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Template:Infobox European Union

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states, located primarily in Europe.[1][2][3][4] Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community.[5] With almost 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates an estimated 30% share (US$18.4 trillion in 2008) of the nominal gross world product.[6]

The EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws which apply in all member states, ensuring the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital.[7] It maintains common policies on trade,[8] agriculture, fisheries[9] and regional development.[10] A common currency, the euro, has been adopted by sixteen member states that are thus known as the Eurozone. The EU has developed a limited role in foreign policy, having representation at the WTO, G8 summits, and at the UN. It enacts legislation in justice and home affairs, including the abolition of passport controls between many member states which form part of the Schengen Area.[11] Twenty-one EU countries are also members of NATO.

An international organisation sui generis,[12][13][14] the EU operates through a hybrid system of supranationalism and intergovernmentalism. In certain areas, it depends upon agreement between the member states; in others, supranational bodies are able to make decisions without unanimity. Important institutions and bodies of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the European Court of Justice, and the European Central Bank. The European Parliament is elected every five years by member states' citizens, to whom the citizenship of the European Union is guaranteed.

The EU traces its origins to the European Coal and Steel Community formed among six countries in 1951 and the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Since then the union has grown in size through the accession of new countries, and new policy areas have been added to the remit of the EU's institutions. EU is today considered a post mosern superpower.

History

Main article: History of the European Union
Robert Schuman proposing the Coal and Steel Community in 1950

After the end of the Second World War, moves towards European integration were seen by many as an escape from the extreme forms of nationalism which had devastated the continent.[15] 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 its member states, was declared to be "a first step in the federation of Europe".[16] The originators and supporters of the Community include Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, Paul Henri Spaak and Alcide de Gasperi. The founding members of the Community were Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany.[17]

In 1957, the "Six" mentioned before signed the Treaties of Rome. These treaties extended the earlier cooperation within the European Coal and Steel Community and created the European Economic Community, (EEC) establishing a customs union and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for cooperation in developing nuclear energy.[17] In 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities, although more commonly just as the European Community (EC).[18]

File:Rometreaty.jpg
The 1957 Rome Treaty created the European Economic Community.

In 1973 the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom.[19] Norway had negotiated to join at the same time but a referendum rejected membership and so it remained outside. In 1979 the first direct, democratic elections to the European Parliament were held.[20]

Greece joined in 1981, and Spain and Portugal in 1986.[21] In 1985 the Schengen Agreement created largely open borders without passport controls between most member states.[22] In 1986 the European flag began to be used by the Community[23] and the Single European Act was signed.

The Iron Curtain's fall enabled eastward enlargement. (Berlin Wall)

In 1990, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the former East Germany became part of the Community as part of a newly united Germany.[24] With enlargement toward East-Central Europe on the agenda, the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the European Union were agreed.

The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force on 1 November 1993,[5] and in 1995 Austria, Sweden and Finland joined the newly established EU. In 2002, euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. Since then, the eurozone has increased to encompass sixteen countries, with Slovakia joining the eurozone on 1 January 2009. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary joined the Union.[25]

On 1 January 2007, Romania and Bulgaria became the EU's newest members and Slovenia adopted the euro.[25] In December of that year European leaders signed the Lisbon Treaty which was intended to replace the earlier, failed European Constitution, which never came into force after being rejected by French and Dutch voters. However, uncertainty clouds the prospects of the Lisbon Treaty's coming into force as result of its rejection by Irish voters in June 2008. On 17 July 2009, the Parliament of Iceland agreed to formally apply for EU membership and to begin talks for an agreement to be put to a referendum to the Icelandic voters. On 23 July 2009 the Icelandic President formally submitted Iceland's application for membership to his Swedish counterpart (Sweden held the EU Presidency on this date).

Treaties timeline

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.

Member states

Main articles: Member State of the European Union and Enlargement of the European Union
The member states of the European Union (European Communities pre-1993), animated in order of accession. Only territories in and around Europe are shown.
This box:

The European Union is composed of 27 independent sovereign states which are known as 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, though Scotland, Wales and England regard themselves as individual countries, they represent a singular political state within the U.K. [26]

There are three official candidate countries, Croatia, Macedonia, and Turkey. The western Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and Iceland are officially recognised as potential candidates.[27] Kosovo is also listed by the European Commission as a potential candidate but the Commission does not list it as an independent country because not all member states recognise it as an independent country, separate from Serbia.[28]

To join the EU, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 Copenhagen European Council. These require a stable democracy which respects 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 law. Evaluation of a country's fulfilment of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council.[29] The current framework does not specify how a country could exit the Union (although Greenland, a territory of Denmark, withdrew in 1985), but the proposed Treaty of Lisbon contains a formal procedure for withdrawing.

Four Western European countries that have chosen not to join the EU have partly committed to the EU's economy and regulations: Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway are a part of the single market through the European Economic Area, and Switzerland has similar ties through bilateral treaties.[30][31] The relationships of the European microstates: Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican include the use of the euro and other areas of co-operation.[32] However, Iceland has retracted its position and decided to apply for membership.[33]

Geography

Main article: Geography of the European Union
Mont Blanc in the Alps is the highest peak in the EU.

The territory of the EU consists of the combined territories of its 27 member states with some exceptions outlined below. The territory of the EU is not the same as that of Europe, as parts of the continent are outside the EU, such as Switzerland, Norway, European Russia, and (if considered part of Europe despite being off the continental shelf) Iceland. Some parts of member states are not part of the EU, despite forming part of the European continent (for example the Isle of Man and Channel Islands (two Crown Dependencies), and the Faroe Islands, a territory of Denmark). The island country of Cyprus, a member of the EU, is closer to Anatolia (Asia Minor) than to mainland Europe and is often considered part of Asia.[34][35]

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). Some overseas territories are part of the EU even if they are not geographically part of Europe, such as the Azores, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Lampedusa, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, Martinique and Réunion (these last six regions have the status of Outermost Regions of the EU), Ceuta, Melilla and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.[36][37][38] As well, although being technically part of the EU,[39] EU law is suspended in Northern Cyprus as it is under the de facto control of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, a self-proclaimed state that is only recognised by Turkey.

