European Union A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EU

European Union

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EU The European Union has gone through many incarnations since its origins fifty-plus years ago.

European Coal and Steel Community *1952: The basis of the EU began with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), to regulate European industry & improve commerce, post WWII. * The six founding states were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands. *1957: the Treaties of Rome were signed by the six member states, forming: -The European Economic Community (EEC) -The European Atomic Energy Community (Euroatom) * These units worked concurrently with the ECSC.

n 1967: ECSC, EEC, and Euro. Atom merged to form the basis of the EC. n 1973: the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Ireland joined the EC. n 1981: Greece joined. n 1986: Spain and Portugal joined. n 1995: Finland, Sweden, and Austria joined. The European Community

Goals of the EC n To continue to improve Europe’s economy by regulating trade and commerce. n To form a single market for Europe's economic resources. n As these goals were accomplished, other goals were developed: n n n Environmental movements Regulatory acts Human rights concerns.

THE EUROPEAN UNION 1992: the Maastricht Treaty was ratified, which rechartered the EC as the European Union.

Basis of the EU The European Union is based on the rule of law and democracy. It is neither a new State replacing existing ones nor is it comparable to other international organisations. Its Member States delegate sovereignty to common institutions representing the interests of the Union as a whole on questions of joint interest. All decisions and procedures are derived from the basic treaties ratified by the Member States.

Principal Objects of the EU n Establish European Citizenship n Ensure freedom, security, and justice n Promote economic and social progress n Assert Europe’s role in the world

The EU is run by five institutions, each playing a specific role: n European Parliament – elected by the peoples of the Member States n Council of the Union – composed of the governments of the Member States n European Commission – driving force and executive body n Court of Justice – compliance with the law n Court of Auditors – sound and lawful management of the EU budget

European Parliament n Members elected every 5 years – 625 members as of July 2003 n Three essential functions: – Legislate laws along w/ Council – Budget authority along w/ Council – Supervision of Commission n http: //www. europarl. eu. int/home/default_en. htm

Council of the EU n Composed of the head of each member country (Prime Minster/President, etc) & the President of the EU Commission – 1 Minister acts as President, rotating twice yearly – 2 meetings a year, in President’s country n Main decision making body of the EU n Responsibilities – Legislation & budgetary policies along w/ Parliament – Economic policies – International agreements n http: //ue. eu. int/en/summ. htm

European Commission n Embodies and upholds the general interest of the Union. n 20 members: 1 President, 2 vice-Presidents & 17 Commissioners – Elected every 5 years by the Member States after they have been approved by the European Parliament. n As the EU’s executive body, it: – Drafts legislation for Parliament & Council; Implements legislation – Guardian of treaties, along with Court of Justice – Represents EU internationally – Manages the 15 EU agencies n n http: //europa. eu. int/agencies/index_en. htm http: //europa. eu. int/comm/index_en. htm

President of the EU n President is appointed (not elected) by the EU Council for a 5 -year term and confirmed by Parliament. n Romano Prodi (Italy), – Confirmed Sept. 1999; His term ends 2004 – Former law/political science professor with many academic publications n Commissioners: – http: //europa. eu. int/commissioners/index_en. htm

Court of Justice n 15 judges and 8 advocate generals appointed by member states for 6 year terms. n The Court of Justice ensures that Community law is uniformly interpreted and effectively applied. n It has jurisdiction in disputes involving Member States, EU institutions, businesses and individuals n http: //curia. eu. int/en/index. htm

The EU Headquarters n Brussels, Belgium n Selected as the headquarters of the European Union because of its centralized location in Europe.

