11 member countries accepted the new European currency Euro. These countries started to use Euro banknotes in January 2002
The Governing Bodies

The European Council
- proposes general policy
- consist of the heads of member countries {prime ministers, foreign ministers}
- meets at least twice a year, usually for 2 day

The European Commission

- body which has right to initiate legislation
- responsible for administration
- heaguarters in Brussels – employs 16000 people
- consists for 5 years

The European Parliament
- members elected every 5 years by people of the Members States
- they work in 2 places : Strasbourg and Brussel
- they can pass the laws {co-decision with council}
- they represent the views of ordinary Europeans

The Council of European
- consist of government ministers {represent the governments of members states}
- the presidency rotates among the members states every 6 months. Most EU decisions are made by the council {mostly by majority vote}
- meet on awange 1 a week

The EU Parliament and The Council of EU pass the laws {co-decision procedure}

The Court of Justice
- it consists of 15 judges + 9 advocates general {1 from each member state]
- ensures that Community low is interpreted and effectively applied
- seat in Luxembourg
- deals with e. g. complaints

The Court of Auditor
- responsible for auditing the accounts
- monitors the union’s financial activities

The main institutions are supported by other body

The Budget

The EU ha its own resources of revenue, which consist of:
- VAT – collected by the member states
- customs duties on industrial product and taxes on agriculture products.
- contributions by each mem. states based on its Gross National Product

The Budget Finances: e. g.
- the common policies like agriculture {about 15%}
- research and development
- programs linked to the single market
- other external activities of EU

Present {the 5th} wave of enlargement
- currently there are 13 applicant countries for the entry into the EU - The CR,
Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, The SR, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Cyprus
- before joining the EU each country hat to do a lot of things and fulfil a lot of various criteria