The EU's climate is influenced by its 65,993 km coastline. (Crete)

The EU's member states cover a combined area of 4,422,773 square kilometres (1,707,642 sq mi).[40] The total territory of the EU is larger than all but six countries and its highest peak is Mont Blanc in the Graian Alps, 4,807 metres (15,771 ft) above sea level. The landscape, climate, and economy of the EU are influenced by its coastline, which is 65,993 kilometres (41,006 mi) long. The EU has the world's second longest coastline, after Canada. The combined member states share land borders with 21 non-member states for a total of 12,441 kilometres (7,730 mi), the fifth longest border in the world.[13][41][42]

Including the overseas territories of member states, the EU experiences most types of climate from Arctic to tropical, rendering meteorological averages for the EU as a whole meaningless. In practice, 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 (Eastern Europe).[43]

Governance

Main article: Politics of the European Union
File:FredrikReinfeldt.jpg
The presidency of the Council, which rotates twice per year, is currently held by Sweden. (Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt pictured)

The EU is often described as being divided into three areas of responsibility, called pillars. The original European Community policies form the first pillar, while the second consists of Common Foreign and Security Policy. The third pillar originally consisted of Justice and Home Affairs, however owing to changes introduced by the Amsterdam and Nice treaties, it currently consists of Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters. Broadly speaking, the second and third pillars can be described as the intergovernmental pillars because the supranational institutions of the Commission, Parliament and the Court of Justice play less of a role or none at all, while the lead is taken by the intergovernmental Council of Ministers and the European Council. Most activities of the EU come under the first, Community pillar. This is mostly an economically oriented pillar and is where the supranational institutions have the most influence.[44]

Commission President José Manuel Barroso

The activities of the EU are regulated by a number of institutions and bodies. They carry out the tasks and policies set out for them in the treaties. The EU receives its political leadership from the European Council, which is composed of one representative per member state — either its head of state or head of government — plus the President of the Commission. Each member state's representative is assisted by its Foreign Minister. The Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes which have arisen between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreements over controversial issues and policies.

The Council is headed by a rotating presidency, with every member state taking the helm of the EU for a period of six months during which that country's representatives chair meetings of the European Council and the Council of Ministers. The member state holding the presidency typically uses it to drive a particular policy agenda such as economic reform, reform of the EU itself, enlargement or furthering European integration. The Council usually meet four times a year at European Summits.

The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an international organisation independent from the EU.

Institutions

Main article: Institutions of the European Union
File:Institutions europeennes IMG 4307.jpg
The seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The European Commission acts as the EU's executive arm and is responsible for initiating legislation and the day-to-day running of the EU. It is intended to act solely in the interest of the EU as a whole, as opposed to the Council which consists of leaders of member states who reflect national interests. The commission is also seen as the motor of European integration. It is currently composed of 27 commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state. The President of the Commission and all the other commissioners are nominated by the Council. Appointment of the Commission President, and also the Commission in its entirety, have to be confirmed by Parliament.[45]

The European Parliament forms one half of the EU's legislature. The 785 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years. Although MEPs are elected on a national basis, they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats. The Parliament and the Council form and pass legislation jointly, using co-decision, in certain areas of policy. This procedure will extend to many new areas under the proposed Treaty of Lisbon, and hence increase the power and relevance of the Parliament. The Parliament also has the power to reject or censure the Commission and the EU budget. The President of the European Parliament carries out the role of speaker in parliament and represents it externally. The president and vice presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years.[46]

The Council of the European Union (sometimes referred to as the Council of Ministers) forms the other half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a government minister from each member states and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed. Notwithstanding its different compositions, it is considered to be one single body.[47] In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

The judicial branch of the EU consists of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Court of First Instance. Together they interpret and apply the treaties and the law of the EU.[48] The Court of First Instance mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts, and the ECJ primarily deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions and cases referred to it by the courts of member states.[49] Decisions from the Court of First Instance can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on a point of law.[50]

Further information: Law of the European Union, Treaties of the European Union, and European Union legislative procedure

The EU is based on a series of treaties. These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties.[51] These are power-giving treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislation[52] which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants.[53] Under the principle of supremacy, national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, and thus the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions.[54]

File:EUCoJ.jpg
The ECJ in Luxembourg can judge member states over EU law.

The main legal acts of the EU come in three forms: regulations, directives and decisions. Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures,[55] and automatically override conflicting domestic provisions.[52] Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them discretion as to how to achieve the result. The details of how they are to be implemented are left to member states.[56] When the time limit for implementing directives passes, they may, under certain conditions, have direct effect in national law against Member States. Decisions offer an alternative to the two above modes of legislation. They are legal acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a particular Member State. They are most often used in Competition Law, or on rulings on State Aid, but are also frequently used for procedural or administrative matters within the institutions. Regulations, directives and decisions are of equal legal value and apply without any formal hierarchy.

One of the complicating features of the EU's legal system is the multiplicity of legislative procedures used to enact legislation. The treaties micro-manage the EU's powers, indicating different ways of adopting legislation for different policy areas and for different areas within the same policy areas.[57] A common feature of the EU's legislative procedures, however, is that almost all legislation must be initiated by the Commission, rather than member states or European parliamentarians.[58] The two most common procedures are co-decision, under which the European Parliament can veto proposed legislation, and consultation, under which Parliament is only permitted to give an opinion which can be ignored by European leaders. In most cases legislation must be agreed by the council.[59]

National courts within the Member States play a key role in the EU as enforcers of EU law, and a "spirit of cooperation" between EU and national courts is laid down in the Treaties. National courts can apply EU law in domestic cases, and if they require clarification on the interpretation or validity of any EU legislation related to the case it may make a reference for a preliminary ruling to the ECJ. The right to declare EU legislation invalid however is reserved to the EU courts.

