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The European Union or EU is, in part, an intergovernmental and supranational organisation of 25 member states. The Union was established under that name by the Treaty on European Union (commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty) in 1992. However, many aspects of the EU existed before that date through a series of predecessor organisations, dating back to the 1950s.

There are 4 main institutions: The Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the European Court of Justice and the European Commission. Each has a President, and each has a specific role and responsibility.

Template:European Union table The European Union's activities cover all policy areas, from health and economic policy to foreign affairs and defence. However, the nature of its powers differs between areas. Depending on the powers transferred to it by its member states, the EU therefore resembles a federation (e.g. monetary affairs, agricultural, trade and environmental policy), a confederation (e.g. in social and economic policy, consumer protection, internal affairs), or an international organisation (e.g. in foreign affairs). A key activity of the EU is the establishment and administration of a common single market, consisting of a customs union, a single currency (adopted by 12 of the 25 member states), a Common Agricultural Policy and a Common Fisheries Policy.

On 29 October, 2004, European heads of government signed a Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, which has been ratified by some member states and is currently awaiting ratification by the other member states. However, this process faltered on May 29, 2005 when the majority of French voters rejected the constitution by 54.7% in a referendum. This forced a change of Prime Minister in France. The French rejection was followed three days later by a Dutch one on June 1 when in the Netherlands 61.6% of voters refused the constitution as well.

Status

The members of the European Union have transferred more sovereignty to that regional organisation than any other members have to any other nonsovereign regional organisation. In certain areas where member states have transferred a degree of sovereignty to the Union, the EU begins to resemble a federation or confederation. However, the member states remain the masters of the Treaties, meaning that the Union does not have the power to transfer additional powers from the member states onto itself without their agreement. Also, the various member states maintain their own policies in key areas of national interest such as foreign relations and defence. This unique structure perhaps makes the European Union best seen as a sui generis entity.

The current and future status of the European Union is the subject of great political concern within some European Union member states.

Geography

A satellite composite image of Europe

The majority of the European Union occupies the westernmost third of Europe; however the European Union also includes a large number of territories outside Europe, known as outermost regions, through many of its member states colonialist histories. Assuming the European Union includes all lands and islands whose natives are considered European citizens, the European Union land borders with 20 other nations: (west-east) Suriname, Brazil, Morocco, Andorra, Norway, Monaco, Switzerland, Leichtenstein, Vatican City, San Marino, Croatia, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, FYR Macedonia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Belarus and Turkey.

On the same basis, the European Union also has sea borders with 31 nation-states: (west-east) New Zealand (via the Cook Islands), Kiribati, Bahamas, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Canada, the USA (via Puerto Rico), St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, Western Sahara, the British Crown Dependencies of Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Comoros, Madagascar, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tuvalu, Samoa and Tonga.

With 41 land and sea borders, if the European Union were a nation, it would have more borders than any other nation, and almost as many as the next four nations combined - People's Republic of China, 16; Saudi Arabia, 13; Iran, 13; and Brazil, 10.

However this simplifies the nature of the European Union, as most citizens of member states are automatically European citizens. This means that British (with the exception of Manx, Guernsey and Jersey), French, Dutch and Danish (with the exception of Faroese) citizens are all European citizens - even if they were born in territories of those nations which fall outside the boundaries of the European Union as specified by the various treaties. Even more confusingly, some territories considered outside the European Union, such as the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, off the coast of Canada, are nonetheless democratically represented within the European Parliament, so the actual boundaries of the European Union are somewhat hard to define.

Original members of the European Coal and Steel Community

The legal base of the European Union is a sequence of treaties between its member states. These have been much amended over the years, with each new treaty amending and supplementing earlier ones. The first such treaty was the Treaty of Paris of 1951 (took effect in 1952) which established the European Coal and Steel Community between an original group of six European countries. This treaty has since expired, its functions taken up by subsequent treaties. On the other hand, the Treaty of Rome of 1957 is still in effect, though much amended since then, most notably by the Maastricht treaty of 1992, which first established the European Union under that name. The most recent amendments to the Treaty of Rome were agreed as part of the Treaty of Accession of the 10 new member states, which entered into force on 1 May 2004.

The EU member states have recently agreed to the text of a new constitutional treaty that, if ratified by the member states, would become the first official constitution of the EU, replacing all previous treaties with a single document. Although accepted by many countries, this document was rejected in a French referendum with a 55% majority on May 29th and in the Dutch referendum with a 62% majority on June 1st.

