The Europian Union

Founders
New ideas for lasting peace and prosperity…
Konrad Adenauer
Robert Schuman
Winston Churchill
Alcide De Gasperi
Jean Monnet

The EU symbols
The European flag
The European anthem
Europe Day, 9 May
The motto: United in diversity

23 official languages

Enlargement: from six to 27 countries
1952
1973
1981
1986
1990
1995
2004
2007

The big enlargement:
healing the division of Europe
Fall of Berlin Wall – end of Communism
EU economic help begins: Phare programme
Criteria set for a country to join the EU:
• democracy and rule of law
• functioning market economy
• ability to implement EU laws
Formal negotiations on enlargement begin
Copenhagen summit agrees enlargement
10 new EU members: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia
41989
41992
41998
42002
42004
42007
Bulgaria and Romania join the EU
Candidates
Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey
© Reuders

The treaties – basis for democratic cooperation built on law
1952
The European Steel and Coal Community
1958
The treaties of Rome:
The European Economic Community
The European Atomic Energy Community
(EURATOM)
1987
The European Single Act: the Single Market
1993
Treaty of European Union
– Maastricht
1999
Treaty of Amsterdam
2003
Treaty of Nice
2009
Treaty of Lisbon

The Lisbon treaty - taking Europe into
the 21st century
The Treaty will make the European Union:
More efficient Simpler processes, full-time president for the Council, etc.
More democratic Stronger role for the European Parliament
and national parliaments, "Citizens Initiative", Charter of Fundamental Rights, etc.
More transparent Clarifies who does what, greater public access
to documents and meetings, etc.
More united on High Representative for Foreign Policy, etc.
the world stage
More secure New possibilities to fight climate change
and terrorism, secure energy supplies, etc.

A transparent Union at your service
The website of the European Union
europa.eu
One and a half million documents available to the public
Europe Direct contact centre
Answers your questions:
00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11
Europe Direct relays
Over 400 EU Info Points across the EU
European Union Documents
Access to internal documents
upon request
The European Ombudsman
Deals with complaints over EU administration
Nikoforos Diamandouros, the EU ombudsman

EU population in the world
Population in millions, 2009
500
1339
128
142
307
EU
China
Japan
Russia
United States

The area of the EU compared to the rest
of the world
Surface area, 1 000 km²
EU
China
Japan
Russia
United States
16 889
9327
9159
4234
365

How rich is the EU compared to the rest
of the world?
EU
China
Japan
Russia
United States
EU
China
Japan
Russia
United States
12 508
1 326
3 329
468
9819
25 100
4 400
27 800
12 200
38 700
Size of economy: 2008 gross domestic product
in billion of euros
Wealth per person: 2008 gross domestic product
per person

How big are the EU countries?
Surface area in 1 000 km²
France
Spain
Sweden
Germany
Poland
Finland
Italy
United Kingdom
Romania
Greece
Bulgaria
Hungary
Portugal
Austria
Czech Republic
Ireland
Lithuania
Latvia
Slovakia
Estonia
Denmark
Netherlands
Belgium
Slovenia
Cyprus
Luxemburg
Malta
544
506
410
357
313
305
295
244
230
131
111
93
92
83
77
68
63
62
49
43
43
34
30
20
9
3
0.3

How many people live in the EU?
Population in millions, 2009
500 million total
82.1
64.4
61.6
60.1
45.8
38.1
21.5
16.5
11.3
10.6
10.8
10.5
10.0
9.3
8.4
7.6
5.5
5.4
5.3
4.5
3.3
2.3
2.0
1.3
0.8
0.5
0.4
France
Spain
Sweden
Poland
Finland
Italy
United Kingdom
Romania
Greece
Bulgaria
Hungary
Portugal
Austria
Czech Republic
Ireland
Lithuania
Latvia
Slovakia
Estonia
Denmark
Netherlands
Belgium
Slovenia
Cyprus
Luxemburg
Malta
Germany