Justice and home affairs

The Schengen Area comprises most member states ensuring open borders.
Further information: Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters and European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom & Security

Over the years, the EU has developed a wide competence in the area of justice and home affairs. To this end, agencies have been established that co-ordinate associated actions: Europol for co-operation of police forces,[60] Eurojust for co-operation between prosecutors,[61] and Frontex for co-operation between border control authorities.[62] The EU also operates the Schengen Information System[11] which provides a common database for police and immigration authorities.

Furthermore, the Union has legislated in areas such as extradition,[63] family law,[64] asylum law,[65] and criminal justice.[66] Prohibitions against sexual and nationality discrimination have a long standing in the treaties.[67] In more recent years, these have been supplemented by powers to legislate against discrimination based on race, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation.[68] By virtue of these powers, the EU has enacted legislation on sexual discrimination in the work-place, age discrimination, and racial discrimination.[69] Capital Punishment is also prohibited under EU law. The EU is an active promoter of abolition worldwide, and the European convention of Human rights, which all candidates must sign and ratify, prohibits use of Capital Punishment in all circumstances. In order to join the organization, a country must first abolish the death penalty or establish a moratorium on executions.

Fundamental rights

At present the EU does not have a codified catalogue of fundamental rights against which its legal acts might be judged.[70] However the European Court of Justice does give judgements on fundamental rights derived from the "constitutional traditions common to the Member States,"[71] and may even invalidate EU legislation based on its failure to adhere to these fundamental rights.[70] While the EU may be said to have an unwritten fundamental rights code, there have, nonetheless, been efforts to establish a written catalogue. In 2000, the EU drew up the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Charter is not legally binding at present but would become so if the Lisbon Treaty comes into force.[72]

Although signing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership,[73] the EU itself is not covered by the convention as it is neither a state[74] nor has the competence to accede.[75] Nonetheless the Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights co-operate to ensure their case-law does not conflict.[76] If the Lisbon Treaty comes into force the EU would be required to accede to the ECHR.[77] A main issue is Capital Punishment, which the EU has long opposed. The EU is an active promoter of abolition worldwide, and the European convention on Human Rights explicitly forbids its use.

Foreign relations

Main articles: Foreign relations of the European Union and Common Foreign and Security Policy
Javier Solana is the EU's High Representative in foreign policy.

Foreign policy cooperation between member states dates from the establishment of the Community in 1957, when member states negotiated as a bloc in international trade negotiations under the Common Commercial Policy.[78] Steps for a more wide ranging coordination in foreign relations began in 1970 with the establishment of European Political Cooperation which created an informal consultation process between member states with the aim of forming common foreign policies. It was not, however, until 1987 when European Political Cooperation was introduced on a formal basis by the Single European Act. EPC was renamed as the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) by the Maastricht Treaty.[79]

The Maastricht Treaty gives the CFSP the aims of promoting both the EU's own interests and those of the international community as a whole. This includes promoting international co-operation, respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.[80]

The EU participates in all G8 summits. (Heiligendamm, Germany)

The Amsterdam Treaty created the office of the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (currently held by Javier Solana) to co-ordinate the EU's foreign policy.[81] The High Representative, in conjunction with the current Presidency, speaks on behalf of the EU in foreign policy matters and can have the 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 issue. The unanimity and difficult issues treated under the CFSP makes disagreements, such as those which occurred over the war in Iraq,[82] not uncommon.

Besides the emerging international policy of the European Union, the international influence of the EU is also felt through enlargement. The perceived benefits of becoming a member of the EU act as an incentive for both political and economic reform in states wishing to fulfil the EU's accession criteria, and are considered an important factor contributing to the reform of former Communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe.[83] This influence on the internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".[84]

Besides the CFSP, the Commission also has its own representation in international organisations. This is primarily through the European Commissioner for External Relations, who works alongside the High Representative. In the UN, as an observer and working together, the EU has gained influence in areas such as aid due to its large contributions in that field (see below).[85] In the G8, the EU has rights of membership besides chairing/hosting summit meetings and is represented at meetings by the presidents of the Commission and the Council.[86] In the World Trade Organisation (WTO), where all 27 member states are represented, the EU as a body is represented by Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton.[87]

There has been discussion among political analysts as to whether the European Union represents a new type of geopolitical actor that focuses on supranational law and economic and political rivalries rather than military and ideological rivalries. The discussion is typified by the debatte over the extent to which the European Union sees itself, or is seen by others, as a "postmodern superpower" – either now or in the foreseeable future.[88][89][90]

Military and defence

Main articles: European Security and Defence Policy and Military of the European Union
The Eurofighter is built by a consortium of four EU countries.

Member states are responsible for their own territorial defence. Many EU members are also members of NATO although some member states follow policies of neutrality.[91] The Western European Union (WEU) is a European security organisation related to the EU. In 1992, the WEU's relationship with the EU was defined, when the EU assigned it the "Petersberg tasks" (humanitarian missions such as peacekeeping and crisis management). These tasks were later transferred from the WEU to the EU by the Amsterdam Treaty and now form part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the European Security and Defence Policy. Elements of the WEU are currently being merged into the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the President of the WEU is currently the EU's foreign policy chief.[92][93]

File:Eufor222.jpg
CFSP forces are peacekeeping in parts of the Balkans and Africa.