If the Constitutional Treaty fails to be ratified by all member states, then it might be necessary to reopen negotiations on it. Most politicians and officials agree that the current pre-Constitution structures are inefficient in the medium term for a union of 25 (and growing) member states. Senior politicians in some member states (notably France) have suggested that if only a few countries fail to ratify the Treaty, then the rest of the Union should proceed without them, possibly creating an "Avant Garde" or Inner Union of more committed member states to proceed with "an ever-deeper, ever-wider union".

See also:

Location of EU institutions

The EU has no official capital and its institutions are divided between several cities:

Current issues

Major issues facing the European Union at the moment include the adoption, abandonment or reflection on a new constitutional treaty, the Union's enlargement to the south and east (see below), the revision of the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact and the Common Agricultural Policy.

In the next Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), which is a semi-annual meeting of EU member states' heads of state and government, EU member states must decide on how it will allocate the EU budget. The EU budget is called the "Financial Perspective," and it is renegotiated every seven years. The next Financial Perspective will be for 2007-2013. Issues that will be controversial during upcoming budget debates will be the British rebate, France's benefits from the Common Agricultural Policy, Germany and the Netherlands' large contributions to the EU budget, and reform of the European Regional Development Funds. Many commentators have envisaged these debates to yield a major split between governments, such those of France and Germany, who call for a broader budget and a more federal union (and whose watchword is integration), and governments, such as Britain's, which demand a slimmer budget with more funding transferred to science and research (and whose watchword is modernisation).

During the next summit meeting, leaders will also have to decide what to do with the European Constitution. Some governments would like to freeze the ratification process, while others would like it to continue. If 20 out of 25, or four-fifths, of the EU's member states ratify it, the constitution will be referred to the European Council and the heads of state and government will be able to renegotiate the treaty.

Now that France and the Netherlands have rejected the constitution, EU leaders can adopt parts of it in a piecemeal approach in the IGC without putting the changes up for referendum.

Origins and history

File:Rometreaty.jpg
Signing ceremony of the Treaty of Rome, 1957
Main article: History of the European Union

Attempts to unify the disparate nations of Europe precede the modern nation states; they have occurred repeatedly throughout the history of the continent. Three thousand years ago, Europe was dominated by the Celts, and then conquered and ruled by the Mediterranean centred Roman Empire. These early 'European Unions' were created by force. The Frankish empire of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire united large areas under a loose administration for hundreds of years. More recently the 1800s customs union under Napoleon and the 1940s conquests of Germany had only transitory existence.

Given Europe's heterogeneous collections of languages and cultures, these attempts usually involved military subjugation of unwilling nations, leading to instability and ultimate failure. One of the first proposals for peaceful unification through cooperation and equality of membership was made by the pacifist Victor Hugo in 1851. Following the catastrophes of the First World War and the Second World War, the impetus for the founding of (what was later to become) the European Union greatly increased, driven by the desire to rebuild Europe and to eliminate the possibility of another such war ever arising. This sentiment eventually led to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community by (West) Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries. This was accomplished by the Treaty of Paris, signed in April, 1951, and taking effect in July, 1952.

The first full customs union was originally known as the European Economic Community (informally called the Common Market in the UK), established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and implemented on 1 January 1958. This later changed to the European Community which is now the "first pillar" of the European Union. The EU has evolved from a trade body into an economic and political partnership. For more details, please see History of the European Union.

Methods

To accomplish its aims, the European Union attempts to form infrastructure that crosses state borders. Harmonised standards create a larger, more efficient market – member states can form a single customs union without loss of health or safety. For example, states whose people would never agree to eat the same food might still agree on standards for labelling and cleanliness.

The power of the European Union reaches far beyond its borders, because to sell within it, it is beneficial to conform to its standards. Once a non-member country's factories, farmers and merchants conform to EU standards, most of the costs of joining the union have been sunk. At that point, harmonising laws to become a full member creates more wealth (by eliminating the customs costs) with only the tiny investment of actually changing the laws.

Regarding non-economic issues, supporters of the European Union argue that the EU is also a force for peace and democracy. Wars that were a periodic feature of the history of Western Europe have ceased since the formation of the EEC as it then was. In the early 1970s, Greece, Portugal and Spain were all dictatorships, but the business communities in these three countries wanted to be in the EU and this created a strong impetus for democracy there. Others argue that peace in Europe since WW2 owes more to the threat from the Soviet Union and that the dictatorships would have ended anyway.

