European Union

Croatia is an official candidate country to join and started accession negotiations in October 2005. In June 2006, the EU officials projected that the accession of Croatia would likely happen in 2010. The closure of negotiations for all chapters of the acquis communautaire is expected in 2008 or 2009, while signing the Accession treaty would happen in the year after.

Turkey is an official candidate to join the European Union. Turkish European ambitions date back to 1963 Ankara Agreements. Turkey started preliminary negotiations on 3 October 2005. However, analysts believe 2015 is the earliest date the country can join the union due to the plethora of economic and social reforms it has to complete, and the fact that the 2007-2013 budget takes no account of the considerable costs Turkey's accession will involve."[Q&A: Turkey's EU entry talks]", BBC News, 4 October 2005. Retrieved 20 May 2006.

Republic of Macedonia has been given official candidate status as of December 2005 under the name "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"."[The EU and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia]", Opinion by the Commission on the application from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for membership of the European Union, 09 November 2005.

The EFTA states of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are members of the European Economic Area which allows them to participate in most aspects of the EU single market without joining the EU. Switzerland, the fourth EFTA state, rejected EEA membership in a referendum; however, it has established close ties to the EU by means of bilateral treaties.

Context — rationale for enlargement and future prospects

In more recent times, the European Union has been extending 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 in the 1980s, membership for these states will help cement economic and political stability.

As the EU continues to enlarge eastward, the candidate countries' accessions tend to grow more controversial. As previously explained, the EU has finished accession talks with Bulgaria and Romania, and set an entry date for the two countries in 2007. However, the rejection of the EU Constitution by France and the Netherlands, and the EU's slow economic growth, have cast some doubt on whether the EU will be ready to accept new members after 2007, when Romania and Bulgaria are set to join EU (in early 2005 they signed the Accession Treaty).

Institutions and legal framework

EU institutions and bodies

• The European Parliament (732 members 750 max.)
• The Council of the European Union (or 'Council of Ministers') (25 members)
• The European Commission (25 members)
• The European Court of Justice (incorporating the Court of First Instance) (25 judges (& 25 judges of CFI))
• The European Court of Auditors (25 members)

There are two financial bodiesNone of these bodies are "institutions" in the technical sense of the EU treaty, but they have many of the same powers:

• European Central Bank (which alongside the national Central Banks, composes the European System of Central Banks)
• European Investment Bank (including the European Investment Fund)

• Committee of the Regions, advising on regional issues
• Economic and Social Committee, advising on economic and social policy (principally relations between workers and employers)

Location of EU institutions

As soon as the European Economic Community (EEC) was established, political and legal wrangling began over where the European institutions should be located. The Member States were unable to reach agreement on where the permanent seats should be, particularly since the concept of a European district, proposed by Jean Monnet, won little support. From 1958, the Commissions of the EEC and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) had their seats in Brussels.

Until such time as the member states reached agreement on a single permanent seat for the Community institutions, European officials were distributed between Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg, leading, in particular, to a considerable increase in overheads. Brussels was chosen as the seat of the Single Commission and the Council of Ministers. In practical terms, this meant that most European officials were employed there. Luxembourg sought compensation for the loss of the High Authority and the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), both of which were relocated to Brussels. However, Luxembourg became the seat for the new European Investment Bank (EIB) and was given the assurance that certain meetings of the Council of Ministers would be held there, in April, June and September. The Court of Justice, the Central Statistical Office, the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, the Advisory Committee and the financial services of the ECSC and the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly also remained in Luxembourg. Meanwhile, France refused to renounce its claim for Strasbourg as seat of the Parliamentary Assembly. An expensive and inconvenient compromise was reached whereby Parliament’s Members met in plenary session in Strasbourg but meetings of parliamentary committees were held in Brussels. Certain plenary meetings were also held in Luxembourg, which was also the seat of the Secretariat of the European Parliament.

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

• Brussels — considered the de facto capital of the EU, being the seat of the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. It is also the venue of the European Parliament's committee meetings and mini-sessions and (since 2004) the host city for all European Council summits.

• Strasbourg — seat of the European Parliament and venue of its twelve week-long plenary sessions each year. Strasbourg is also the seat of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights, two institutions which are separate from (and have a wider membership than) the EU.

• Luxembourg City — seat of the European Court of Justice, the Secretariat of the European Parliament and the European Investment Bank.

Legal framework

Founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community

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, with each new treaty amending and supplementing earlier ones. 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 earliest EU 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 have 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 29 and in the Dutch referendum with a 62% majority on June 1.

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". "[French No an 'unmistakable message']", BBC News, 30 May 2005. Retrieved 10 July 2006.

The role of the European Community within the Union

European Communities: European Community plus Euratom

The term European Communities refers collectively to two entities — the European Economic Community (now called the European Community) and the European Atomic Energy Community (also known as Euratom) — each founded pursuant to a separate treaty in the 1950s. A third entity, the European Coal and Steel Community, was also part of the European Communities, but ceased to exist in 2002 upon the expiration of its founding treaty. Since 1967, the European Communities have shared common institutions, specifically the Council, the European Parliament, the Commission and the Court of Justice. In 1992, the European Economic Community, which of the three original communities had the broadest scope, was renamed the "European Community" by the Treaty of Maastricht.

