(Redirected from EU)
The 'European Union' ('EU') is a ''
sui generis''
supranational union, made up of twenty-seven member states. It was established as the
European Economic Community in 1957 by the
Treaty of Rome and has undergone many changes since, most notably in 1992 by the
Maastricht Treaty. Since 1957 new
accessions have raised the number of
member states, and powers have expanded. As a result, the EU can be described as both a
supranational and an
intergovernmental body.
The combined economy of the EU is the largest in the world with a nominal
GDP of €11.6 (
US$15.7) trillion in 2007.
The EU has a
single market between
member states with a common trade policy,
[1] a
Common Agricultural/
Fisheries Policy, and a
regional development policy.
[ Five Years of China WTO Membership. EU and US Perspectives about China's Compliance with Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review Mechanism ] It introduced a common currency, the
euro, which has been adopted by thirteen member states. Since 1993, the EU has developed a limited
Common Foreign and Security Policy, and
co-operation in police and judicial matters.
Important EU institutions and bodies include the
European Commission, the
European Parliament, the
Council of the European Union, the
European Council, the
European Court of Justice and the
European Central Bank; as well as a number of
specialised agencies working in varied fields. Citizens of EU member states are also
EU citizens. EU citizens
directly elect the European Parliament every five years. EU citizens can freely invest, live, travel, and work in other member states (with some temporary restrictions on new member states
[2]). Passport control and customs checks between most member states were abolished in the
Schengen Agreement.
[3]
History
Main articles: History of the European Union
After the end of the
Second World War the political climate favoured the unification of Europe. Seen by many as an escape from the extreme forms of nationalism which had devastated the continent.
[4] One such attempt to unite Europeans was the
European Coal and Steel Community which while having the modest aim of centralised control of the previously national coal and steel industries of the its member states was declared to be "a first step in the federation of Europe".
[5] The founding members of the Community were
Belgium,
France,
Italy,
Luxembourg,
Netherlands and
West Germany.
[6]
Two additional communities were created by the
Treaties of Rome in 1957; the
European Economic Community (EEC), establishing a
Customs Union and the
European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) for cooperation in
nuclear energy.
The ECSC and Euratom were merged into the EEC in 1967 with the signing of the
Merger Treaty. They had a single membership with a combined set of treaties and institutions, and the collective was referred to as the ''European Communities'' (now, the
European Community, within the EU).
[7]
In 1973 the Communities enlarged to include
Denmark,
Ireland and the
United Kingdom.
[8] In 1979 the
first direct elections to the European Parliament were held.
[9]
Enlargement, 1957 to 2007
,
Spain and
Portugal joined in the 1980s.
[10] In 1985 the
Schengen Agreement was developed among
European states to allow for the abolition of systematic border controls between the participating countries.
[11] In the same year
Jacques Delors became
President of the European Commission. In 1986 the
European flag was adopted and leaders signed the
Single European Act. On
Germany reunification in 1990 the
East Germany joined the enlarged Germany in EU membership.
[12] With enlargement toward eastern Europe on the agenda, the
Copenhagen Criteria were agreed.
The European Union was formally established when the
Maastricht Treaty came into force on
1 November 1993 and in 1995
Austria,
Sweden and
Finland joined the newly established Union. The
Amsterdam Treaty was signed in 1997, shortly after the
resignation of the Santer Commission. In 2002
euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. In 2004 of ten new countries (eight of which were formerly communist countries) joined the EU.
[13]
Later in 2004, the
European Constitution was signed in Rome, though it was never fully ratified after rejection by French and Dutch voters in
referendums. In 2007, it was agreed to replace that proposal with a new
Reform Treaty that would amend rather than replace the
existing treaties. At the start of that year
Romania and
Bulgaria joined the EU and the euro was adopted by
Slovenia.
Member states
Main articles: European Union member state,
Enlargement of the European Union
The European Union currently has 27 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.
[14] There are currently three official candidate countries,
Croatia, the
Republic of Macedonia and
Turkey. In addition the western Balkan countries of
Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Montenegro and
Serbia are officially recognised as potential candidates.
[15]
To join the EU, a country must meet the
Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993
Copenhagen European Council. These require a stable democracy respecting
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 laws. Evaluation of a country's fulfillment of the criteria rests with the
European Council.
[16] Enlargement has been seen as a positive force by many, for example in democratising Eastern Europe
and helping NATO bring people they have accused as war criminals
[17] in the former
Yugoslavia to trial.
[18]
Geography
Main articles: Geography of the European Union
The 66,000 km of
coastline, such as this in Greece, influences 22 states
The territory of the EU consists of the combined territories of its 27 member states with significant exceptions outlined below. The territory of the EU is not the same as that of
Europe, as significant parts of the continent, such as
Switzerland,
Norway and European
Russia, are outside the EU, and some
overseas territories are part of the EU while not being geographically part of Europe. The EU's member countries cover a combined area of .
[19] The total territory of the EU is the
seventh largest territory in the world by area. The landscape, climate and economy of the EU are heavily influenced by its long coastline, which is long. It is the second longest coastline, after
Canada. The combined member states of the EU share
land borders with 21 EU non-member states which total , the fifth longest border in the world.
