The EU
Why the European Union? Origin of the EU Europe – a divided and unstable continent The dream of uniting Europe After the immense sufferings and destructions of two world wars: - How to build peace in Europe? - How to create European unity?
Origin of the EU Winston Churchill’s vision (1946): Creation of a “United States of Europe” with reconciliation between France and Germany as the first step. Founding fathers of the EU: Robert Schuman (France), Konrad Adenauer (Germany) and Alcide De Gasperi (Italy)
Parallel Developments Other organizations promoting European unity were also established in the early post-war years: The UN The Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC, later OECD) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) The Council of Europe
Forerunner of the EU 1951: The European Coal and Steel Community (The Treaty of Paris). France, Germany, Italy and the BeNeLux countries. Britain declined. Why?
1957: The EEC The European Economic Community The EEC was : (The Treaty of Rome). Six member states. The EEC was : a customs union a common market (a Common External Tariff) had common policies on trade, agriculture, transport
The EEC Aimed for coordinated economic / monetary policies (1979 the ERM = the Exchange Rate Mechanism) = increased economic integration in Europe Moreover, even at this early stage it was stated that the ultimate goal was political unity
The EEC - EC - EU 1987: Name change to the EC = The European Community 1992: Name change to the EU = The European Union
Development of the EU 1993: The Single Market Free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital 1998: A European Central Bank (ECB) 1999: European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU): A single currency = the euro
Development of the EU 2004-2007: Expansion of the 2002: Euro coins and notes 2004-2007: Expansion of the EU to 27 member states 2007: The EU Reform Treaty (The Lisbon Treaty = its new constitutional treaty) 2011-2015: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania adopted the euro = 19 nations 2013: Croatia =the 28th EU member state
The EU Member States The first 6: 3 in the 1970s: 3 in the 1980s:
EU Institutions Organizational structure - a federation? The concept “pooling of sovereignty”. Seven major institutions with different roles and responsibilities
The European Council Role: General policies, guidelines, visions, priorities. (A separate institution since 2009) Heads of State, 4 times a year. The President of the European Council (sometimes referred to as the President of the EU) is Donald Tusk. A principal representative of the EU on the world stage.
The European Commission How many members does the Commission have? The President of the Commission is Jean-Claude Juncker. What are the main functions of the Commission? How important is the Commission within the EU?
The European Parliament How many MEPs are there today? The President of the EP is Antonio Tajani. What are the three main roles of the EP? How influential is the European Parliament?
The Council of the EU Who are the members of the Council? Explain the system of “the rotating EU presidency”. What is the “Trio Presidency”? What are the major tasks of the Council? The High Representative: Federica Mogherini
The European Central Bank The current President of the ECB is Mario Draghi, former governor of the Bank of Italy The ECB is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany
The European Court of Justice What are the two major tasks of the Court? The European Court of Auditors Why is this an important institution for the EU?
Comparison of the EU Institutions Explain the separation of power between the European Parliament the Council of the EU the European Commission The European Court of Justice Explain the concept of “co-decision” How do the Commission and the Council differ?
The State of the Union 10 years since the start of the global financial crisis The major causes for the crisis in the EU In 2009: 18 EU countries were experiencing systemic crises In 2017: «Europe’s economic recovery is accelerating»
Discussion: The Future of the EU? What are the main challenges and dilemmas of the EU today? What are your views regarding the euro and the euro zone? What are your views regarding the future of the EU?