THE

EUROPEAN
UNION

The European Union (abbreviation: EU) is a confederation of 27 member countries in Europe

established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992-1993. The EU grew out of the European Economic
Community (EEC) which was established by the Treaties of Rome in 1957. It has created a
common economic area with Europe-wide laws allowing the citizens of EU countries to move and
trade in other EU countries almost the same as they do in their own. Nineteen of these countries
also share the same type of money: the euro.

The Treaty of Lisbon is the most recent treaty that says how the Union is run. Every member state
signed to say that they each agreed with what it says. Most importantly, it says which jobs
(’powers’) the Union should do for the members and which jobs they should do themselves. The
members decide how the Union should act by voting for or against proposals.

The objective of the EU is to bring its member states closer together with respect of human rights
and democracy. It does this with a common style of passport, common rules about fair trading
with each other, common agreements about law enforcement, and other agreements. Most
members share a common currency (the euro) and most allow people to travel from one country
to another without having to show a passport.

History

After World War II, the countries in Europe wanted to live peacefully together and help one
another's economies. Instead of fighting each other 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 the European Community.

In 1993, 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, 22 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. Now already 16 member countries have replaced their
national currencies with the euro. 10 new countries became members of the EU in 2004, 2 more
became members in 2007, and 1 more in 2013. Today there are 27 member countries altogether.

 Free movement

A person who is a citizen of the European Union can live and work in any of the 27 member states
without needing a work permit or visa. For example, a French person can move to Greece to work
there, or just to live there, and he or she does not need 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.

Main institutions

1. Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union is the main decision-making group. The cabinet ministers of
the member countries meet (Ministers for Foreign affairs, for Agriculture, for Justice, etc.) and
discuss issues that are important to them.

Before the Treaty of Lisbon (written in 2007, implemented in 2008) each member state takes a
turn at being President of the Council for six months. For example, from January 2007 until July
2007, Germany held the presidency. The six months before that, Finland held the presidency. Now
the President of the European Union chairs the council summits. The President of the Council is
the organiser and manager and is voted into office for a duration of two and a half years. He or
she does not have the power to make decisions about the European Union like the President of
the United States does for that country.

Member countries with a large population (Germany, France, United Kingdom, etc.) have more
votes than countries with small populations (Luxembourg, Malta, etc.) but a decision cannot be
made if enough countries vote against the decision.

Twice a year, the heads of government (Prime Ministers) and/or the heads of state (Presidents)
meet to talk about the main issues and make decisions on different issues. This meeting is
different and not as formal. It is known as a European Council.

Note: This is not the same thing as the Council of Europe, which is not part of the European
Union.

2. European Commission
The European Commission runs the day-to-day running of the EU and writes laws, like a
government. Laws written by the Commission are discussed and changed by the European
Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

The Commission has one President and 27 Commissioners, selected by the European Council.
The Commission President is appointed by the European Council with the approval of the
European Parliament.

The Commission operates like a cabinet government. There is one Commissioner per member
state, though Commissioners are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather
than their home state.

3. European Parliament
The Parliament has a total of 785 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 can approve, reject or change proposed laws. It can also sack the
European Commission. In that case, the entire commission would have to give up their jobs.

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 respect human rights, rule of law and democracy more affirmed by Council of
Europe.

▪ The need to have a common economic area.

Member States

In 1951, six countries made the European Coal and Steel Community, a basic version of what the
EU is now. These six then went further and in 1957 they made the European Economic
Community and the European Coal and Steel Community. The UK and others decided not to join,
and then when the UK changed its mind it was stopped from joining by French President Charles
de Gaulle. When he was no longer President, the UK and others started to join. Today there are 27
members but the idea that more should join is not seen as a good one by everyone.

Founders in 1957: Belgium, France, West Germany (later just Germany), Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands

Joined in 1973: Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom

Joined in 1981: Greece

Joined in 1986: Portugal, Spain

Joined in 1995: Austria, Finland, Sweden

Joined in 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Slovakia, Slovenia

Joined in 2007: Bulgaria, Romania

Joined in 2013: Croatia

Left in 2020: United Kingdom

Serbia, Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia, Turkey and Iceland are "candidate countries";
they are being considered for membership. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are
expected to follow.

However, since there have been many political problems happening in Turkey recently, especially
with President Erdogan's arresting of tens of thousands of political rivals since the failed coup
attempt on July 15, 2016, it is unlikely that it would be allowed to part of the EU anytime soon
because EU members believe that the current Turkish government is not respecting human rights,
rule of law, or democracy.

Motto

United in diversity (or together with many types of people), is the motto of the European Union.

Brexit

On June 23, 2016, the UK held a referendum on whether it should stay in the EU or leave it. The
majority [52% to 48%] favoured leaving. Britain leaving the EU is commonly known as Brexit.

The government of the UK triggered "Article 50" of the Treaty of European Union (the Treaty of
Lisbon) on 29 March 2017. This began negotiations with fellow members of the EU on the terms
of exit. The timetable for these negotiations is two years, which meant that the UK would remain a
member of the EU until at least March 2019. However this deadline was later extended to October
31st 2019 at the request of the British Government. The United Kingdom left the European Union
on the 31. of January 2020 at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time.