[20][21][22]
Some parts of member countries are not part of the EU, although they are part of the European continent. Examples include 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). On the other hand, some overseas territories are formally 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 and
Réunion.
[23][24][25]
Including overseas territories of member states, the EU includes most
types of climate from
Arctic to
tropical, rendering meaningless meteorological averages for the EU as a whole. 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 (in eastern member states).
[26]
Governance
The EU is governed by a number of institutions, primarily the
Commission,
Council and
Parliament. The
European Commission acts as the
executive branch. It is currently composed of 27 commissioners, one from each member state. The commission is responsible for drafting all proposed rules in order to co-ordinate European Law. It also controls some agencies and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the EU. The president of the commission is nominated by the European Council, and confirmed by the Parliament.
[27] The
statistical arm of the European Commission is the
Eurostat. Eurostat's key role is to supply statistics to the European Commission, other EU institutions and bodies to help define, implement and analyse EU's policies.
The
Council of the European Union (also known as the Council of Ministers) forms one half of the EU's
legislative branch, the other being the Parliament. It is composed of the national ministers responsible for the area of EU law being addressed. For example, European legislation regarding agriculture would be treated by a Council composed of the national ministers for agriculture. The body's presidency rotates between the member states every six months. To increase stability the current president member state co-operates with both the previous and the next president member state.
[28] It should not be confused with the
European Council, which is not an official institution (although the European Council is an important body and shares its presidency with that of the Council of the EU). It is composed of the heads of government and the
President of the European Commission. The European Council meets four times a year.
[29]
The other half of the legislative branch is the
European Parliament and is the only EU body composed of representatives directly elected by the citizens of the
EU member states. Every five years citizens in all member states elect 785
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who form the second half of the EU's legislative branch. Although the elections are for national candidates, the members of the parliament have seats according to political ideals rather than nationality. The chair of the parliament is elected by its members.
[30]
The Parliament is the only institution to have its official seat in the city of
Strasbourg.
Brussels plays host to the Commission, Council and some meetings of the Parliament. Hence the latter is often considered the ''de facto'' capital of the EU. However the Courts, and some meetings and departments of the other institutions, are in
Luxembourg.
[31][32]
Judiciary and law
The
Judicial branch of the EU consists primarily of the
European Court of Justice composed of 27 judges, one judge being nominated by each member-state. The president is elected from the judges. The Court has is the highest court on matters of
European law, that which is proposed by the Commission rather than national governments. Below the Court of Justice there is a lower court called the
Court of First Instance created to reduce the work load of the Court of Justice. There is also the
European Court of Auditors, which monitors the EU's accounts.
[33][34]
EU law is the first and only example of a
supranational legal framework. The
European Court of Justice ruled in one of its earliest cases that EU law constitutes "a new legal order of international law".
[ ] By becoming EU members, sovereign
nation states cede authority to the EU for the mutual social and economic benefit of their people.
[35] EU law follows the principle of
subsidiarity, which means that laws are only passed at the European level when these are more effective compared to legislation of member states themselves,
[36] while EU law is supreme in specific fields (though its supremacy may extend to other fields, such as criminal law, where this is strictly required in order to effectively pursue a primary competence).
[37]
EU law covers a broad range of topics, often as broad as the legislation of the member states.
Where a conflict arises between EU law and the law of a member state, EU law takes precedence.
[38] Both the provisions of the Treaties, and EU regulations are said to have "
direct effect" horizontally. This means that private citizens can call upon the rights granted to them (and the duties created for them) by EU legislation. For instance, an air hostess could sue her employer for sexual discrimination based on legislation provided in EU treaties.
[39] The other legal instrument of the EU, called
directives, also may have a direct effect in limited circumstances (when a provision of a directive is clear, precise and unconditional), but only "vertically" - meaning that private persons can call upon their rights against their state, but not other persons.
[40]
Directives allow some choice for member states in the way they translate a directive into national law. Once this has happened citizens may rely on that national law or if the national law does not reflect the EU directive, they may sue the national government ("vertically") for the failure in implementing a directive correctly, or complain to the Commission in order for it to do so.
[40][42] An example of a directive is the
EU Copyright directive (2001/29/EC), which harmonises the different national
copyright laws across the EU. In 2007, the Court of Justice ruled that the Community has powers to propose legislation for
criminal law and the criminal penalties have started to be proposed by the Commission, albeit rarely.
[43]
The EU is founded upon a number of
treaties. In 1951 the
Treaty of Paris created the ECSC. This was followed in 1957 by the
Treaties of Rome which created
Euratom and the
European Economic Community (Treaty of the European Community). The latter of these is today the core document of the
European Community pillar of the EU. A number of further treaties
merged the communities and
added competencies which laid the foundations for the
Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on the European Union). Maastricht created
three pillars of the European Union. The first would be the former Community. It would be joined by the
Common Foreign and Security Policy and
Justice and Home Affairs. These were based more on
intergovernmental decision making, rather than the
supranational system of the European Community. The
Treaty of Amsterdam and the
Treaty of Nice saw a number of changes. The Parliament's power increased with the extension of
codecision procedure and powers were transferred from Justice and Home Affairs to the European Community (the former now renamed ''Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters''.