European Union: European Communities plus CFSP and PJCC

The European Communities are 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).

Effect of Constitutional Treaty

If it is ratified, the proposed new Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe would abolish the three-pillar structure and, with it, the distinction between the European Union and the European Community, bringing all the Community's activities under the auspices of the European Union and transferring the Community's legal personality to the Union. There is, however, one qualification: it appears that Euratom would remain a distinct entity governed by a separate treaty (due to the strong controversy the issue of nuclear energy causes, and Euratom's relative unimportance, it was considered expedient to leave Euratom alone in the process of EU constitutional reform).

Evolution of the structures of the European Union.

European Union - treaties, structure, history 1952 1958 1967 1993 1999 2003 ? EC - European Community... E U R O P E A N   U N I O N   ( E U ) European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) European Economic Community (EEC) European Community (EC) ...European Communities: ECSC, EEC (EC, 1993), Euratom Justice & Home Affairs   Police & Judicial Co-operation in Criminal matters (PJCC) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community) Treaty of Paris (1951)>Treaty of Paris Treaty of Rome>Treaties of Rome Merger Treaty>Merger Treaty Maastricht Treaty>Treaty of Maastricht Amsterdam Treaty>Treaty of Amsterdam Treaty of Nice>Treaty of Nice Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe>European Constitution "THREE PILLARS" - European Communities (EC, Euratom), Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal matters (PJCC)

Intergovernmentalism and supranationalism

An alternative method of decision making in international organisations is supranationalism. In supranationalism 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 supranationalism 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 intergovernmentalism argue that supra-nationalism is a threat to national sovereignty, and to democracy, claiming that only national governments can possess the necessary democratic legitimacy. Intergovernmentalism 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.#redirect [[Template:Fact]]

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 led to the Constitutional Treaty discussed above.

Supranationalism is closely related to the inter-governmentalism vs. neofunctionalism debate. This is a debate concerning why the process of integration has taken place at all. Intergovernmentalists argue that the process of EU integration is a result of tough bargaining between states. Neofunctionalists, on the other hand, argue that the supranational institutions themselves have been a driving force behind integration.

Main policies

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.

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

• Autonomous decision making: member states have granted the European Commission power to issue decisions in certain areas such as competition law, state aid control and liberalisation.
• Harmonisation: member state laws are harmonised through the EU legislative process, which involves the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the European Union. As a result of this European Union law is increasingly present in the systems of the member states.
• Co-operation: member states, meeting as the Council of the European Union, agree to co-operate and co-ordinate their domestic policies.

All prospective members must enact legislation in order to bring them into line with the common European Union 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

The power of the single market reaches beyond the EU borders, because to sell within the EU, it is beneficial to conform to its standards. Once a non-member country's factories, farmers and merchants conform to EU standards, much of the cost of joining the union has already been sunk. At that point, harmonising domestic laws in order to become a full member is relatively painless, and may create more wealth through eliminating the customs costs.

The single market has both internal and external aspects:

Internal policies

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. Switzerland also voted in 2005 to become part of the Schengen zone.
• Freedom for citizens of its member states to live and work anywhere within the EU with their spouses and children, provided they can support themselves (also extended to the other EEA states and Switzerland). This has led to a gross anomaly whereby family related social welfare benefits are payable by the member state where an EU citizen is employed, even where the family of the worker are resident elsewhere in the Union.
• Free movement of capital between member states (and other EEA states).
• Harmonisation of government regulations, corporations law and trademark registrations.
• Eurozone, a single currency area with 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, as well as the emergency financial aid — the solidarity fund.

External policies

• 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, through programmes such as Phare, TACIS, ISPA.
• The establishment of a single market energy community by means of the Energy Community South East Europe Treaty.
• The establishment of a single market aviation area.

Co-operation and harmonisation in other areas

• Freedom for citizens of the EU to vote in local government and European Parliament elections in any member state.
• Co-operation in criminal matters, including sharing of intelligence (through EUROPOL and the Schengen Information System), agreement on common definition of criminal offences and expedited extradition procedures.
• A common foreign policy as a future objective, however this has some way to go before being realised. The divisions between the member states (in the letter of eight) and then-future members (in the Vilnius letter) during the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq highlights just how far off this objective could be before it becomes a reality.
• A common security policy as an objective, including the creation of a 60,000-member European Rapid Reaction Force for peacekeeping purposes, an EU military staff and an EU satellite centre (for intelligence purposes).
• Common policy on asylum and immigration.
• Common funding of research and technological development, through four-year Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development. The Sixth Framework Programme is running from 2002 to 2006.

Economy

Population and GDP per capita of EU member states and candidates.

