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EUROPEAN UNION HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY AND MORE
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Transcript of EUROPEAN UNION HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY AND MORE
COMENIUS PROJECT
Building the future on the foundations of the past :
comparing local architecture
EUROPEAN UNION
HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY AND MORE
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
2007-01-01, EU ENLARGEMENT• Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU
• Now the EU includes 27 countries
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
EUROPEAN UNION
• a family of democratic European countries;• not a State intended to replace existing state;• more than any other international organization;• Member states:
– set up common institutions
– delegate some of their sovereignty
• More than an economic organization or trading bloc;• Three pillars (or spheres) of activities:
– trade and economic matters,– justice and home affairs,– foreign and security policy.
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
OUTLINE
• How and why did the EU emerge?
• What are its main decision-making bodies?
• Progress of European integration
– bursts of growth
– broadening (add new members)
– deepening (add new powers)
– stagnation, doubts, and criticisms
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
• Destruction of World War II,
• 1950-05-09 “Europe Day”,
• Schuman (Fr.) proposed an organized Europe to maintain peace.
„EUROPE DAY” (1950)
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY6 members: Belgium, West Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy,
and the Netherlands
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY• Same 6 countries as in ECSC
• Treaties of Rome (1957)
– European Atomic Energy Community
– European Economic Community
– remove trade barriers
– form common market
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
MERGE OF 3 COMMUNITIES (1967)
• 1967, executives of ECSC, EURATOM, and EEC were merged,
• one single Commission,
• one single Council of Ministers,
• European Parliament:
– members chosen by national parliaments
– directly elected every 5 years since 1979,
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
ENLARGEMENT (1973 - 1995)• 1973 - Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom
• 1981 - Greece
• 1986 - Spain and Portugal
• 1995 - Austria, Finland, and Sweden
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
CREATION OF EUROPEAN UNION
• Treaty on European Union was signed in Maastricht in 1992,
• add to the existing “Community” system,
• inter-government cooperation between member states:
– justice and home affairs
– foreign and security policy
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
SINGLE MARKET• free movement of
– goods
– services
– people
– and capital
• formally completed by January 1, 1993
• passport and customs checks were abolished at most of the internal borders
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
SINGLE CURRENCY
• Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
– exchange rate stability
– interest rates, the budget deficit, the inflation rate, and the debt-to-GDP ratio
• When the euro was launched in 1999, the European Central Bank (ECB) took over full responsibility for monetary policy throughout the euro area
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
MONETARY UNION: STAGE III
• European Central Bank be set up
• exchange rates between participating currencies be fixed once and for all
• single currency be introduced for the administrations and the banks
• coins and notes of the single currency be in circulation on January 1, 2002 at the latest
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
INTRODUCTION OF THE EURO 2002-01-01
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
EU ENLARGEMENT
• Three main criteria that countries have to meet before being eligible to begin negotiations to join the EU (1997)
– establishment of a functioning and stable democratic regime
– market-oriented capitalist economy
– acceptance of the 80,000 pages of laws and regulations already on the EU’s books
• Ten countries joined the EU in 2004
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
EU ENLARGEMENT
• former communist countries
– Poland, Hungry, Czech, Slovakia, & Slovenia
• former Soviet republics
– Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
• Mediterranean islands
– Cyprus and Malta
• Two countries joined the EU in 2007
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
EU APPLICANT COUNTRIES
• Two candidate countries
– Turkey and Croatia
– Entry negotiations formally began in 2005
• An application for membership submitted by Macedonia was formally accepted by EU leaders in 2005
• The EU is now looking at further enlargements in the Western Balkans
ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY
OTHER PROBLEMS
• Few people identify themselves first as European.
• Key EU organizations are still superficial
• Democratic deficit
• Lack of common language