[44] The Proposed
Reform Treaty would abolish the pillar system, although the intergovernmental style in those areas will largely remain.
Politics
Main articles: Politics of the European Union
The politics of the EU primarily cover the economy, which is reminiscent of its history originating in a series of economic communities after the Second World War. When the Maastricht Treaty established the EU, the scope was expanded to the
pillar system whereby foreign and home affairs were added to the intergovernmental domain of the EU.
[45] Political direction in the EU is given by the European Council, headed by the rotating presidency.
Citizens participate through the
European Parliament which is elected every five years.
Integration
Main articles: European integration,
Enlargement of the European Union
The expansion of the EU has been seen as a means for promoting and reinforcing peace and democracy on the European continent following the Second World War and later after the decline of the
Soviet Union. Another aim of the EU has always been to increase its economic prosperity.
[46] There is disagreement on how far the EU should expand however. Some favour further enlargement to continue using the positive influence membership prospects have on neighbouring countries, while others fear "over-stretch". Some believe the European public in particular are suffering from "enlargement fatigue" following the accession of 10 members in 2004.
[47] Turkey is a particularly controversial topic, considering its large population, low
standard of living,
Muslim culture,
geographical position and ongoing
disagreements over Cyprus. The country
began negotiations to join in 2005.
[48]
Accession to the European treaties necessarily means to give over some powers from the national government to a supranational governmental organisation. The powers that passed from national governments to the EU are considered large. The ongoing integration of Europe is becoming contested on the grounds that it reduces members' national sovereignty too much.
[49] Enlargement together with integration (new treaties) are seen by some as parallel processes, vital to the EU or it will fail: this is known as the "bicycle theory".
[50]
Reform
Main articles: Reform Treaty
To govern and guide the ongoing integration and the larger number of member states the
European Constitution was proposed. However ratification of this treaty was rejected by Dutch and French voters.
[51]
By the end of 2007, a new "
Reform Treaty" should agreed upon by the leaders to come into force in 2009. The new treaty would carry out most of the reforms envisaged in the Constitutions but without the constitutional elements and would add to, not replace, the existing treaties.
[52]
In discussions on reform, there has been a desire to address the
democratic deficit of the EU through the development of
citizenship of the EU. Citizens have a number or rights including the right to vote and to stand as candidates in local government and
European Parliament elections in any member state.
[53] However there has been falling turnout at elections, with few political structures at EU level and no cohesive European
civil society.
Commissioner for Communication Strategy,
Margot Wallström, has been one notable figure attempting to correct this situation.
[54] Her plans allow
European political parties, instead of national parties running for EU parliament, to campaign in the different countries and thus give these supranational parties greater ability to run with candidates for Commission President.
[55]
Budget
Main articles: Budget of the European Union
Further important political issues concern the
EU budget. The
Financial Perspective for 2007–2013 was defined in 2005 when EU members agreed to fix the common budget to 1.045% of the EU's
GDP.
[56] However there are long running disputes over the
Common Agricultural Policy and the
UK rebate. The UK rebate is a special discount on the UK contributions to the EU budget. The rebate was allowed as the UK was receiving relatively little agricultural support compared to other countries. The agricultural policy has historically dominated much of the EU's spending. Reduction of the agricultural spending and abolition of the UK rebate are listed as important reforms of the system by various groups. This is however problematic as unanimity is required to change these agreements, meaning that both the gross receivers from agricultural policies and the UK have to give up a privileged position. So far no agreement has been reached.
[57]
Foreign relations
The foreign relations of the EU are primarily dealt with through the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CFSP has its origins in the formation of
European Political Cooperation in 1970.
[58] Although cooperation in international trade negotiations, under the Common Commercial Policy, dates back to the establishment of the Community in 1957.
[59] European Political Cooperation was an informal consultation process between member states on foreign policy matters, with the aim of forming common policies. It was formally introduced into the then European Community by the Single European Act and subsequently renamed as the "Common Foreign and Security Policy" by the Maastricht Treaty.
The Maastricht Treaty gives the following aims for the Common Foreign and Security Policy:
The Amsterdam Treaty created the office of the
High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (currently held by
Javier Solana) to coordinate the EU's foreign policy.
[60] The High Representative, in conjunction with the current
Presidency, speaks on behalf of the Union in foreign policy matters and can sometimes have the difficult task of articulating ambiguous policy positions created by disagreements among member states. The Common Foreign and Security Policy requires unanimity among the now 27 member states on the appropriate policy to follow on any particular policy and disagreements, such as those which occurred over the war in Iraq,
[61] are not uncommon.
Besides emerging international policy, the international effect of the EU is felt through
enlargement. The potential benefits of becoming a member are considered a major factor contributing to the reform and stabilisation of the former Communist countries in Eastern Europe.
These factors influencing other countries are generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".
[62] Finnish Prime Minister,
Matti Vanhanen, cited the common foreign policy as a factor as to why
Finland is no longer a
neutral country – despite what it may be considered. It is not known if this view is shared by the leaders of the other neutral countries in the EU.