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 efforts were made to increase the EU's military capability, notably the Helsinki Headline Goal process. After much discussion, the most concrete result was the EU Battlegroups initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 men.[94] EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from Africa to the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East.[95] EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, satellite centre and the military staff.[96]

Humanitarian aid

Further information: European Community Humanitarian Aid Office
Collectively, the EU is the largest contributor of foreign aid in the world.

The European Community Humanitarian Aid Office, or "ECHO", provides humanitarian aid from the EU to developing countries. In 2006 its budget amounted to €671 million, 48% of which went to the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.[97] Counting the EU's own contributions and those of its member states together, the EU is the largest aid donor in the world.[98]

The EU's aid has previously been criticised by the Eurosceptic think-tank Open Europe for being inefficient, mis-targeted and linked to economic objectives.[99] Furthermore, 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 as a whole did not reach its internal aid target in 2006[100] and is expected not to reach the international target of 0.7% of GNI until 2015.[101] However, four countries have reached that target, most notably Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Denmark.[98] In 2005 EU aid was 0.34% of the GNP which was higher than that of either the United States or Japan.[102] The current commissioner for aid, Louis Michel, has called for aid to be delivered more rapidly, to greater effect, and on humanitarian principles.[103]

Economy

163 of the world's 500 largest corporations are headquartered in EU countries. (HSBC, UK.)
Main article: Economy of the European Union

Since its origin, the EU has established a single economic market across the territory of all its members. Currently, a single currency is in use between the 16 members of the eurozone.[104][105] If considered as a single economy, the EU generated an estimated nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of US$18.39 trillion (15.247 trillion international dollars based on purchasing power parity) in 2008, amounting to over 22% of the world's total economic output in terms of purchasing power parity,[6] which makes it the largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the second largest trade bloc economy in the world by PPP valuation of GDP. It is also the largest exporter of goods,[106] the second largest importer,[107] and the biggest trading partner to several large countries such as India and China.[108][109][110]

170 of the top 500 largest corporations measured by revenue (Fortune Global 500) have their headquarters in the EU.[111] In May 2007 unemployment in the EU stood at 7%[112] while investment was at 21.4% of GDP, inflation at 2.2% and public deficit at −0.9% of GDP.[113] There is a great deal of variance for annual per capita income within individual EU states, these range from US$7,000 to US$69,000.[114]

Single market

Further information: Four Freedoms (European Union)
EU member states have a standardised passport design with the words "European Union" given in the national language(s) at the top.[115]

Two of the original core objectives of the European Economic Community were the development of a common market, subsequently renamed the single market, and a customs union between its member states. The single market involves the free circulation of goods, capital, people and services within the EU,[105] and the customs union involves the application of a common external tariff on all goods entering the market. Once goods have been admitted into the market they can not be subjected to customs duties, discriminatory taxes or import quotas, as they travel internally. The non-EU member states of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland participate in the single market but not in the customs union.[30] Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU.[116]

Free movement of capital is intended to permit movement of investments such as property purchases and buying of shares between countries.[117] Until the drive towards Economic and Monetary Union the development of the capital provisions had been slow. Post-Maastricht there has been a rapidly developing corpus of ECJ judgements regarding this initially neglected freedom. The free movement of capital is unique insofar as that it is granted equally to non-member states.

The free movement of persons means citizens can move freely between member states to live, work, study or retire in another country. This required the lowering of administrative formalities and recognition of professional qualifications of other states.[118]

The free movement of services and of establishment allows self-employed persons to move between member states in order to provide services on a temporary or permanent basis. While services account for between sixty and seventy percent of GDP, legislation in the area is not as developed as in other areas. This lacuna has been addressed by the recently passed Directive on services in the internal market which aims to liberalise the cross border provision of services.[119] According to the Treaty the provision of services is a residual freedom that only applies if no other freedom is being exercised.

Monetary union

Main article: Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union
See also: Euro
The European Central Bank in Frankfurt governs the eurozone's monetary policy.

The creation of a European single currency became an official objective of the EU in 1969. However, it was only with the advent of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 that member states were legally bound to start the monetary union no later than 1 January 1999. On this date the euro was duly launched by eleven of the then fifteen member states of the EU. It remained an accounting currency until 1 January 2002, when euro notes and coins were issued and national currencies began to phase out in the eurozone, which by then consisted of twelve member states. The eurozone has since grown to sixteen countries, the most recent being Slovakia which joined on 1 January 2009.

All other EU member states, except Denmark and the United Kingdom, are legally bound to join the euro when the economic conditions are met, however only a few countries have set target dates for accession. Sweden has circumvented the requirement to join the euro area by not meeting the membership criteria.[citation needed]

The euro is designed to help build a single market by, for example: easing travel of citizens and goods, eliminating exchange rate problems, providing price transparency, creating a single financial market, price stability and low interest rates, and providing a currency used internationally and protected against shocks by the large amount of internal trade within the eurozone. It is also intended as a political symbol of integration and stimulus for more.[104]

The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it in agreement with the EU, are under the control of the European Central Bank (ECB).[120] There are eleven other currencies used in the EU.[104] A number of other countries outside the EU, such as Montenegro, use the euro without formal agreement with the ECB.[32]

Competition

Main article: European Community competition law
See also: European Commissioner for Competition

The EU operates a competition policy intended to ensure undistorted competition within the single market.[121] The Commission as the competition regulator for the single market is responsible for antitrust issues, approving mergers, breaking up cartels, working for economic liberalisation and preventing state aid.[122]

The Competition Commissioner, currently Neelie Kroes, is one of the most powerful positions in the Commission, notable for the ability to affect the commercial interests of trans-national corporations.[123] For example, in 2001 the Commission for the first time prevented a merger between two companies based in the United States (GE and Honeywell) which had already been approved by their national authority.[124] Another high profile case against Microsoft, resulted in the Commission fining Microsoft over €777 million following nine years of legal action.[125]

