European Union
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
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The European Union (abbreviation: EU) is a group of 25 member countries in Europe. The Union was created for many economic and political reasons; some of these are subject to a lot of ongoing debate within the Union's member countries. Twelve countries in the Union use the same money, called the euro.
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[edit] History
After World War II the countries in Europe wanted to live peacefully together and help one another's economies. Instead of fighting for coal and steel, the first member countries (West) Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg created one European Coal and Steel Community in 1952.
In 1957 in the Italian city of Rome, the member countries signed another treaty and made the European Economic Community. Now it was a community for coal, steel and for trade. Later it changed the name to European Community.
In 1992, with the Treaty of Maastricht it changed its name to the European Union. Now the member countries work together not only in politics and economy (coal, steel and trade), but also in money, justice (laws), and foreign affairs. With the Schengen Agreement, 13 member countries of the EU opened their borders to each other, so people can now travel from one country to the other without a passport or identity card. In 2002 12 of the member countries replaced their national currencies with the euro.10 new countries became members of the EU in 2004. Today there are 25 member countries altogether.
 Robert Schuman |
 Quai d'Orsay |
 Euro Tower (Frankfurt) |
[edit] Free movement
A person who has a passport of a European Union country can live and work in any of the other 25 member countries without needing a work permit or visa. For example, a British person can move to Greece to work there, or just to live there, and he or she does not need a permission from an authority in Greece.
In the same way, products made in one member country can be sold in any other member country without any special permissions or extra taxes. For this reason, the members agree rules on product safety - they want to know that a product made in another country will be as safe as it would be if it had been made in their own country.
[edit] Main institutions
[edit] European Council
The European Council is not the same thing as the Council of Europe. This is the main decision-making institution. Twice a year, the heads of government (Prime Ministers) and/or the heads of state (Presidents) meet to discuss the main issues and make decisions on different matters. The presidency of the Council is rotating, so that one member state is the leading country for six months. For example: from July 2006 until December 2006, Finland holds the presidency. The six months before, Austria held the presidency. Member countries with a large population (Germany, France, United Kingdom etc.) have more votes than countries with small populations (Luxembourg, Malta, etc.).
[edit] Council of Ministers
Similar to the European Council, only here the cabinet ministers of the member countries meet (Ministers for Foreign affairs, for Agriculture, for Justice, etc...) and discuss their relevant issues. They meet more often than just twice a year.
[edit] European Commission
This is sometimes called the European Government, but that is a mistake. It is more like a civil service. It does not have the same powers as a national government. Its main duty is to make sure that the decisions of the European Council and the European Parliament are implemented and respected. These decisions are called European Directives.
The Commission has one President and 24 Commissioners, selected by the European Council.
[edit] European Parliament
It has a total of 732 members (called Members of the European Parliament, or MEP). They are elected in their countries every five years by the citizens of the European Union member countries. The Parliament has to approve the decisions taken by the European Council, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission. It can also make a vote of no confidence in the European Commission. In that case, the entire commission would have to give up their jobs.
[edit] Members of the EU
[edit] Members since 1958 (founders)
- Belgium
- France
- (West) Germany*
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands
[edit] Members since 1973
[edit] Member since 1981
[edit] Members since 1986
[edit] Member since 1990
- (East) Germany*
[edit] Members since 1995
[edit] Members since 2004
- Cyprus Note: Completely located in Asia Minor
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Malta
- Poland
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
[edit] New members from 2007 on
[edit] Candidate countries
*East Germany and West Germany became one country in 1990. Since then the whole of Germany is an EU member country.
[edit] Politics
There are many discussions in the EU about how it should develop and change in the future.
The main reasons why European countries came together are political and economic:
- The need to prevent another European war after World War I and World War II
- The need to have a common economic area that might become as strong as the United States of America
However, some people believe that politicians are just doing it for their own good and no one else's.
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
European Union