In more recent times, the European Union continues to extend its influence to the east. It has accepted several new members that were previously behind the Iron Curtain, and has plans to accept several more in the medium-term. It is hoped that in a similar fashion to the entry of Spain, Portugal and Greece, membership for these states will help cement economic and political stability.

Further eastward expansion also has long-term economic benefits, but the remaining European countries are not viewed as currently suitable for membership, especially the troubled economies of countries further east. Eventually including states that are currently politically unstable will, it is hoped, help deal with the lingering consequences of such problems as the Yugoslav wars, or avoid such conflicts as the Cyprus dispute in the future.

As the EU continues to enlarge eastward, the candidate countries' accessions grow more controversial. The EU has already finished accession talks with Bulgaria and Romania, and set tentative entry dates for the two countries in 2007 or 2008. France and the Netherlands rejection of the EU Constitution and the EU's slow economic growth have cast doubt on whether the EU will be ready to accept new members in 2007.

A further point of contention for EU members is the Turkey question. Accession talks between Turkey and the EU are supposed to begin early October. Citizens of France, Germany, the Netherlands, and other long-time members of the EU are fearful of Turkey joining the EU. Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has enacted many legal reforms to meet the EU's entry requirements. Turkey's entry into the EU would, de facto, resolve the conflict over Cyprus' disputed territory.

Member states and successive enlargements

Main articles: European Union member states, Enlargement of the European Union, Countries bordering the European Union, Membership criteria.

The European Union has 25 member states, an area of 3,892,685 km² and approximately 460 million EU citizens as of December 2004. If it were a country, it would be the seventh largest in the world by area and the third largest by population after China and India.

Map of EU member states, 2007 admissions and candidate countries
Map of EU member states, 2007 admissions and candidate countries

Since its inception with six countries, nineteen further states have since then joined in successive waves of enlargement:

File:Balkenende de hoop scheffer signing.jpg
The signing ceremony for the admittance of new member states in Athens, Greece in 2004
Year Country
1952 Belgium, France, (West) Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands (founding members)
1973 Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom
1981 Greece
1986 Portugal, Spain
1990 East Germany reunites with West Germany and becomes part of the EU
1995 Austria, Finland, Sweden
2004 Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia

Note:

Future members, other countries

Croatia is an official candidate to join the European Union, although negotiation talks have been postponed for the time being.

Turkey is the only other official candidate, though with a less definitive estimate for an accession date. There exists, however, considerable resistance in several current members to the membership of Turkey. Further information about future enlargements can be found in the Enlargement of the European Union article.

Romania and Bulgaria are scheduled to become members on 1 January 2007 if they meet the conditions for membership and the Accession treaty is ratified by the member states. The Treaty of Accession for the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania has been signed by EU Member States representatives in Luxembourg, Abbaye de Neumünster, on April, the 25th 2005. Ratifying Romania and Bulgaria's Accession Treaty is a process under current development by the Parliaments of all Member States.

Iceland, Norway and Switzerland are not member states but do have special agreements with the Union. (See the third country relationships with the EU article).

Most European Free Trade Association members are parties to the EEA-treaty (the European Economic Area), which means that these countries are participants in the single market.

Status of overseas territories

Some areas have connections or associations to EU member states through a colonial past, cultural links, or geographic placement. For the status in relation to the EU, of Greenland, the Isle of Man, the Azores and Madeira, amongst others, see the article on Special member state territories and their relations with the EU.

Economic status

Main article: Economy of the European Union
Diagram showing the population and GDP per capita of EU member states and candidates

In 2004 the EU had the largest economy in the world with a GDP of US$ 12.48 trillion.[1]. The European Union continues to enjoy a significant trade surplus. However, as of 2004 the European Union has been suffering stagnant economic growth and high unemployment (averaged across the Union).

The EU economy is expected to grow further over the next decade as more countries join the union - especially considering that the new States are usually poorer than the EU average, and hence the expected fast GDP growth will help achieve the dynamic of the united Europe. However, GDP per capita of the whole Union will fall over the short-term. In the long-term, the EU's economy suffers from significant demographic challenges, with a below-replacement birth rate.

Standard of living

Below is a table and three graphs showing, respectively, the GDP (PPP), the GDP (PPP) per capita and the GDP (nominal) per capita for the European Union and for each of its 25 member states. This can be used as a rough gauge to the relative standards of living among member states. The two future members Bulgaria and Romania are also included in the table. The data set is for the year 2005 and graphs are for the year 2004. All 2005 data are projections.