GDP per inhabitant: the spread of wealth
Lithuania
2008 GDP per inhabitant
Index where the average of the 27 EU-countries is 100
271
137
135
123
118
114
122
117
115
116
107
101
103
100
95
94
91
80
76
76
68
63
72
61
56
58
46
40
Luxembourg
Ireland
Netherlands
Austria
Denmark
Belgium
Sweden
Finland
Germany
France
Italy
Spain
EU-27
Cyprus
Greece
Slovenia
Malta
Portugal
Estonia
Hungary
Slovakia
Latvia
Poland
Romania
Bulgaria
United Kingdom
Czech Republic

2010 EU budget: €141.5 billion
= 1.20% of gross national income
Citizens, freedom,
security and justice
2%
Other, administration
6%
Sustainable growth:
jobs, competitiveness, regional development
45%
The EU as a global player:
including development aid
6%
Natural resources:
agriculture,
environment
41%
How does the EU spend its money?

Climate change – a global challenge
To stop global warming, EU leaders decided in 2007 to:
4 reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by 20% by 2020 (30% if other developed
countries do likewise)
4 improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020
4 raise the share of renewable energy
to 20% by 2020 (wind, solar, hydro
power, biomass)

Energy sources in a changing world
Fuel used in EU in 2008, as share of total
Oil
36%
Gas
25%
Nuclear
13%
Coal
18%
Renewables
8%
45%
84%
60%
100%
54%
Oil
Coal
Gas
Nuclear
(uranium)
Renewables
All types of fuel
0%
Share of fuel imported from outside the EU in 2008

Jobs and growth
Challenges:
4Demography: Europeans live longer, have fewer children
4Globalisation: European economy faces competition from other parts of the world
4Climate change: Emission of greenhouse gases must come down
Solutions:
European leaders have therefore agreed on a joint strategy for:
4More research and innovation
4A more dynamic business environment
4Investing in people
4A greener economy

Research - investing in the knowledge society
Spending on research and development in 2006 (% of GDP)
1.8%
3.0%
1.3%
2.6%
3.4%
EU
EU objective
China
Japan
United States

Solidarity in practice: the EU cohesion policy
2007-2013: €347 billion invested for infrastructure, business, environment and training of workers for less
well-off regions or citizens
4 Regional fund
4 Social fund
4 Cohesion fund
Convergence objective: regions with GDP per capita under 75% of the EU average. 81.5% of the funds are spent on this objective.
Regional competitiveness and employment objective.

The euro – a single currency for Europeans
EU countries using the euro
EU countries not using the euro
Can be used everywhere in the euro area
4Coins: one side with national symbols, one side common
4Notes: no national side

Beating inflation
European Economic and Monetary Union: stable prices
Average annual inflation in the 15 EU-countries that used the euro in 2008

The single market: freedom of choice
Four freedoms of movement:
4 goods
4 services
4 people
4 capital
© Getty Images
The single market has led to:
significant reductions in the price of many products and services, including internet access and airfares.
40% drop in price of phone calls from 2000-2006
2.8 million new jobs

Free to move
“Schengen”:
4 No police or customs checks at borders between most EU countries
4 Controls strengthened at EU external borders
4 More cooperation between police from different EU countries
4 You can buy and bring back any goods for personal use when you travel between EU countries
© Corbis

Going abroad to learn
Over 2 million young people have studied or pursued personal development in other European countries with support from EU programmes:
4 Comenius: school education
4 Erasmus: higher education
4 Leonardo da Vinci: vocational training
4 Grundtvig: adult education
4 Youth in Action: voluntary work and
non-formal education
© Getty Images

Improving health and the environment
Pollution knows no borders – joint action needed
EU action has helped bring:
4 Cleaner bathing water
4 Much less acid rain
4 Lead-free petrol
4 Free and safe disposal of old electronic equipment
4 Strict rules on food safety from farm to fork
4 More organic and quality farming
4 More effective health warnings on cigarettes
4 Registration and control of all chemicals (REACH)
© Van Parys Media

An area of freedom, security and justice
4 Charter of Fundamental Rights
4 Joint fight against terrorism
4 Police and law-enforcers from different countries cooperate
4 Coordinated asylum and immigration policies
4 Civil law cooperation
© European Union Police Mission