[63]
Along side its foreign and security policy, the Commission is gaining greater representation in international bodies such as the UN, where it has influence over areas such as aid due to its large contributions in that field (see below),
[64] and the
G8, in which the Commission and Council Presidents have non-voting representation.
[65] Generic representation is primarily through the
European Commissioner for External Relations, who works along side the High Representative. However in the
World Trade Organization (WTO), where all 27 member states are represented, the EU as a body is represented by
Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.
[66]
Humanitarian aid
The EU is the largest contributor of aid in the world
The
European Community humanitarian aid office, or "ECHO", provides
humanitarian aid from the EU to third world countries. In 2006 its aid budget amounted to 671 million euro, 48% of which went to the
ACP countries.
[67] Together with the aid given by member states individually, the EU is the largest aid donor in the world.
[68]
The current
commissioner for aid,
Louis Michel, has called for aid to be delivered more rapidly, to greater effect and on humanitarian principles.
EU aid has previously been criticised by the think tank
Open Europe for being inefficient, mis-targeted and linked to economic objectives.
[69] Further more, some charities have claimed European governments have inflated the amount they have spent on aid by incorrectly including money spent on debt relief, foreign students and refugees. Under the de-inflated figures, the EU did not reach its internal aid target in 2006
[70] while under official figures, the EU would not reach the accepted international target of 0.7% of
GNP until 2015. However only a few countries have reached that target and in 2005, EU aid was 0.34% of GNP which was higher than the United States and
Japan.
[71]
Security and defence
Main articles: European Security and Defence Policy,
Military of the European Union
The EU itself has limited military capability of its own. Member states are responsible for their own territorial defence, alongside
NATO which provides common military capabilities and assurances. However the membership of NATO and the EU are not identical. Furthermore, the
Western European Union (WEU) is a separate European security organisation related to the EU. In 1992, the WEU's relationship to the EU was defined, with the EU giving it the "
Petersberg tasks" (humanitarian missions such as peacekeeping and crisis management). The tasks were later transferred from the WEU to the EU by the Amsterdam Treaty; they formed part of the new CFSP and the
European Security and Defence Policy. Elements of the WEU are currently being merged into the EU's CFSP; the President of the WEU is currently CFSP High Representative.
[72][73]
Following the
Kosovo war in 1999, the European Council agreed that "the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and the readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO." To that end, a number of independent forces have been created, answerable to the European Council rather than NATO or member states. These include a 60,000-member
European Rapid Reaction Force and
EU Battlegroups of 15,000 men.
[74] Forces have been deployed on
peacekeeping missions from
Africa to the former
Yugoslavia and the
middle east.
[75] These are supported by a number of bodies, including the
European Defence Agency,
satellite centre and the
military staff.
[76]
Justice, freedom and security
Main articles: Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters,
European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom & Security
Schengen opened borders between its members (blue) prompting cross border police cooperation
The European Union's competence in the justice and home affairs area originates from the signing of the
Schengen Agreement in 1985 on the gradual abolition of border controls between six of the then ten European Community member states. In order to implement the Schengen Agreement, the signatory states included measures designed to balance the lowering of border controls with compensating measures in the areas of asylum, immigration and criminal justice.
[77] The Maastricht Treaty transferred many of these measures (although not those on the abolition of border controls) into the European Union,
[78] along with new competencies to facilitate the freedom of movement of people by adopting common rules in civil matters, such as contract and family law.
Changes to the treaties by the
Treaty of Amsterdam added a new aim of the Union as the creation of an "area of Justice, Freedom and Security".
[79] That treaty also made it easier to pass laws in the area and more difficult for member states to veto them. It also increased the powers of the European Parliament in relation to Justice and Home affairs' measures.
[80] Recent legislation include the
European Arrest Warrant[81] and directives on family law.
[82]
The Union has established agencies to coordinate its actions in the area:
Europol for cooperation of police forces,
[83] Eurojust for cooperation between prosecutors
[84] and
Frontex for cooperation between border control agencies.
[85] The EU also operates the
Schengen Information System which provides a common database for police and immigration authorities.
The EU has also developed a role in human rights protection. Prohibitions against sexual and nationality discrimination have a long standing in the treaties.
[86] The Amsterdam Treaty supplemented these, by adding further competence to legislate against forms of discrimination based on race, religion, disability, age and sexual orientation.
[87] Using these powers the EU has enacted legislation on sexual discrimination in the work-place, age discrimination and racial discrimination.
[88] In 2000 the EU organised a convention which drew up a
Charter of Fundamental Rights.
[89] Although the charter has not been given the force of law,
it was proposed to do so in the now defunct Constitutional treaty and in the current draft of the
Reform Treaty.
[90]
Economy
Main articles: Economy of the European Union
The EU was created first and foremost as an economic union. The first, oldest and largest pillar, the European Community, was founded as the European Economic Community. Creating and maintaining the EU's
single market has been a prominent goal of the Community, ensuring free movement of people, goods, services and capital.
[91]
Its combined
single market is notionally the largest economy in the world, with an estimated nominal GDP of 11.6
euro (
US$14.5) trillion in 2006 (compared to the second largest economy, the
United States, with a GDP of $13.2 trillion).