GDP (PPP) per capita 2004 showing countries above and below EU average
GDP (PPP), 2004
GDP (PPP) per capita, 2004
Member
States 		GDP (PPP)
millions of
int. dollars 		GDP (PPP)
per capita
int. dollars 		GDP (nominal)
per capita
int. dollars
European Union 12,329,110 25,700 30,615
 Luxembourg 30,674 66,821 77,595
 Ireland 164,190 40,003 50,303
 Denmark 187,721 34,781 49,182
 Austria 267,053 32,962 39,292
 Belgium 324,299 31,549 37,730
 Finland 161,099 30,818 39,098
 Netherlands 498,703 30,363 38,320
 United Kingdom 1,825,837 30,309 38,098
 Germany 2,498,471 30,150 35,075
 Sweden 267,427 29,537 42,392
 Italy 1,694,706 29,414 31,874
 France 1,811,561 29,203 35,727
 Spain 1,026,340 24,803 27,074
 Slovenia 43,260 21,695 17,706
 Greece 236,311 21,529 21,017
 Cyprus 16,745 20,669 21,161
 Malta 7,909 20,015 14,001
 Portugal 203,947 19,949 18,105
 Czech Republic 198,976 19,475 12,304
 Hungary 162,289 16,627 10,978
 Estonia 22,239 16,461 9,112
 Slovakia 87,129 16,110 9,305
 Lithuania 49,106 14,198 6,853
 Poland 512,890 13,275 8,082
 Latvia 30,227 12,886 6,559
Acceding
Countries		 GDP (PPP)
millions of
int. dollars		 GDP (PPP)
per capita
int. dollars		 GDP (nominal)
per capita
int. dollars
 Bulgaria 71,381 9,205 3,347
 Romania 183,162 8,258 3,600

Source: CIA World Factbook [2]
All other figures, source: IMF web site (2005 GDP PPP, 2005 per capita GDP PPP, 2005 per capita GDP, current prices).

Structure

European Union law comprises a large number of overlapping legal and institutional structures. This is a result of its being defined by successive international treaties. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to consolidate and simplify the treaties, culminating with the final draft of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. If this proposed treaty is adopted, it will replace the set of overlapping treaties that form the current constitution of the EU with a single text.

The role of the European Community within the Union

The term European Community (or Communities) was used for the group of members prior to the establishment of the European Union. At present, the term continues to have significance, but in a different context. The "European Community" is one of the three pillars of the European Union, being both the most important pillar and the only one to operate primarily through supranational institutions. The other two pillars – Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters – are looser intergovernmental groupings. Confusingly, these latter two concepts are increasingly administered by the Community (as they are built up from mere concepts to actual practice).

What most people think of as the European Union is essentially the European Community. The Community is an actual body, including the European institutions (European Parliament, Council of the European Union, European Commission), whilst the European Union is a less tangible grouping of institutions and agreements.

If it is ratified, the proposed new Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe would abolish this dual structure, bringing all the Community's activities under the auspices of the European Union and transferring the Community's legal personality to the Union.

Evolution of the structures of the European Union.
Since the end of World War II, sovereign European countries have entered into treaties and thereby co-operated and harmonised policies (or pooled sovereignty) in an increasing number of areas, in the European integration project or the construction of Europe (French: la construction européenne). The following timeline outlines the legal inception of the European Union (EU)—the principal framework for this unification. The EU inherited many of its present responsibilities from the European Communities (EC), which were founded in the 1950s in the spirit of the Schuman Declaration.
Legend:
  S: signing
  F: entry into force
  T: termination
  E: expiry
    de facto supersession
  Rel. w/ EC/EU framework:
   de facto inside
   outside 		                  European Union (EU) [Cont.]  
European Communities (EC) (Pillar I)
European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) [Cont.]      
/ / / European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)  
(Distr. of competences)
    European Economic Community (EEC)    
            Schengen Rules European Community (EC)
'TREVI' Justice and Home Affairs (JHA, pillar II)  
  / North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) [Cont.] Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC, pillar II)

Anglo-French alliance 		[Defence arm handed to NATO] European Political Co-operation (EPC)   Common Foreign and Security Policy
(CFSP, pillar III)
Western Union (WU) / Western European Union (WEU) [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU]
     