In negotiations on the Treaty of Lisbon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy succeeded in removing the words "free and undistorted competition" from the treaties. However, the requirement is maintained in an annex and it is unclear whether this will have any practical effect on EU policy.[126]

Budget

Main article: Budget of the European Union
2006 EU total expenditure.
  Agriculture: 46.7%
  Structural Actions: 30.4%
  Internal Policies: 8.5%
  Administration: 6.3%
  External Actions: 4.9%
  Pre-Accession Strategy: 2.1%
  Compensations: 1.0%
  Reserves: 0.1%

The twenty-seven member state EU had an agreed budget of €120.7 billion for the year 2007 and €864.3 billion for the period 2007-2013,[127] representing 1.10% and 1.05% of the EU-27's GNI forecast for the respective periods. By comparison, the United Kingdom's expenditure for 2004 was estimated to be €759 billion, and France was estimated to have spent €801 billion. In 1960, the budget of the then European Economic Community was 0.03% of GDP.[128]

In the 2006 budget, the largest single expenditure item was agriculture with around 46.7% of the total budget.[129] Next came structural and cohesion funds with approximately 30.4% of the total.[129]

Internal policies took up around 8.5%. Administration accounted for around 6.3%. External actions, the pre-accession strategy, compensations and reserves brought up the rear with approximately 4.9%, 2.1%, 1% and 0.1% respectively.[129]

Development

Agriculture

Main article: Common Agricultural Policy

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the oldest policies of the European Community, and was one of its core aims.[130] 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 ensuring reasonable prices for consumers (article 33 of the Treaty of Rome).[37] It was, until recently, operated by a system of subsidies and market intervention. Until the 1990s, the policy accounted for over 60% of the then European Community's annual budget, and still accounts for around 35%.[130]

EU farms are supported by the CAP, the largest budgetary expenditure. (Vineyard in Spain)

The policy's price controls and market interventions led to considerable overproduction, resulting in so-called butter mountains and wine lakes. These were intervention stores of produce bought up by the Community to maintain minimum price levels. In order to dispose of surplus stores, they were often sold on the world market at prices considerably below Community guaranteed prices, or farmers were offered subsidies (amounting to the difference between the Community and world prices) to export their produce outside the Community. This system has been criticised for under-cutting farmers in the developing world.[131] The overproduction has also been criticised for encouraging environmentally unfriendly intensive farming methods.[131] Supporters of CAP say that the economic support which it gives to farmers provides them with a reasonable standard of living, in what would otherwise be an economically unviable way of life. However, the EU's small farmers receive only 8% of CAP's available subsidies.[131]

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the CAP has been subject to a series of reforms. Initially these reforms included the introduction of set-aside in 1988, where a proportion of farm land was deliberately withdrawn from production, milk quotas (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). Agriculture expenditure will move away from subsidy payments linked to specific produce, toward direct payments based on farm size. This is intended to allow the market to dictate production levels, while maintaining agricultural income levels.[130] One of these reforms entailed the abolition of the EU's sugar regime, which previously divided the sugar market between member states and certain African-Caribbean nations with a privileged relationship with the EU.[132]

Energy

Main article: Energy policy of the European Union
EU energy production
46% of total EU primary energy use
Nuclear energy[133] 29.3%
Coal & lignite 21.9%
Gas 19.4%
Renewable energy 14.6%
Oil 13.4%
Other 1.4%
Net imports of energy
54% of total primary EU energy use
Oil & petroleum products 60.2%
Gas 26.4%
Other 13.4%

In 2006, the 27 member states of the EU had a gross inland energy consumption of 1,825 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe).[134] Around 46% of the energy consumed was produced within the member states while 54% was imported.[134] In these statistics, nuclear energy is treated as primary energy produced in the EU, regardless of the source of the uranium, of which less than 3% is produced in the EU.[135]

The EU has had legislative power in the area of energy policy for most of its existence; this has its roots in the original 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.[136]

The Commission has five key points in its energy policy: increase competition in the internal market, encourage investment and boost interconnections between electricity grids; diversify energy resources with better systems to respond to a crisis; establish a new treaty framework for energy co-operation with Russia while improving relations with energy-rich states in Central Asia[137] and North Africa; use existing energy supplies more efficiently while increasing use of renewable energy; and finally increase funding for new energy technologies.[136]

The EU currently imports 82% of its oil, 57% of its gas[138] and 97.48% of its uranium[135] demands. There are concerns that the EU is largely dependent on other countries, primarily Russia, for its energy. This concern has grown following a series of clashes between Russia and its neighbours, threatening the flow of gas. As a result the EU is attempting to diversify its energy supply.[139]

Infrastructure

Further information: European Commissioner for Transport and European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry
File:Oresundsbroen HCS.jpg
The Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden is part of the Trans-European Networks.

The EU is working to improve cross-border infrastructure within the EU, for example through the Trans-European Networks (TEN). Projects under TEN include the Channel Tunnel, LGV 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 kilometres (46,700 mi) of roads; 78,000 kilometres (48,000 mi) of railways; 330 airports; 270 maritime harbours; and 210 internal harbours.[140][141]

The developing European transport policies will increase the pressure on the environment in many regions by the increased transport network. In the pre-2004 EU members, the major problem in transport deals with congestion and pollution. After the recent enlargement, the new states that joined since 2004 added the problem of solving accessibility to the transport agenda.[142] The Polish road network in particular was in poor condition: at Poland's accession to the EU, 4,600 roads needed to be upgraded to EU standards, demanding approximately €17 billion.[143]

Another infrastructure 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), and is to be operational by 2010. The Galileo project was launched partly to reduce the EU's dependency on the US-operated Global Positioning System, but also to give more complete global coverage and allow for far greater accuracy, given the aged nature of the GPS system.[144] It has been criticised by some due to costs, delays, and their perception of redundancy given the existence of the GPS system.[145]

