Europe A to Z

Beginnings: War and Peace 

For centuries, Europe was the scene of frequent and bloody wars: between 1870 and 1945, France and Germany fought each other three times, with terrible loss of life. A number of European leaders became convinced that the only way to secure a lasting peace between their countries was to unite them economically and politically.

In 1950, Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, proposed integrating the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. In 1951, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up, with six members: Belgium, West Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The power to take decisions about the coal and steel industry in these countries was placed in the hands of an independent, supranational body called the "High Authority". Jean Monnet was its first President.

From Three Communities to the EU

The ECSC proved such a success that, within a few years, the six countries decided to go further and integrate other sectors of their economies. In 1957 they signed the Treaties of Rome, creating the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the European Economic Community (EEC). The Member States set about removing trade barriers between them and forming a "common market".
In 1967 the institutions of the three European communities were merged. From this point on, there was a single Commission and a single Council of Ministers as well as the European Parliament.

Originally, the members of the European Parliament were chosen by the national parliaments but, in 1979, the first direct elections were held, allowing the citizens of the Member States to vote for the candidate of their choice. Since then, direct elections have been held every five years.

The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht introduced new forms of co-operation between the Member State governments, for example, regarding defence and in the area of justice and home affairs. By adding this inter-governmental co-operation to the existing "Community" system, the Maastricht Treaty created the European Union (EU).

Integration Means Common Policies

Economic and political integration between the Member States of the EU means that these countries must take joint decisions on many matters. They have developed common policies in a very wide range of fields - from agriculture to culture, from consumer affairs to competition, from the environment and energy to transport and trade. In the early days the focus was on a common commercial policy for coal and steel and a common agricultural policy. Other policies were added over time, as the need arose.

Some key policy aims have changed in the light of changing circumstances. For example, the aim of the agricultural policy is no longer to produce as much food as cheaply as possible but, rather, to support farming methods that produce healthy, high-quality food and protect the environment. The need for environmental protection is now taken into account across the whole range of EU policies.

The EU's relations with the rest of the world have also become important - it negotiates major trade and aid agreements with other countries and is developing a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

The Single Market

It took some time for the Member States to remove all the barriers to trade and to turn their "common market" into a genuine single market in which goods, services, people and capital could move around freely. The Single Market was formally completed at the end of 1992, though there is still work to be done in some areas, such as creating a genuine single market in financial services.

During the 1990s, it became increasingly easy for people to move around in Europe, as passport and customs checks were abolished at most of the EU's internal borders. One consequence is greater mobility for EU citizens. Since 1987, for example, more than a million young Europeans have taken study courses abroad, with support from the EU.

The Single Currency

In 1992, the EU opted for economic and monetary union (EMU), involving the introduction of a single European currency managed by a European Central Bank. The single currency - the Euro - became a reality on 1 January 2002, when euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in twelve of the fifteen Member States: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

On 1 January 2007, Slovenia became the first country among the ten who joined the Union in 2004 to adopt the Euro. To do so, it had to meet strict financial and economic criteria.

The Growing Family

The EU has grown in size with successive waves of accessions. In the beginning, six countries - Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - founded the EEC, in 1957. Six successful enlargements have followed:

• 1973 - Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom
• 1981 - Greece
• 1986 - Portugal and Spain
• 1995 - Austria, Finland and Sweden
• 2004 - Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
• 2007 – Bulgaria and Romania

Croatia and Turkey began membership negotiations in 2005.

Nowadays, the EU comprises 480 million citizens in twenty-seven Member States.

The EU now accounts for 20% of world trade and 25% of global GNP. It also provides 55% of the world's overseas development assistance.

To ensure that the enlarged EU could continue functioning efficiently, it needed a more streamlined system for taking decisions, hence the Treaty of Nice established new rules governing the size of the EU institutions and the way they work. It came into force in February 2003.

How the European Union works

The Meaning of Membership

The EU is a family of democratic European countries working together to improve life for their citizens and to build a better world. In just over half a century, it has delivered peace and prosperity in Europe, a single European currency, the euro, and a frontier-free 'single market'. It has become a major trading power, and a world leader in fields such as environmental protection and development aid. It has grown from six to twenty-seven members and more countries are queuing up to join.

The EU's success stems from the unusual way in which it works. It is not a federation like the USA, nor is it simply an organisation for cooperation between governments, like the United Nations (UN). It is, in fact, unique. The countries that make up the EU remain independent, sovereign nations, but they pool their sovereignty in order to gain a strength and world influence none of them could have on their own.
In practice, pooling sovereignty means that the Member States delegate some of their decision-making powers to shared institutions they have created, so that decisions on specific matters of joint interest can be made democratically at the European level.

European Institutions

There are three main decision-making institutions:

• the European Parliament, which represents the EU's citizens and is directly elected by them;
• the Council of the European Union, which represents the individual Member States;
• The European Commission, which is the executive body of the EU and seeks to uphold the interests of the Union as a whole.

This 'institutional triangle' produces the policies and laws that apply throughout the EU. In principle, it is the Commission that proposes new laws, but it is the Parliament and Council that pass them.