[Social, cultural tasks handed to CoE] [Cont.]                
      Council of Europe (CoE)
Entente Cordiale
S: 8 April 1904
Dunkirk Treaty[i]
S: 4 March 1947
F: 8 September 1947
E: 8 September 1997
Brussels Treaty[i]
S: 17 March 1948
F: 25 August 1948
T: 30 June 2011
London and Washington treaties[i]
S: 5 May/4 April 1949
F: 3 August/24 August 1949
Paris treaties: ECSC and EDC[ii]
S: 18 April 1951/27 May 1952
F: 23 July 1952/—
E: 23 July 2002/—
Rome treaties: EEC and EAEC
S: 25 March 1957
F: 1 January 1958
WEU-CoE agreement[i]
S: 21 October 1959
F: 1 January 1960
Brussels (Merger) Treaty[iii]
S: 8 April 1965
F: 1 July 1967
Davignon report
S: 27 October 1970
Single European Act (SEA)
S: 17/28 February 1986
F: 1 July 1987
Schengen Treaty and Convention
S: 14 June 1985/19 June 1990
F: 26 March 1995
Maastricht Treaty[iv][v]
S: 7 February 1992
F: 1 November 1993
Amsterdam Treaty
S: 2 October 1997
F: 1 May 1999
Nice Treaty
S: 26 February 2001
F: 1 February 2003
Lisbon Treaty[vi]
S: 13 December 2007
F: 1 December 2009


  1. ^ a b c d e Although not EU treaties per se, these treaties affected the development of the EU defence arm, a main part of the CFSP. The Franco-British alliance established by the Dunkirk Treaty was de facto superseded by WU. The CFSP pillar was bolstered by some of the security structures that had been established within the remit of the 1955 Modified Brussels Treaty (MBT). The Brussels Treaty was terminated in 2011, consequently dissolving the WEU, as the mutual defence clause that the Lisbon Treaty provided for EU was considered to render the WEU superfluous. The EU thus de facto superseded the WEU.
  2. ^ Plans to establish a European Political Community (EPC) were shelved following the French failure to ratify the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC). The EPC would have combined the ECSC and the EDC.
  3. ^ The European Communities obtained common institutions and a shared legal personality (i.e. ability to e.g. sign treaties in their own right).
  4. ^ The treaties of Maastricht and Rome form the EU's legal basis, and are also referred to as the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), respectively. They are amended by secondary treaties.
  5. ^ Between the EU's founding in 1993 and consolidation in 2009, the union consisted of three pillars, the first of which were the European Communities. The other two pillars consisted of additional areas of cooperation that had been added to the EU's remit.
  6. ^ The consolidation meant that the EU inherited the European Communities' legal personality and that the pillar system was abolished, resulting in the EU framework as such covering all policy areas. Executive/legislative power in each area was instead determined by a distribution of competencies between EU institutions and member states. This distribution, as well as treaty provisions for policy areas in which unanimity is required and qualified majority voting is possible, reflects the depth of EU integration as well as the EU's partly supranational and partly intergovernmental nature.

Institutional framework

The European Union has several institutions:

The European Council (25 members) is not an institution, but a "quasi-institution".

There are several financial bodies:

The treaties have also established several advisory committees to the institutions:

There is also a great number of bodies which were established by secondary legislation (i.e. not by the treaties) in order to implement particular policies. These are the agencies of the European Union. Some of these are the European Environment Agency, the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market. In the context of the third pillar (Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters), Europol and Eurojust have been created.

Lastly, the European Ombudsman watches for abuses of power by EU institutions.

Inter-governmentalism and supra-nationalism

A basic tension exists within the European Union between inter-governmentalism and supra-nationalism. Inter-governmentalism is a method of decision-making in international organisations where power is possessed by the member-states and decisions are made by unanimity. Independent appointees of the governments or elected representatives have solely advisory or implementational functions. Inter-governmentalism is used by most international organisations today.

An alternative method of decision-making in international organisations is supra-nationalism. In supra-nationalism power is held by independent appointed officials or by representatives elected by the legislatures or people of the member states. Member-state governments still have power, but they must share this power with other actors. Furthermore, decisions are made by majority votes, hence it is possible for a member-state to be forced by the other member-states to implement a decision against its will.

Some forces in European Union politics favour the intergovernmental approach, while others favour the supranational path. Supporters of supra-nationalism argue that it allows integration to proceed at a faster pace than would otherwise be possible. Where decisions must be made by governments acting unanimously, decisions can take years to make, if they are ever made. Supporters of inter-governmentalism argue that supra-nationalism is a threat to national sovereignty, and to democracy, claiming that only national governments can possess the necessary democratic legitimacy. Inter-governmentalism is being favoured by more Eurosceptic nations such as the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden; while more integrationist nations such as the Benelux countries, France, Germany, and Italy have tended to prefer the supranational approach.