[92] The EU is the largest
exporter in the world,
[93] and the second largest importer.
[94] It is the biggest trading partner to many countries, such as
China[95] and
India.
[96] In 2007, the headquarters of 163 companies listed on the
Fortune Global 500 are within the EU, including half of the top twenty. The most profitable EU based company listed is
Royal Dutch Shell, an
Anglo-
Dutch oil company.
[97]
Within the EU's market, which extends to
Iceland,
Liechtenstein and
Norway via the
European Economic Area,
four freedoms are guaranteed: free movement of
goods,
services,
capital and
persons.
[98] To aid this, 13 members of the EU have adopted a common currency, the
euro. Together they are called the
eurozone and they have a common
European Central Bank, although the currency is used by a number of other countries outside of the EU.
[99][100] The
OECD has projected that in 2007 the eurozone will grow by 2.7%, faster than the projected 2.1% growth in the
United States.
[101] In 2006, 2 million of the 3 million jobs created in the EU were in the eurozone, although the eurozone economy is set to grow 2.4%, slightly slower than the EU as a whole, at 2.7%.
[102]
Legislation over the years has harmonised standards and liberalised markets. However, not all changes have been equally welcomed, for example the
Bolkestein directive faced protests over its liberalisation of services.
[103] The single market is extended to non-EU members through the
European Economic Area (EEA) treaties. Through this treaty
Iceland,
Liechtenstein and
Norway accept certain elements of EU law.
[104] There have been a number of high profile cases where the
Competition Commissioner has fined or rejected mergers of major corporations. The current commissioner,
Neelie Kroes, has dealt with a long dispute with
Microsoft, after the corporation was fined 497 million euro in 2004 for anti-competitive behaviour.
[105] Mario Monti was the first to block the merger between two US companies, which has been approved by US authorities.
[106] Since the founding treaty of the Community, the treaties have included the objective to establish a market of "free and undistorted competition". However the deletion of this phrase was secured by
Nicolas Sarkozy in talks on the proposed Reform Treaty. It is not expected to have any major impact on competition policy.
[107]
Regional development
Main articles: Regional policy of the European Union
There are substantial economic disparities across the EU, reflecting the different economies of its member states. Even corrected for purchasing power, the difference between the richest and poorest regions (
NUTS-2 &
3) is about a factor of ten –
Frankfurt has €68,751
PPP per capita,
Paris €67,980,
[108] and
Inner London €65,138, while
Romania's Nord-Est has €5,070 PPP per capita and
Bulgaria's Severozapaden has €5,502 PPP per capita.
[109] By comparison, United States GDP per capita is 35% higher than the EU average and the Japanese GDP per capita is approximately 15% higher.
[ GDP per capita in the Member States ranged from 48% to 251% of the EU25 average in 2005 ]
To tackle this, there are a number of
Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds aimed at promoting the development of the poorer regions of the EU. These regions are primarily located in the new member states of eastern Europe.
[110] The EU sponsors research through its
Framework Programmes, to deal with research and technological development to work towards a
European Research Area.
[111] Other funds provide emergency aid, support for candidate members to transform their country to conform to EU standard (
Phare,
ISPA, and
SAPARD), and support to the
commonwealth of independent states (
TACIS).
Agriculture
Main articles: Common Agricultural Policy
The
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one the oldest policies of the European Community and was once, one of its central planks.
[112]The policy has the objectives of increasing agricultural production, providing certainty in food supplies, ensuring a high quality of life for farmers, stabilising markets and insuring reasonable prices for consumers (article 33 of the Treaty of Rome).
It was, until recently, operated by a system of subsidies and market intervention, and up until the 1990s accounted for over half of the then European Communities' annual budget, and still accounts for around forty percent of the EU's budget.
The policy's price controls and market interventions led to a great deal of overproduction resulting in the so-called wine lakes and beef mountains. These were intervention stores which were built up from produce bought by the Community to insure minimum price levels. In order to reduce the levels of these stores, agricultural produce was often sold on the world market at prices considerably below what was paid for it, or farmers were offered subsidies (amounting to the difference between the Community and world prices) to export their produce outside the Community. This is often criticised on the grounds that the subsidised produce under-cuts farmers in the developing world.
[113] The overproduction has also been criticised on environmental grounds in that it encourages environmentally unfriendly intensive farming methods.
Supports of CAP say that the economic support it provides farmers to a reasonable standard of living in what would otherwise be an economically unviable way of life. Although currently the EU's small farmers only receive 8% of CAP's available subsidies.
Since the beginning of the 1990s CAP has been subject to a series of reforms. Initially these reforms included, amongst other things, the introduction of milk quotes (by the McSharry reforms in 1992)
and, more recently, the 'de-coupling' (or disassociation) of the money farmers receive from the EU and the amount they produce (by the Fischler reforms in 2004),
with the aim of reducing oversupply while maintaining income levels. The most recent reform entailed to abolition of the EU's sugar regime which previously involved the carving up of the sugar market between member states and certain African-Caribbean nations with a privileged relationship with the EU.