The Court of Justice upholds the rule of European law, and the Court of Auditors checks the financing of the Union's activities.

A number of other bodies also have key roles in making the EU work:

• the European Economic and Social Committee represents civil society, employers and employees;
• the Committee of the Regions represents regional and local authorities;
• the European Investment Bank finances EU investment projects, and helps small businesses via the European Investment Fund;
• the European Central Bank is responsible for European monetary policy;
• the European Ombudsman investigates complaints about maladministration by EU institutions and bodies;
• the European Data Protection Supervisor safeguards the privacy of people's personal data.

In addition, specialised agencies have been set up to handle specific technical, scientific or management tasks.

The powers and responsibilities of the EU institutions, and the rules and procedures they must follow, are laid down in the treaties on which the EU is founded. The treaties are agreed on by the Presidents and Prime Ministers of all the Member States and ratified by their parliaments.

The Treaties

The EU is founded on four treaties:

• The Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was signed in April 1951 in Paris, came into force in July 1952 and expired in July 2002.
• The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) was signed in March 1957 in Rome and came into force in January 1958. It is often referred to as 'the Treaty of Rome'.
• The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) was signed in Rome along with the EEC Treaty.
• The Treaty on European Union (EU) was signed in Maastricht in February 1992, and came into force in November 1993.

These treaties are the basis for everything the EU does. They have been amended each time new Member States have joined and three times to reform the EU's institutions and to give it new responsibilities:

• The Single European Act (SEA) was signed in February 1986 and came into force in July 1987. It amended the EEC Treaty and paved the way for completing the single market.
• The Treaty of Amsterdam was signed in October 1997 and came into force in May 1999. It amended the EU and EC treaties.
• The Treaty of Nice was signed in February 2001 and came into force in February 2003. It further amended the other treaties, streamlining the EU's decision-making system so it could continue to work effectively after the 2004 enlargement.

Having so many treaties makes the EU complicated and difficult to understand; hence, in June 2004, the EU's Presidents and Prime Ministers decided to replace all the existing treaties with a single Constitution, setting out clearly what the Union is, how it takes decisions and who is responsible for doing what. It cannot come into force until it has been ratified by all Member States.

The Presidency

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is held by the Member States on a rotating basis.
Each Presidency lasts six months, during which the Presiding Member State chairs Council Meetings and Summits, both in Brussels and at home. Each country sets priority areas to address during their Presidency.

The Councils

The European Council - The Heads of State or Government (Presidents and/or Prime Ministers) of all the Member States and the President of the European Commission. The European Council usually meets four times a year to agree on overall EU policy and to review progress. It is the highest-level policy-making body in the EU, which is why its meetings are often called 'summits'.

The Council of the EU - Formerly known as the Council of Ministers, this institution consists of government Ministers from all the Member States. The Council meets regularly to take detailed decisions and to pass European laws. Which Ministers attend which meeting depends on what subjects are on the agenda. If, for example, the Council is to discuss environmental issues, the meeting will be attended by the Environment Minister from each EU country and it will be known as the 'Environment Council'.

The Council of Europe - This is not an EU institution at all. It is an inter-governmental organisation which aims to protect human rights, to promote Europe's cultural diversity and to combat social problems such as racial prejudice and intolerance, amongst others. It was set up in 1949 and one of its early achievements was to draw up the European Convention on Human Rights and Basic Freedoms. It then set up the European Court of Human Rights, to enable citizens to exercise their rights under the Convention. The Council of Europe now has forty-six member countries, including the twenty-seven European Union Member States. Bosnia and Herzegovina is also a member.

The European Commission

Role and Responsibilities

The European Commission is independent of national governments; it represents and upholds the interests of the EU as a whole. It drafts proposals for new European laws, which it presents to the European Parliament and the Council.

It is also the EU's executive arm, responsible for implementing the decisions of Parliament and the Council. This means managing the day-to-day business of the EU: implementing its policies, running its programmes and spending its funds.

The Commission has four main roles:

• to propose legislation to Parliament and the Council;
• to manage and implement EU policies and the budget;
• to enforce European law (jointly with the Court of Justice);
• to represent the EU on the international stage, for example by negotiating Stabilisation and Association Agreements between the EU and other countries.

It is also an important mouthpiece for the EU on the international stage. It enables the Member States to speak 'with one voice' in international forums such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Who are “the Commission”?

The term 'Commission' is used in two senses:

• It refers to the team of men and women - one from each EU country - appointed to run the institution and take its decisions.
• It refers to the institution itself and to all its staff.

Informally, the appointed Members of the Commission are known as 'Commissioners'. They have all held political positions in their countries of origin and many have been government ministers, but, as Members of the Commission, they are committed to acting in the interests of the Union as a whole and not taking instructions from national governments.

The Structure of the Commission

The European Commission (EC) is divided into twenty-six directorates- general (DGs) and fifteen services, which are in turn divided into directorates and sub-divided into units. Extra structures can be set up when needed.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of Commission actions, the DGs are required to work together closely and to co-ordinate in the preparation and the implementation of decisions.