Regional development

Further information: Regional policy of the European Union
EU funds finance infrastructure such as the motorway Prague-Berlin (D8/A17) pictured near Lovosice, Czech Republic

There are substantial economical disparities across the EU. Even corrected for purchasing power, the difference between the richest and poorest regions (NUTS-2 and NUTS-3 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) is about a factor of ten. On the high end Frankfurt has €71,476 PPP per capita, Paris €68,989, and Inner London €67,798, while the three poorest NUTS, all in Romania, are Vaslui County with €3,690 PPP per capita, Botoşani County with €4,115, and Giurgiu County with €4,277.[146] Compared to the EU average, the United States GDP per capita is 35% higher and the Japanese GDP per capita is approximately 15% higher.[147]

There are a number of Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds to support development of underdeveloped regions of the EU. Such regions are primarily located in the new member states of East-Central Europe.[148] Several funds provide emergency aid, support for candidate members to transform their country to conform to the EU's standard (Phare, ISPA, and SAPARD), and support to the former USSR Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS). TACIS has now become part of the worldwide EuropeAid programme. The EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) sponsors research conducted by consortia from all EU members to work towards a single European Research Area.[149]

Environment

Further information: European Commissioner for the Environment and European Climate Change Programme

The first environmental policy of the European Community 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 a water policy, aiming for rivers, lakes, 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.[150] 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.[151]

The Commission have managed to protect the Rospuda valley in Poland.

The REACH regulation was a piece of EU legislation designed to ensure that 30,000 chemicals in daily use are tested for their safety.[152] In 2006, toxic waste spill off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, from a European ship, prompted the Commission to look into legislation regarding toxic waste. With members such as Spain now having criminal laws 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 was confirmed in this case by the Court of Justice.[153]

In 2007, member states agreed that the EU is to use 20% renewable energy in the future and that is has to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 by at least 20% compared to 1990 levels.[154] This includes measures that in 2020, one-tenth of all cars and trucks in EU 27 should be running on biofuels. This is considered to be one of the most ambitious moves of an important industrialised region to fight global warming.[155]

At the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference, dealing with the successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the EU has proposed at 50% cut in greenhouse gases by 2050.[156] The EU's attempts to cut its carbon footprint appear to have also been aided by an expansion of Europe's forests which, between 1990 and 2005, grew 10% in western Europe and 15% in Eastern Europe. During this period they soaked up 126 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 11% of EU emissions from human activities.[156]

Education and research

Further information: Educational policies and initiatives of the European Union and Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development
Renewable energy is one priority in transnational research activities such as the FP7.

Education and science are areas where the EU's role is limited to supporting national governments. In education, the policy was mainly developed in the 1980s in 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 has become a symbol of European student life.[157] 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. These programmes are designed to encourage a wider knowledge of other countries and to spread good practices in the education and training fields across the EU.[158] Through its support of the Bologna process the EU is supporting comparable standards and compatible degrees across Europe.

16 EU countries are members of the European Space Agency. (Launch of an Ariane rocket in Guiana)

Scientific development is facilitated through the EU's Framework Programmes, the first of which started in 1984. The aims of EU policy in this area are to co-ordinate and stimulate research. The independent European Research Council allocates EU funds to European or national research projects.[159] The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) deals in a number of areas, for example energy where it aims to develop a diverse mix of renewable energy for the environment and to reduce dependence on imported fuels.[160]

Since January 2000 the European Commission has set its sights on a more ambitious objective, known as the European Research Area, and has extensively funded research in a few key areas. This has the support of all member states, and extends the existing financing structure of the frameworks. It aims to focus on co-ordination, 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.[161] The EU is involved with six other countries to develop ITER, a fusion reactor which will be built in the EU at Cadarache. ITER builds on the previous project, Joint European Torus, which is currently the largest nuclear fusion reactor in the world.[162] The Commission foresees this technology to be generating energy in the EU by 2050.[136] It has observer status within CERN, there are various agreements with ESA and there is collaboration with ESO.[163] These organisations are not under the framework of the EU, but membership heavily overlaps between them.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the European Union
Population of the 5 largest cities in the EU[164]
City City limits
(2006)
 Density
/km²
 (city limits)
 Density
/sq mi
 (city limits)
 Urban area
(2005) 		LUZ
(2004)
Berlin 3,410,000 3,815 9,880 3,761,000 4,971,331
London 7,512,400 4,761 12,330 9,332,000 11,917,000
Madrid 3,228,359 5,198 13,460 4,990,000 5,804,829
Paris 2,153,600 24,672 63,900 9,928,000 11,089,124
Rome 2,708,395 2,105 5,450 2,867,000 3,457,690

The combined population of all 27 member states has been estimated at 499,794,855 as of January 2009.[165]

The EU's population is 7.3% of the world total, yet the EU covers just 3% of the Earth's land, amounting to a population density of 113 km2 (44 sq mi) making the EU one of the most densely populated regions of the world. One third of EU citizens live in cities of over a million people, rising to 80% living in urban areas generally.[166] The EU is home to more global cities than any other region in the world.[167] It contains 16 cities with populations of over one million.