[114]
Energy
Main articles: Energy policy of the European Union
The EU has been a legislative power in the area of energy policy for many years. This involvement evolved from of the
European Coal and Steel Community. The introduction of a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was approved at the meeting of the
European Council in October 2005 and the first draft policy was published in January 2007.
[115]
The EU currently imports 82% of its
oil and 57% of its
gas, making it the world's leading importer of these fuels.
[116] In 2007, member states legally bound the EU to use 20%
renewable energy and cut
carbon dioxide emissions by at least 20% from 1990 levels, by 2020.
[117] In 2020, one-tenth of all cars and trucks in
EU 27 are agreed to be running on
biofuels. This is considered to be one of the most ambitious moves by large industrialised regions to fight
global warming.
[118]
Despite this, there are still concerns that the EU is largely dependent upon
Russia for its energy. This concern has grown particularly acute following a series of
clashes between Russia and its neighbours as Russia rose the price of its exports. As a result the EU is attempting to diversify its energy supply.
[119]
Infrastructure
The EU is working to improve cross-border
infrastructure, for example through the
Trans-European Networks (TEN). Projects under TEN include the
Channel Tunnel,
TGV Est, the
Fréjus Rail Tunnel, the
Oresund bridge and the
Brenner Base Tunnel. In 2001 it was estimated that by 2010 the network would cover: 75,200 km of roads; 78,000 km of railways; 330 airports; 270 maritime harbours; and 210 internal harbours.
[120][121]
Infrastructure, such as the
Oresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden, is a priority to increase trade and mobility
In developing European transport policy, there are environmental pressures on proposals to increase the transport network. With enlargement, a problem policy has had to tackle is the differences between the older and newer member states. In the EU 15, there is a major problem with congestion and pollution, while in the states that joined since 2004, the problem is accessibility.
[122] The
Polish road network in particular was in poor condition. From accession, 4,600 roads needed to be upgraded to EU standards with an approximate expenditure of 17 billion euro.
[123]
Another project is the
Galileo positioning system. Galileo is a proposed
Global Navigation Satellite System, to be built by the EU and launched by the
European Space Agency (ESA). Galileo was launched to reduce the EU's dependency on the US-operated
Global Positioning System. Galileo extends its cooperation to other nations outside the EU and is to be operational by 2010.
[124] It has been criticised by some due to costs, delays, and a perception of it being redundant due to the existing GPS system.
[125]
Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of the European Union
The combined population of all 27 member countries was approximately 492.9 million in 2006.
[126] Between 2004 and 2025 the population of the EU 25 is expected increase by approximately 13 million. This increase be will primarily be due to net
immigration, which is present in most European countries.
The EU's population is 7.3% of all humans, yet the EU covers just 3% of the earth's land. That is a
population density of 114/
km² making the EU one of the
most densely populated regions of the world. Eighty percent live in an
urban area and a third live in cities of over a million people.
[127] The EU is home to more
global cities than any other region in the world
[128] and 16 cities with populations of over one million (using city proper figures). The three largest cities are
London,
Madrid and
Paris.
Densely populated regions that have no single core but have emerged from the connection of several cites and are now encompassing large metropolitan areas are
Rhine-Ruhr having approximately 10.5 million inhabitants (
Cologne,
Dortmund,
Düsseldorf et al.),
Randstad approx. 7 million (
Amsterdam,
Rotterdam,
The Hague,
Utrecht et al.),
Frankfurt Rhine Main Area approx. 4 million (
Frankfurt,
Wiesbaden et al.) and the
Upper Silesian Industry Area approx. 3.5 million. (
Katowice,
Sosnowiec et al.).
[129]
Languages
Main articles: Languages of the European Union
The EU has 23
official and
working languages:
Bulgarian,
Czech,
Danish,
Dutch,
English,
Estonian,
Finnish,
French,
German,
Greek,
Hungarian,
Italian,
Irish,
Latvian,
Lithuanian,
Maltese,
Polish,
Portuguese,
Romanian,
Slovak,
Slovenian,
Spanish and
Swedish.
[130] Translation of important documents, such as legislation, takes place in every official language, however some institutions choose only a handful of languages as internal working languages. The European Parliament however provides translation into all languages for documents and its plenary sessions.
[131] Language policy is the responsibility of member states, but EU institutions promote the learning of other languages.
[132][133]
German is the most widely spoken mother tongue (about 88.7 million people
as of 2006), followed by English, Italian and French. English is by far the most spoken foreign language, while German and French follow. 56% of EU citizens are able to hold a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue.
[134] Most official languages of the EU belong to the
Indo-European language family, except Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian, which belong to the
Uralic language family, and Maltese, which is a
Semitic language. EU official languages are written in the
Latin alphabet except Bulgarian, written in
Cyrillic, and Greek, written in the
Greek alphabet.
[135]
There are about 150
regional and
minority languages, spoken by up to 50 million
people.
Of these, only the Spanish regional languages:
Catalan,
Galician, and
Basque can be used in the communication of the citizens with the Council of the European Union, the Commission, the Economic and Social Committee, the European Parliament and the
European Ombudsman, as well as in the workings of the
Committee of the Regions.