The everyday work of the EC is carried out by some 24,000 officials who are citizens of all twenty-seven Member States.

Delegations

The EC plays a key role in the implementation of the EU's foreign and other policies: Delegations and Representation Offices around the world are the eyes and ears of the Commission in their host countries and its mouthpiece vis-à-vis the authorities and the general population. The Delegations are part of the Commission structure but serve EU interests as a whole in 123 countries and at five centres of international organisations, including the UN, OSCE and WTO.

Commission Delegations play an active role in external assistance and are being consistently strengthened so that this assistance can be delivered more rapidly and efficiently.

The European Union’s global role

The European Union is a world player. It has a population of 450 million – more than the United States and Russia combined. It is the world’s biggest trader and generates one quarter of global wealth. It gives more aid to poor countries than any other donor. Its currency, the euro, comes second only to the US dollar in international financial markets.

The EU did not set out to become a world power. Born in the aftermath of World War II, its first concern was bringing together the nations and peoples of Europe. But as the Union expanded and took on more responsibilities, it had to define its relationships with the rest of the world. Just as it has worked to remove trade barriers, develop poorer regions and promote peaceful cooperation within its frontiers, so the Union works with other countries and international organisations to bring everyone the benefits of open markets, economic growth and stability in an increasingly interdependent world. At the same time, the EU defends its legitimate economic and commercial interests in the international arena.

A major challenge now is to spread peace and security beyond the European Union’s borders. To meet this challenge, the EU is developing a common foreign and security policy so that it can act as a force for stability, cooperation and understanding in the wider world.

For more than 40 years, the Cold War divided much of the world into two camps. Its ending led to a more complex and fragile world order, requiring greater EU involvement in preventing conflicts, keeping the peace and combating terrorism. The EU helps pay for the UN civil administration in Kosovo, provides ongoing financial support for the Palestinian Authority and is contributing one billion euro to reconstruction in Afghanistan. In the Western Balkans and central Africa in 2003, the EU embarked on the first missions under its new European defence and security policy. More will follow. By helping to create security and stability in the wider world, the EU also helps to make life safer within its own borders.

Finally, the European Union shows how countries can successfully pool economic and political resources in the common interest. It serves as a model for integration between countries in other regions of the world.

How the EU conducts its external relations

Since its birth in the 1950s, the European Union has been developing relations with the rest of the world through a common policy on trade, development assistance and formal trade and cooperation agreements with individual countries or regional groups.

The EU began providing humanitarian aid to those in need around the world in the 1970s. Since 1993, under the Maastricht Treaty, it has been developing a common foreign and security policy (CSFP) to enable it to take joint action when the interests of the Union as a whole are at stake. Defence is becoming an important aspect of the CFSP as the EU seeks to promote and maintain stability around the world. As it deals with terror, international crime, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and global issues like the environment, the Union also works closely with other countries and international organisations.

The EU’s common trade policy operates at two levels. Firstly, within the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the European Union is actively involved in setting the rules for the multilateral system of global trade. Secondly, the EU negotiates its own bilateral trade agreements with countries or regional groups of countries.
Development assistance and cooperation, originally concentrated in Africa, was extended to Asia, Latin America and the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries in the mid-1970s. The underlying purpose is always to support sustainable growth and development in the partner countries, so that they have the resources to tackle and eradicate poverty. The Union has every interest in supporting its partners and encouraging them to be successful and prosperous.

More than trade and aid

The EU’s agreements with its partners around the globe cover not only trade and traditional financial and technical assistance but also economic and other reforms as well as support for infrastructure and health and education programmes. They also provide a framework for political dialogue and contain a clause which enables the Union to suspend or cancel trade or aid if the partner country violates human rights. Moreover, in 2003, the EU decided that all new agreements must include a clause in which its partners commit themselves to the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The EU has to make sure that the different aspects of its external policies are consistent with each other and convey a clear overall message. To help achieve this, it appointed a High Representative for foreign and security policy in 1999. In June 2004, EU leaders agreed in principle to create the post of EU foreign minister. This is one of the new arrangements laid down in the EU Constitutional Treaty.

Promoting human rights

The European Union promotes respect for human rights at home and abroad. It focuses on civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. It also seeks to promote the rights of women and children as well as of minorities and displaced persons.

Human rights feature in the EU’s trade and cooperation agreements with its partners and are a prerequisite for countries seeking to join the Union itself. The EU has maintained a human rights dialogue in recent years with countries like China and Iran. It has imposed sanctions for human rights breaches on several countries including Serbia, Burma/Myanmar and Zimbabwe.

The EU also helps pay for a range of activities that defend human rights, such as the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights which spends around €100 million a year on:

• strengthening democracy, good government and the rule of law;
• support for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty;
• combating torture and impunity and supporting international tribunals and criminal courts;
• combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination against minorities and indigenous peoples.

In addition, the EU offers lower tariffs on imports from countries which respect the basic working conditions and labour standards laid down by the International Labour Organisation.