Besides many large cities, the EU also includes several densely populated regions that have no single core but have emerged from the connection of several cites and are now encompassing large metropolitan areas. The largest are Rhine-Ruhr having approximately 11.5 million inhabitants (Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf et al.), Randstad approx. 7 million (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht et al.), Frankfurt/Rhine-Main approx. 5.8 million (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden et al.), the Flemish diamond approx. 5.5 million (urban area in between Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven and Ghent), the Upper Silesian Industrial Region approx. 3.5 million (Katowice, Sosnowiec et al.), and the Oresund Region approx. 2.5 million (Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden).[168]

Languages

Main article: Languages of the European Union
European official languages report (in EU-25)
Language Native Speakers Total
English 13% 51%
German 18% 32%
French 12% 26%
Italian 13% 16%
Spanish 9% 15%
Polish 9% 10%
Dutch 5% 6%
Greek 3% 3%
Czech 2% 3%
Swedish 2% 3%
Hungarian 2% 2%
Portuguese 2% 2%
Catalan 1% 2%
Slovak 1% 2%
Danish 1% 1%
Finnish 1% 1%
Lithuanian 1% 1%
Slovene 1% 1%
Native: Native language[169]

Total: EU citizens able to hold a
conversation in this language[170]

Among the many languages and dialects used in the EU, it 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, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish.[171] Important documents, such as legislation, are translated into every official language. The European Parliament provides translation into all languages for documents and its plenary sessions.[172] Some institutions use only a handful of languages as internal working languages.[173] Language policy is the responsibility of member states, but EU institutions promote the learning of other languages.[174][175]

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 at over half (51%) of the population, with German and French following. 56% of European citizens are able to engage in a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue.[176] 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. Most EU official languages are written in the Latin alphabet except Bulgarian, written in Cyrillic, and Greek, written in the Greek alphabet.[177]

Besides the 23 official languages, there are about 150 regional and minority languages, spoken by up to 50 million people.[177] Of these, only the Spanish regional languages (Catalan/Valencian, Basque and Galician), Scottish Gaelic and Welsh [178] can be used by citizens in communication with the main European institutions.[179] Although EU programmes can support regional and minority languages, the protection of linguistic rights is a matter for the individual member states.

Besides the many regional languages, a broad variety of languages from other parts of the world are spoken by immigrant communities in the member states: Turkish, Maghrebi Arabic, Russian, Urdu, Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Ukrainian, Punjabi and Balkan languages are spoken in many parts of the EU. Many older immigrant communities are bilingual, being fluent in both the local (EU) language and in that of their ancestral community. Migrant languages have no formal status or recognition in the EU or in the EU countries, although from 2007 they are eligible for support from the language teaching section of the EU's Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013.[177]

Religion

Main article: Religion in the European Union

The EU is a secular body with no formal connections to any religion and no mention of religion in any current or proposed treaty.[37] Discussion over the draft texts of the European Constitution and later the Treaty of Lisbon included proposals to mention Christianity and/or God in the preamble of the text, but the idea faced opposition and was dropped.[180]

Percentage of Europeans in each Member State who believe in "a God"[181]

Emphasis on Christianity stems from this being the dominant religion in Europe, and thus of the EU. It divides between Roman Catholicism, a wide range of Protestant churches (especially in northern Europe) and Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic (in south eastern Europe). Other religions such as Islam and Judaism are also represented in the EU population. The EU had an estimated Muslim population of 16 million in 2006,[182] and an estimated Jewish population of over a million.[183]

Eurostat's Eurobarometer opinion polls show that the majority of EU citizens have some form of belief system, with only 21% seeing it as important. Many countries have experienced falling church attendance and membership in recent years.[184] The 2005 Eurobarometer showed that of the European citizens (of the 25 members at that time), 52% believed 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%),[185] The most religious countries are Malta (95%; predominantly Roman Catholic), and Cyprus and Romania both with about 90% of citizens believing in God. Across the EU, belief was higher among women, increased with age, those with religious upbringing, those who left school at 15 with a basic education, and those "positioning themselves on the right of the political scale (57%)."[185]

Other significant religions present in the EU territories are Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism with the latter two having a strong presence in the United Kingdom.[186]

Culture

Further information: Culture of Europe and Cultural policies of the European Union
Vilnius is one of the two European Capitals of Culture in 2009.

Policies affecting cultural matters are mainly set by individual member states. Cultural co-operation between member states has been a concern of the EU since its inclusion as a community competency in the Maastricht Treaty.[187] Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 7-year programme,[187] the European Cultural Month event,[188] the Media Plus programme,[189] orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra[190] 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 that city.[191] 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".[192]

Within the EU, politicians, such as the President of the European Parliament, appeal to a shared European historical/cultural heritage, including Greek philosophy, Roman law, the Judeo-Christian heritage, and a tradition of modern freedom and democracy, but also negative elements such as the World wars.[193]

Sport

Further information: Sport in Europe and Sport policies of the European Union
Spectator sports are popular in much of the EU. (Camp Nou, Barcelona)

Sport is mainly the responsibility of individual member states or other international organisations rather than that of the EU. However, some EU policies have had an impact on sport, such as the free movement of workers which was at the core of the Bosman ruling, which prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with European citizenship.[194]

Under the proposed Treaty of Lisbon sports would be given a special status which would exempt this sector from much of the EU's economic rules. This followed lobbying by governing organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, due to objections over the applications of free market principles to sport which led to an increasing gap between rich and poor clubs.[195]

Several European sports associations are consulted in the formulation of the EU's sports policy, including FIBA, UEFA, EHF, IIHF, FIRA and CEV.[196] All EU member states and their respective national sport associations participate in European sport organisations such as UEFA.[197]