[136] Though regional and minority languages can benefit from EU programmes, protection of
linguistic rights is a matter for the individual member states. A wide variety of languages from other parts of the world are spoken by
immigrant communities in EU countries.
Turkish,
Maghreb Arabic,
Russian,
Urdu,
Bengali,
Hindi,
Tamil,
Ukrainian, and
Balkan languages are spoken in many parts of the EU. Many older immigrant communities are
bilingual in the local language and in that of their community. Migrant languages are not given formal status or recognition in the EU or in the EU countries, although since 2007 they have been eligible for support from the language teaching section of the EU's
Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013Religion
Percentage of Europeans in each state who believe in a god
The EU is a
secular body, with no formal connections to any
religion and no mention of religion in any current or proposed treaty.
Discussion over the draft texts of the European Constitution and later the Reform Treaty have included proposals to mention
Christianity and/or
God in the preamble of the text. However this idea has faced opposition and has thus been dropped.
[137] The desire for a reference stems from
Christianity being the dominant religion in Europe. European Christianity can be roughly divided into
Roman Catholicism, a wide range of
Protestant churches (especially in northern Europe) and
Eastern Orthodoxy (in south eastern Europe).
[138] Other religions such as
Judaism and
Islam are also present. In 2002 the EU had an estimated
Jewish population of roughly over a million
[139] and a Muslim population in 2006 of 16 million people.
[140]
Despite the majority of citizens having some form of belief system only 21% see it as important.
[141] There is increasing
atheism or
agnosticism among the general population in Europe, with falling attendance and membership in many countries.
In 2005, a survey of the EU's members at that time found that of the EU citizens, 52% believe in ''a'' god, 27% in ''some sort of spirit or life force'' and 18% had no form of belief. The countries where the fewest people reported a religious belief were the Czech Republic (19%) and Estonia (16%).
[143] In such countries, even those who have a faith can be disdainful of organized religion.
[144] The most religious societies are those in Malta with 95% (predominantly Roman Catholic), and Cyprus and Romania both with about 90% of citizens believing in a god. Across the EU, belief was higher among women, increased with age, those with religious upbringing, those with the lowest levels of formal education, those leaning towards
right-wing politics, and those reflecting more upon philosophical and ethical issues.
Society
Education and research
Education and science are areas where the EU's role is limited in its support. In education, policy mainly developed in the 1980s with programmes supporting exchanges and mobility. The most visible of these has been the
ERASMUS programme, a university exchange programme which began in 1987. In its first 20 years it has supported international exchange opportunities for well over 1.5 million university and college students and become a symbol of Europe and student life. In France, where 217,000 students have participated, the programme became the subject of a film in 2002,
L'Auberge espagnole.
[145][146] There are now similar programmes for school pupils and teachers, for trainees in vocational education and training, and for adult learners in the
Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013. They are designed to encourage a wider knowledge of other countries and to spread good practices in the education and training fields.
[147][148]
Scientific support is offered through the EU's
Framework Programmes, the first of which was in 1984. The aims of EU policy in this area are to coordinate and stimulate research. The independent
European Research Council allocates EU funds to European or national research projects.
[149] Since January 2000 the
European Commission has set its sights on a wider objective, known as the
European Research Area. This has the support of all member states, and extends the existing financing structure of the frameworks. It aims to focus on coordination, sharing knowledge, ensuring mobility of researchers around Europe, improving conditions for researchers and encouraging links with business and industry as well as removing any legal and administrative barriers.
[150]
The
College of Europe (based in
Bruges and
Natolin) was the first European educational establishment, being founded in 1949. It is financially supported by the EU and many students go on to work with the European institutions. Student's places are allocated according to the size of the member state, so it is seen as a reproduction of European society.
[151] In further effort to build a European science base, and to improve the competitive edge of the EU in the area of innovation and technology, the commission has proposed the foundation of a
European Institute of Innovation and Technology. It has not been decided whether this plan will include its own campus, or will be mainly a network of existing research facilities in the EU.
[152]
Culture
The EU has no specific culture or cultural history, other than those of its member states, so EU culture is intertwined with the
culture of Europe. Within the EU, supporters of
European integration often appeal to a shared European historical/cultural heritage, typically including
Ancient Greece and
Ancient Rome, the
feudalism of the
Middle Ages, the
Renaissance, the
Age of Enlightenment, 19th century
Liberalism and (sometimes) negative elements such as the
World Wars. European values are assumed to be grounded in this shared heritage.
[153] This heritage can often be invoked to encourage a sense of shared heritage and pride in it: in March 2007, for the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, a piece of art from each state was sent to Rome for a special exhibition. Such art varied from historical pieces such as
Auguste Rodin's ''
The Thinker'' to modern works such as
Per Kirkeby's ''Prophecy on Venice''.
[154] Displays of such artwork can also be seen on
euro coins, where countries choose to depict a symbol of national pride such as a building or artist, for example
France Prešeren or ''the
Vitruvian Man''.
[155]
There is some EU cultural cooperation. Cultural cooperation between member states has become a community competency since its inclusion in 1992 in the
Maastricht Treaty.