The EU: an exporter of peace and prosperity
4 World trade rules
4 Common foreign and security policy
4 Development assistance and humanitarian aid
EU runs the peacekeeping operations
and the rebuilding of society in
war-torn countries like Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The EU – a major trading power
Share of world trade
in goods (2007)
Share of world trade
in services (2007)
Others
53.2%
EU
17%
United States
14.5%
Japan
5.8%
China
9.5%
Others
40.6%
EU
28.5%
United States
18.2%
Japan
6.8%
China
5.9%

The EU is the biggest provider of development aid in the world
Official development assistance per citizen, 2007
93€
44€
53€
EU
Japan
United States
The EU provides 60% of all development aid

Three key players
The European Parliament
- voice of the people
Jerzy Buzek, President of
of the European Parliament
The council of Ministers
- voice of the Member States
Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council
The European Commission
- promoting the common interest
José Manuel Barroso, President
of the European Commission

European Parliament
The EU institutions
Court of Justice
Court of Auditors
Economic and Social Committee
Committee of the Regions
Council of Ministers
(Council of the EU)
European Commission
European Investment Bank
European Central Bank
Agencies
European Council (summit)

How EU laws are made
Citizens, interest groups, experts: discuss, consult
Commission: makes formal proposal
Parliament and Council of Ministers: decide jointly
Commission and Court of Justice: monitor implementation
National or local authorities: implement

The European Parliament – voice of the people
4 Decides EU laws and budget together with Council of Ministers
4 Democratic supervision of all the EU’s work
Number of members elected in each country (January 2010)
United Kingdom
12
22
72
72
13
Italy
Ireland
22
Hungary
Greece
99
Germany
France
Finland
6
Estonia
13
Denmark
22
Czech Republic
6
Cyprus
17
Bulgaria
22
Belgium
17
Austria
Total
736
72
18
Sweden
50
Spain
7
Slovenia
13
Slovakia
33
Romania
22
Portugal
50
Poland
25
Netherlands
5
Malta
6
Luxembourg
12
Lithuania
8
Latvia

The European political parties
Greens/European Free Alliance
55
European Conservatives
and Reformists
54
Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe
84
European People’s Party
(Christian Democrats)
265
Non-attached members 27
Total : 736
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
184
European United
Left - Nordic Green Left
35
Europe of Freedom
and Democracy
32
Number of seats in the European Parliament
per political group
(January 2010)

Council of Ministers – voice of the member states
4One minister from each EU country
4Presidency: rotates every six months
4Decides EU laws and budget together with Parliament
4Manages the common foreign and security policy

Council of Ministers – number of votes per country
345
Total:
3
Malta
4
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia
7
Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland
10
Austria, Bulgaria and Sweden
12
Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Portugal
13
Netherlands
14
Romania
27
Spain and Poland
29
Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom
“Qualified majority” needed for many decisions:
255 votes and a majority of member states
From 2014: 55% of the Member States with 65% of the population

Summit at the European Council
Summit of heads of state and government of all EU countries
4Held at least 4 times a year
4Sets the overall guidelines for EU policies
4President: Herman Van Rompuy

A high representative for foreign affairs and security
Catherine Ashton
Double hat: chairs the Foreign Affairs Council meetings + Vice-president of the European Commission
Manages the common foreign and security policy
Head of European External Action Service

The European Commission – promoting
the common interest
27 independent members,
one from each EU country
4Proposes new legislation
4Executive organ
4Guardian of the treaties
4Represents the EU on the international stage

The Court of Justice – upholding the law
27 independent judges,
one from each EU country
4Rules on how to interpret EU law
4Ensures EU countries apply EU laws in the same way

The European Court of Auditors:
getting value for your money
27 independent members
4Checks that EU funds are used properly
4Can audit any person or organisation dealing with EU funds

4Ensures price stability
4Controls money supply and decides interest rates
4Works independently from governments
The European Central Bank:
managing the euro
Jean-Claude Trichet
President of the Central Bank

The European Economic and Social Committee:
voice of civil society
344 members
4Represents trade unions, employers,
farmers, consumers etc
4Advises on new EU laws and policies
4Promotes the involvement of
civil society in EU matters

The Committee of the Regions:
voice of local government
344 members
4Represents cities, regions 4Advises on new EU laws and policies
4Promotes the involvement of local government in EU matters