1. Strand 3
Exploring democracy
PPT 16: The European Union (EU)

2. What is the EU?
The EU (European Union) is a group of democratic countries in Europe that believes in working together for peace and prosperity.
1957: Treaty of Rome was signed by six countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands).
1973: Denmark, Ireland and the UK joined the EEC (European Economic Community).
1981: Greece became a member.
1986: Portugal and Spain joined.
1993: The EEC became the EU.
1995: Austria, Finland and Sweden became members.
2002: The euro came into circulation.
2004: 10 countries joined (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia).
2007: Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU.
2013: Croatia became a member.
2016: The UK voted to leave the EU.

3. How does the EU work?
The European Union is made up of three important institutions:
the European Commission
the European Parliament
the Council of the EU

4. The European Commission
The European Commission is like the cabinet of the European Union.
There are 28 Commissioners (like Ministers with different areas of responsibility).
They send their proposals for new laws to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
The person in charge of the Commission is known as the President of the European Commission (similar to An Taoiseach).
The current European Commission President is Jean-Claude Juncker from Luxembourg.
The Irish government nominated Phil Hogan as a Commissioner. He has responsibility for Agriculture and Rural Development (2014–2019).
The European Commission Building, Brussels
Find out who the other EU Commissioners are and their areas of responsibility.

5. The European Parliament
The European Parliament meets each month in Brussels and Strasbourg.
The European Parliament, Brussels
The European Parliament, Strasbourg
The next European Parliament elections will take place in 2019.
One Irish man served as President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox (2002–2004).
There are 751 MEPs.
They are elected every five years.
Ireland elected 11 MEPs in 2014.
Find out who the 11 Irish MEPs are and what constituencies they represent.

6. The Council of the European Union
All laws have to be discussed by the governments of EU member states. When the heads of government meet, it is called the Council of the EU or the European Council*.
When Ministers from the EU member states meet, it is called a Council of Ministers.
The European Council has its own full- time President: Donald Tusk from Poland was appointed to this position in 2014.
The Vice-President of the Commission and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security is Federica Mogherini from Italy, who was also appointed in 2014.
Every six months a different member state takes over the Presidency of the EU. Ireland will next hold the Presidency in 2026!
* Not to be confused with the Council of Europe, which is a completely different organisation!
Donald Tusk and Federica Mogherini
What member state currently holds the Presidency of the European Union?