[156] Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the
Culture 2000 7-year programme,
the
European Cultural Month event,
[ European Culture Month ] the
Media Plus programme,
[ Media programme ] orchestras such as the
European Union Youth Orchestra[157] and the
European Capital of Culture programme – where one or more cities in the EU are selected for one year to assist the cultural development of the city.
[ European Capitals of Culture ] In addition, the EU gives grants to cultural projects (totalling 233 in 2004) and has launched a Web portal 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 heritage as a vehicle of cultural identity ]
Sports
Main articles: Sport policies of the European Union
Sport policy is largely the domain of the member states, with the EU mostly playing an indirect role. The role of the EU might increase in the future, if (for example) the
Reform Treaty were to be ratified by all member states.
[ Brussels' first-ever move into sport area set to spark controversy ] Recently the EU launched an anti-doping convention. Other policies of the EU have had an impact on sports, such as the freedom of employment which was at the core of the
Bosman ruling, which prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with EU nationality.
[ 10 years since Bosman ]
Various
spectator sports are popular throughout Europe, such as
football. In the same manner that artistic heritage is drawn on by the EU, football has also been drawn on. On
9 February 2007, for the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaty, a European football team was formed to take on
Manchester United Football Club in a friendly match. It was also the 50th anniversary of Manchester's first participation in the
UEFA cup. The "
Europe XI"
team coach described the importance of the game to Europe in the following terms: ''"Football brings people together. In a continent so proud of its cultural diversity, football offers a common language. It helps to integrate different communities. At its best, our sport conveys some of Europe’s basic values: the rule of law, respect for others, freedom of expression, teamwork and solidarity."''
[ EU 50th Anniversary Football Match ] Although the combined team was a one off for that event, Commission President
Romano Prodi proposed that the national teams entering the
2008 Olympics in
Beijing carry the
European flag in addition to their national flag as a show of unity. In the
2004 Athens Olympics,
EU teams won 280 medals.
[ Olympic Games 2004 - Congratulations from President Prodi ]
Environment
Main articles: European Commissioner for the Environment
The first European environmental policy was launched in 1972. Since then it has addressed issues such as
acid rain, the thinning of the
ozone layer,
air quality,
noise pollution,
waste and
water pollution. The
Water framework directive is an example of the water policy; the aim is for rivers, lake, ground and coastal waters to be of "good quality" by 2015. Wildlife is protected through the
Natura 2000 programme and covers 30,000 sites throughout Europe.
[158] In 2007, the Polish government sought to build a motorway through the
Rospuda valley, but the Commission has been blocking construction as the valley is a wildlife area covered by the programme.
[159]
The Commission is trying to protect the
Rospuda vally in Poland from motorway construction
The
REACH directive was a large piece of legislation passed in 2006 which is designed to ensure 30,000 chemicals which are in daily use are tested for their safety.
[160] Earlier in 2006, an
toxic waste spill off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, from a European ship, prompted the Commission to look into legislation against toxic waste. With states such as Spain now even having a crime against shipping toxic waste, the Commission proposed to create criminal sentences for "ecological crimes". Although the Commission's right to propose criminal law was contested, it won the right in the Court of Justice.
[161]
The EU was involved in the development of the
Kyoto protocol and signed up to it along side its member states. One way it has sought to tackle climate change was by creating the
Emissions Trading Scheme, the worlds biggest multinational environmental trading scheme. The EU is also involved in trying to secure a post-Kyoto deal.
In 2007, the EU agreed to an energy policy binding members to cut their
carbon dioxide emissions by at least 20% from 1990 levels, by 2020. If an international deal is reached, emissions would be cut further. The use of
renewable energy in the EU would also be increased to 20%.
[117] It is also planned that by 2020, 10% of all automobiles would run on biofuels.
[163]
See also
References
1. Activities of the European Union: Internal Market
2. Restrictions on free movement of labour apply to the ten new members for a maximum period of seven years. They are applied in varying degrees by all old members except the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Free Movement of Workers
3. Abolition of internal borders and creation of a single EU external frontier
4. The political consequences
5. Declaration of 9 May 1950
6. A peaceful Europe - the beginnings of cooperation
7. Merging the executives
8. The first enlargement
9. The new European Parliament
10. Negotiations for enlargement
11. A Europe without frontiers
12. 1980-1989 The changing face of Europe - the fall of the Berlin Wall
13. A decade of further expansion
14. European Countries
15. European Commission - Enlargement - Candidate and Potential Candidate Countries
16. Accession criteria (Copenhagen criteria)
17. Emperors Clothes
18. Del Ponte: EU enlargement bringing justice to Balkans
19. Figure including the four French overseas departments (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion) which are an integral part of the EU, but excluding the French overseas collectivities and territories, which are not part of the EU
20. European countries
21. European Union
22. Countries of the Earth
23. Treaty of Amsterdam
24. Consolidated Treaties on European Union and establishing the European Community
25. Where is the euro legal tender?
26. Humid Continental Climate
27. Institutions: The European Commission
28. Institutions: The Council of the European Union
29. European Council
30. Institutions: The European Parliament
31. Brussels, Capital of Europe
32. European Council in Edinburgh: 11 - 12 December 1992, Annex 6 to Part A 
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