If considered a single unit, the European Union has the largest economy in the world, with a GDP of 12,427,413 million USD (2005) using PPP equivalence. 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 have the capacity to grow at a higher rate. The European Council published estimations on 17 November 2005 that the economy of the European Union will have grown approximately 1.5% in 2005 (1.3% in the eurozone), and 2.3% 2006 (2.1% in the eurozone) surpassing earlier growth predictions. "[Commission spring economic forecasts 2006-2007: growth rebounds]", European Commission, 8 May 2006. Full report: "[Economic Forecasts Spring 2006]". PDF. Retrieved 20 May 2006. In 2006 the eurozone will create 3½ million jobs. The European Council is hopeful that the European Union will grow further in the future; economic growth for 2007 is expected to be at 2.7%. Germany, the largest economy in the EU, will grow about: 0.8% in 2005, 1.2% in 2006 and 1.6% in 2007. After extremely slow growth, the EU's rate of growth is expected to increase in the next couple of years.

EU member states have agreed a programme called the Lisbon Strategy which aims at making "the EU the world's most dynamic and competitive economy" by 2010."[The Education and Training Contribution to the Lisbon Strategy]", European Commission. Retrieved 20 May 2006.

Economic variation

GDP (PPP), 2004

GDP (PPP) per capita, 2004

GDP (PPP) per capita 2006 showing countries above and below EU average

Member States	GDP (PPP) millions of int. dollars	GDP (PPP) per capita int. dollars	GDP (nominal) per capita int. dollars
''' European Union'''	12,954,042	28,477	29,763
}	33,436	72,945	76,224
}	179,516	42,859	49,533
}	195,788	36,079	48,530
}	286,767	35,002	37,378
}	171,848	32,822	36,928
}	338,452	32,500	35,843
}	524,035	32,062	38,323
}	1,911,943	31,628	36,875
}	2,605,373	31,572	33,356
}	283,802	31,235	39,562
}	1,900,467	30,322	33,387
}	1,726,869	29,727	30,144
}	1,145,078	27,542	27,815
}	261,018	23,519	20,545
}	46,384	23,250	17,535
}	18,563	22,334	20,500
}	8,103	20,365	13,847
}	198,931	19,478	12,587
}	179,606	18,492	11,375
}	210,049	18,105	17,224
}	23,927	17,802	10,342
}	93,288	17,239	9,471
}	52,705	15,443	8,310
}	526,253	13,797	8,410
}	31,841	13,784	8,401
Acceding Countries:
''}''	76,696	10,003	3,686
''}''	204,412	9,446	5,254
Candidate Countries:
''}''	57,983	12,885	8,710
''}''	609,987	8,385	5,692
''  FYR Macedonia''	16,700	8,080	2,564
Potential Candidate Countries:
''}''	25,505	6,800	2,561
''}''	18,329	5,107	2,441
''}''	41,150	4,400	2,042
''}''	2,412	3,800	1,784

Source: CIA World Factbook [link]
All other figures, source: IMF web site ([2006 GDP PPP], [2006 per capita GDP PPP], [2006 per capita GDP, current prices]).

• [Economics: Causes of Growth Differentials in the EU]

Comparison with other regional blocs

See also

Lists

• (hierarchical list of all EU articles)
• European Union Statistics
• Statistics relating to the EU enlargement
• Largest cities of the European Union by population
• List of European Union-related topics
• EU Framework Program for Research and Technological Development
• List of EU states by population

Other

• Euro
• Citizenship of the European Union
• Economy of Europe
• Economy of the European Union
• European integration
• European Union as an emerging superpower
• Pro-European and Euroscepticism
• Transatlantic relations
• United States of Europe
• European Union legislative procedure
• Council of Europe
• Europe
• European Union Microsoft antitrust case

Further reading

• The Economist Guide to the European Union (Profile Books 2005) ISBN 1861979304
• Europe Recast: A History of European Union by Desmond Dinan (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) ISBN 0333987349
• 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 0192853759
• 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
• The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream by Jeremy Rifkin (Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2004) ISBN 1585423459
• The Great Deception: The Secret History of the European Union by Christopher Booker, Richard North (Continuum International Publishing Group — Academi, 2003) ISBN 0826471056
• '[The Ultimate EU Test Book]'(John Harper Publishing, 2005)

Notes and references

External links and references

Official pages

• [Official EU website (Europa)]
• * [EU institutions and other bodies]
• * [European Commission — Maps of Europe]
• * [Press conferences and speech audio] (MP3 and RealAudio).
• * [EUR-LEX — EU law and proposed legislation]
• * [Green Paper on a numbering policy for telecommunications (+3 country call code proposal)]
• * [EU Policy on China]
• [2006 Presidency of the European Union]
• [European Central Bank]
• [EU in the USA] — EU delegation to the US
• [Official EU Recruitment '(concours)' website]

[[zh-min-nan:Europa Liân-bêng]]

[[nds-nl:Europese Unie]]

[[fiu-vro:Õuruupa Liit]]

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