See also

Main article: Outline of the European Union

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  40. ^ 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.
  41. ^ "European countries". Europa web portal. 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2007.
  42. ^ "Countries of the Earth". home.comcast.net. 2006. Retrieved 8 August 2007.
  43. ^ "Humid Continental Climate". The physical environment. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2007.
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  46. ^ "Institutions: The European Parliament". Europa web portal. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
  47. ^ "Institutions: The Council of the European Union". Europa web portal. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
  48. ^ EUR-Lex. "European Community consolidated treaty, (article 220, The court of Justice)" (PDF). Europa web portal. Retrieved 8 November 2007.
  49. ^ "The Court of Justice of the European Communities". Europa web portal. Archived from the original on 2007-12-14. Retrieved 14 September 2007.;"The Court of First Instance". Europa web portal. Retrieved 14 September 2007. "Institutions: Court of Justice". Europa web portal. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
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  51. ^ "Sources of EU law". European Commission. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
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  53. ^ According to the principle of Direct Effect first invoked in the Court of Justice's decision in Van Gend en Loos v. Nederlanse Administratie Der Belastingen, Eur-Lex (European Court of Justice 1963).. See: Craig and de Búrca, ch. 5.
  54. ^ According to the principle of Supremacy as established by the ECJ in Case 6/64, Falminio Costa v. ENEL [1964] ECR 585. See Craig and de Búrca, ch. 7. See also: Factortame Ltd. v. Secretary of State for Transport (No. 2) [1991] 1 AC 603, Solange II (Re Wuensche Handelsgesellschaft, BVerfG decision of 22 Oct. 1986 [1987] 3 CMLR 225,265) and Frontini v. Ministero delle Finanze [1974] 2 CMLR 372; Raoul George Nicolo [1990] 1 CMLR 173.
  55. ^ See: Case 34/73, Variola v. Amministrazione delle Finanze [1973] ECR 981.
  56. ^ To do otherwise would require the drafting of legislation which would have to cope with the frequently divergent legal systems and administrative systems of all of the now 27 member states. See Craig and de Búrca, p. 115
  57. ^ For a good example of this see Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty of Rome, Council Decision (2004/927/EC) of 22 December 2004 providing for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the European Community to be governed by the procedure laid down in Article 251 of that Treaty and the Protocol on Article 67 of the Treaty establishing the European Community attached to the Nice Treaty.
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  62. ^ Frontex. "What is Frontex?". Europa web portal. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  63. ^ "European arrest warrant replaces extradition between EU Member States". Europa web portal. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
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  72. ^ By virtue of Article 1(8) of the Lisbon Treaty
  73. ^ It is effectively treated as one of the Copenhagen criteria [1]. It should be noted that this is a political and not a legal requirement for membership.
  74. ^ The European Convention on Human Rights is currently only open to members of the Council of Europe (Article 59.1 of the Convention) [2], and only states may become member of the Council of Europe (Article 4 of the Statute of the Council of Europe) [3].
  75. ^ Opinion (2/92) of the European Court of Justice on "Accession by the Community to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" 1996 E.C.R. I-1759 (in French), ruled that the European Community did not have the competence to accede to the ECHR.
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  133. ^ Note that although almost all Uranium is imported,
    Nuclear Power is considered primary energy produced in the EU
  134. ^ a b "Energy consumption and production: EU27 energy dependence rate at 54% in 2006: Energy consumption stable" (PDF) (Press release). Eurostat. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
    In the EU27, gross inland energy consumption was 1 825 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) in 2006, stable compared with 2005, while energy production decreased by 2.3% to 871 mn toe. . . .
    Gross inland consumption is defined as primary production plus imports, recovered products and stock change, less exports and fuel supply to maritime bunkers (for seagoing ships of all flags). . . . .
    A tonne of oil equivalent (toe) is a standardised unit defined on the basis of one tonne of oil having a net calorific value of 41.868 Gigajoules.     {{cite press release}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 7 (help)
  135. ^ a b "EU supply and demand for nuclear fuels". Euratom Supply Agency — Annual Report 2007 (pdf). Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. 2008. p. 22. ISBN 978-92-79-09437-8. Retrieved 1 March 2009. European uranium mining supplied just below 3 % of the total EU needs, coming from the Czech Republic and Romania (a total of 526 tU).
    Nuclear energy and renewable energy are treated differently from oil, gas , and coal in this respect.
  136. ^ a b c "Q&A: EU energy plans". BBC. 9 March 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
  137. ^ Shamil Midkhatovich Yenikeyeff (November 2008). "Kazakhstan's Gas: Export Markets and Export Routes" (PDF). Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Retrieved 12 November 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  138. ^ "'Low-carbon economy' proposed for Europe". MSNBC. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
  139. ^ European Parliament. "Ukraine-Russia gas dispute — call for stronger EU energy policy". Europa web portal. Retrieved 27 February 2008.
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  141. ^ Mirea, Silvia. "The trans-European transport network: new guidelines and financial rules". The Railway Journal. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
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  144. ^ Barrot, Jacques. "Jacques Barrot Home Page, Commission vice president for transport". Europa web portal. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
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  147. ^ Eurostat (18 December 2006). "GDP per capita in the Member States ranged from 48% to 251% of the EU25 average in 2005". Europa web portal. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
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  152. ^ "EU chemicals directive agreed". RTÉ News And Current Affairs. 1 December 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
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  154. ^ Ames, Paul (9 March 2007). "European Union agrees on ambitious plan to fight global warming". Discovery Channel, on Valcent Products website. Retrieved 9 March 2007.
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Further reading

  • Craig, Paul; de Búrca, Gráinne (2007). EU Law, Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927389-8.
  • Dinan, Desmond (2004). Europe Recast: A History of European Union. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-98734-6.
  • Hix, Simon (2005). The Political System of the European Union. The European Union Series (2nd ed.). Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 0-333-96182-X.
  • Peterson, John; Shackleton, Michael, eds. (2006). The Institutions of the European Union (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198700520.
  • Podmore, Will & Nicholls, Doug (2006), The EU: bad for Britain - a trade union view. Bread Books, ISBN 0-942112-5-1.
  • Rifkin, Jeremy (2004). The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream. Jeremy P. Tarcher. ISBN 978-1-58542-345-3.
  • Smith, Charles (2007). International Trade and Globalisation, 3rd edition. Stocksfield: Anforme. ISBN 1905504101. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Steiner, Josephine; Woods, Lorna; Twigg-Flesner, Christian (2006). EU Law (9th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927959-3.
  • Story, Christopher (2002). The European Union Collective: Enemy of its Member States. Edward Harle. ISBN 1-899798-01-3.
Official
Overviews and data

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