The European Union

Facts Supranational organization = transcends national borders 27 members Single currency = Euro

The European Union: 493 million people – 27 countries Member states of the European Union Candidate countries

23 official languages

History 1952 The European Steel and Coal Community 1958 The treaties of Rome: The European Economic Community The European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) 2007 Treaty of Lisbon (signed) 1987 The European Single Act: the Single Market 1993 Treaty of European Union – Maastricht 2003 Treaty of Nice 1999 Treaty of Amsterdam

Three pillars The European Union The Treaties European Community common policies Common foreign and security policy Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters The Treaties

The big enlargement: healing the division of Europe 41989 Fall of Berlin Wall – end of Communism EU economic help begins: Phare programme 41992 Criteria set for a country to join the EU: • democracy and rule of law • functioning market economy • ability to implement EU laws 41998 Formal negotiations on enlargement begin 42002 Copenhagen summit agrees enlargement 42004 10 new EU members: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia 42007 Bulgaria and Romania join the EU © Reuders Candidates Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey

Eight enlargements 1952 1973 1981 1986 1990 1995 2004 2007

The euro – a single currency for Europeans Can be used everywhere in the euro area 4Coins: one side with national symbols, one side common 4Notes: no national side EU countries using the euro EU countries not using the euro

European Economic and Monetary Union: stable prices Beating inflation European Economic and Monetary Union: stable prices Average annual inflation in the 15 EU-countries that used the euro in 2008 

EU’s Democratic Deficit Democratic deficit = lack of its accountability to the average citizen in member states most decision making in EU is done by nonelected officials EU challenges the sovereignty of member states because decisions are made by the EU instead of solely by national governments

Issues currently facing EU Trade disputes with nonmember countries Discrepancy in economic power between member states Pressure form nonmember states to join EU Challenges to EU’s authority by nationalist sentiment within member states “Euroskeptics”

Arguments for EU Enlargement Larger EU will have more weight in trade negotiations with rest of the world Cheaper labor in new EU states will attract businesses from other countries Promote political stability in new member states Larger EU provides new and diverse markets for all EU members

EU population in the world Population in millions, 2007 1322 497 301 128 142 EU China Japan Russia United States

EU China Japan Russia United States Surface area, 1 000 km² 16 889 9327 9159 4234 365 EU China Japan Russia United States

How rich is the EU compared to the rest of the world? 37 300 27 800 24 700 10 793 10 035 10 000 6 400 3676 1 326 468 EU China Japan Russia United States EU China Japan Russia United States Size of economy: Gross Domestic Product in billion of euros, 2006 Wealth per person: Gross Domestic Product per person in Purchasing Power Standard, 2007

How many people live in the EU? Population in millions, 2007 497 million 82.4 63.4 60.9 59.1 44.5 38.2 21.6 16.3 11.2 10.6 10.5 10.3 10.1 9.0 8.3 7.7 5.4 5.4 5.3 4.3 3.4 2.3 2.0 1.3 0.8 0.5 0.4 Italy Spain Germany France Poland Sweden Finland Estonia Netherlands Greece Belgium Denmark Latvia Hungary Bulgaria Slovakia Ireland Luxemburg Malta Romania Austria Lithuania Slovenia Cyprus United Kingdom Portugal Czech Republic

GDP per inhabitant: the spread of wealth GDP per inhabitants in Purchasing Power Standards, 2007 Index where the average of the 27 EU-countries is 100 280 144 131 129 127 123 121 118 117 113 113 104 102 100 94 89 87 79 77 75 67 66 63 58 56 53 38 37 Ireland Malta Austria Denmark Belgium Sweden Finland Germany France Italy Spain EU-27 Cyprus Greece Slovenia Portugal Estonia Hungary Slovakia Poland Luxembourg Netherlands Lithuania Latvia Romania Bulgaria United Kingdom Czech Republic

How is the EU’s money spent? Total EU budget 2008: 129.1 billion euro = 1.03% of Gross National Income Citizens, freedom, security and justice 1% The EU as a global player: including development aid 6% Other, administration 6% Natural resources: agriculture, environment 43% Sustainable growth: new jobs, cohesion, research 45%

The EU institutions European Parliament European Council (summit) Council of Ministers (Council of the EU) European Commission Court of Justice Court of Auditors Economic and Social Committee Committee of the Regions European Investment Bank Agencies European Central Bank

How EU laws are made Citizens, interests groups, experts: discuss, consult Commission: makes formal proposal Parliament and Council of Ministers: decide jointly National or local authorities: implement Commission and Court of Justice: monitor implementation

The European Parliament – voice of the people 4 Decides EU laws and budget together with Council of Ministers 4 Democratic supervision of all the EU’s work Number of members elected in each country Austria 18 Finland 14 Latvia 9 Romania 35 Belgium 24 France 78 Lithuania 13 Slovakia 14 Bulgaria 18 Germany 99 Luxembourg 6 Slovenia 7 Cyprus 6 Greece 24 Malta 5 Spain 54 Czech Republic 24 Hungary 24 Netherlands 27 Sweden 19 Denmark 14 Ireland 13 Poland 54 78 United Kingdom Estonia 6 Italy 78 Portugal 24 Total 785

The European political parties Number of seats in the European Parliament per political group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe 101 Independence/ Democracy 24 European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats 288 Greens/European Free Alliance 43 Socialist Group 215 Union for Europe of the Nations 44 Total : 785 Non-attached members and temporarily empty seats 29 European United Left - Nordic Green Left 41