The European Union attempts to strike a balance between the two approaches. This balance however is complex, resulting in the often labyrinthine complexity of its decision-making procedures.

Starting in March 2002, a Convention on the Future of Europe again looked at this balance, among other things, and proposed changes. These changes were discussed at an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in May 2004 and agreement reached on a Constitutional Treaty, which will require ratification by each of the member states.

Supranationalism is closely related to the inter-governmentalist vs. neofunctionalist debate. This is a debate concerning why the process of integration has taken place at all. Inter-governmentalists argue that the process of EU integration is a result of tough bargaining between states. Neofunctionalism, on the other hand, argues that the supranational institutions themselves have been a driving force behind integration. For further information on this see the page on Neofunctionalism.

Main policies

As the changing name of the European Union (from European Economic Community to European Community to European Union) suggests, it has evolved over time from a primarily economic union to an increasingly political one. This trend is highlighted by the increasing number of policy areas that fall within EU competence: political power has tended to shift upwards from the member states to the EU.

This picture of increasing centralisation is counter-balanced by two points.

First, some member states have a domestic tradition of strong regional government. This has led to an increased focus on regional policy and the European regions. A Committee of the Regions was established as part of the Treaty of Maastricht.

Second, EU policy areas cover a number of different forms of co-operation.

The tension between EU and national (or sub-national) competence is an enduring one in the development of the European Union. (See also Inter-governmentalism vs. Supra-nationalism (above), Euroscepticism.)

All prospective members must enact legislation in order to bring them into line with the common European legal framework, known as the Acquis Communautaire. (See also European Free Trade Association (EFTA), European Economic Area (EEA) and Single European Sky.) See table of states participating in some of the initiatives.

Single market

Internal aspects

Euro banknotes
Euro banknotes
  • Free trade of goods and services among member states (an aim further extended to three of the four EFTA states by the European Economic Area, EEA)
  • A common EU competition law controlling anti-competitive activities of companies (through antitrust law and merger control) and member states (through the State Aids regime).
  • The Schengen treaty allowed removal of internal border controls and harmonisation of external controls between its member states. This excludes the UK and Ireland, which have derogations, but includes the non-EU members Iceland and Norway.
  • Freedom for citizens of its member states to live and work anywhere within the EU, provided they can support themselves (also extended to the other EEA states).
  • Free movement of capital between member states (and other EEA states).
  • Harmonisation of government regulations, corporations law and trademark registrations.
  • A single currency, the Euro (excluding the UK, and Denmark, which have derogations). Sweden, although not having a specific opt-out clause, has not joined the ERM II, voluntarily excluding itself from the monetary union.
  • A large amount of environmental policy co-ordination throughout the Union.
  • A Common Agricultural Policy and a Common Fisheries Policy.
  • Common system of indirect taxation, the VAT, as well as common customs duties and excises on various products.
  • Funding for the development of disadvantaged regions (structural and cohesion funds).
  • Funding for research.

External aspects

  • A common external customs tariff, and a common position in international trade negotiations.
  • Funding for programmes in candidate countries and other Eastern European countries, as well as aid to many developing countries.

Co-operation and harmonisation in other areas

See also

Lists

Other

Partial bibliography

  • Europe Recast: A History of European Union by Desmond Dinan (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) ISBN 0333987349
  • The Great Deception: The Secret History of the European Union by Christopher Booker, Richard North (Continuum International Publishing Group - Academi, 2003) ISBN 0826471056
  • Understanding the European Union 2nd ed by John McCormick (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002) ISBN 033394867X
  • The Institutions of the European Union edited by John Peterson, Michael Shackleton (Oxford University Press, 2002) ISBN 0198700520
  • The Government and Politics of the European Union by Neill Nugent (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002) ISBN 0333984617
  • The European Union: A Very Short Introduction by John Pinder (Oxford, 2001) ISBN
  • The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the end of American Supremacy by T.R. Reid (Penguin Press, 2004) ISBN 1594200335
  • This Blessed Plot: Britain and Europe from Churchill to Blair by Hugo Young (Macmillan, 1998) ISBN 0333579925
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The European Union On-Line

Official EU website, europa.eu.int, in the official languages. Some subpages:


Other sites

European Union History


 European Union

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