CURRENT EU ISSUES 1. Enlargement: *Ten countries set to join the EU in 2004. 2. The Euro: *The Common Currency for the EU Countries 3. Multilingualism: *11 official languages for 15 countries, soon to be 25 4. Openness, Access and Transparency: *How to get the documents to the people? 5. Safety & security of Europe: *Against terrorism

15 CURRENT EU COUNTRIES n n n n Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg The Netherlands Portugal Spain Sweden United Kingdom

ENLARGEMENT: 10 more countries to become EU Member States in 2004 country - date of EU application n Cyprus - 3 July 1990 Malta - 16 July 1990 n Hungary - 31 March 1994 n Poland - 5 April 1994 n Slovakia - 27 June 1995 n Latvia - 13 October 1995 n Estonia - 24 November 1995 n Lithuania - 8 December 1995 n Czech Republic - 17 January 1996 n Slovenia - 10 June 1996 n

Applicant Countries whose requests for EU membership are still pending country - date of EU application n Turkey - 14 April 1987 n Romania - 22 June 1995 n Bulgaria - 14 December 1995

NORWAY? n Norway has never been a member of the EU, but is ‘partners’ with EU for certain economic reasons. n Their economy has historically been very good and they had no desire to ‘merge’ with lesser economies. n As of 2002, the Norwegian economy began to decline. There is a now a developing majority of Norwegian that want Norway to join the EU.

SWITZERLAND? n Switzerland has never been a member of the EU, but is ‘partners’ with EU for certain economic reasons. n Switzerland Just joined UN in 2002. n Swiss Government want Switzerland to join for economic reasons but the Swiss people continue to vote against joining the EU.

THE EURO n The euro – Europe's new single currency - represents the consolidation and culmination of European economic integration. n Its introduction on January 1, 1999, marked the final phase of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), a three-stage process that was launched in 1990 as EU member states prepared for the 1992 single market.

The EURO Early 1990’s n 1990: Aimed at boosting crossborder business activity, the first stage of EMU lifted restrictions on movements of capital across internal EU borders. n 1994: The European Monetary Institute was established in Frankfurt to pave the way for the European Central Bank. n 1999: the Euro was introduced as the single currency for eleven EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.

The EURO 1999 -Present n 1999 -2002: The Euro and the previous national currencies were concurrently used in participating states. n 2002: The participating countries had their previous national currencies withdrawn permanently as legal tender. n EU member states not yet using the Euro as currency: Denmark, Greece, Sweden, United Kingdom

What Does it Take to qualify for Membership in the EU: 1. The candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. 2. The candidate country has the existence of a functioning market economy, as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. 3. The candidate country has the ability to take on the obligations of membership, including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union.

EU PUBLICATIONS * The EU publishes on a multitude of topics in a variety of formats. Statistics, parliamentary reports, current events, debate, regulations, and news items all fall within the range of EU publication topics. *The type of publications includes periodicals, monographs, and annuals. *The format of publications is either paper, fiche or electronic, with Internet being heavily utilized since 2000.

Types of Publications n EU publications fall into a number of EU-specific categories: Green Papers, White Papers, Bulletins, Communications, Reports, Memorandum, and Press Releases. n The main division of these items is between General Information and Official Documents.

EUROPA THE SERVER FOR THE EU Born: Name: Parents: 1995 europa. eu. int EU-institutions Characteristic: Portal to all EU institution and bodies Mult-lingual (11 official languages) 37 million visitors per month 1. 5 million documents consulted daily 1. 3 million documents available Purpose: – Openness and transparancy – Give citizens access to information – Involve as many as possible in the decision makingprocess

http: //www. europa. eu. int/ n n n “One-stop Shopping” Fully searchable Divided into six main areas: – – – ABC News Activities Institutions Official Documents Information Sources

EUROPEAN UNION DEPOSITORIES n The European Union has a long standing tradition of maintaining European Documentation Centers (EDCs) throughout the EU member countries, with a total of 275 EDCs world-wide. n The EU presently supports over fifty depositories in the United States. n The earliest of these depositories were established with the creation of the ECSC in the 1950’s.

EU Depositories Holdings *Depositories and EDCs automatically receive one copy of a majority of EU produced items free of charge, in the designated language. * The only items that are not part of this agreement are the Technical Reports and the Press Materials issued by the Commission's Offices located outside of Brussels. *The public can purchase official EU documents from the Office for Official Publications (EU-OP). Purchase requests can be made via the internet. *There is a large cache of free current information on EU web page.

OU has been an EU Depository since 1973 n The EC/EU items were originally housed in the closed stacks of the Government Documents Collection, under the EU call number. It was useful to have them located in one collection, but difficult to access because of the difficult call numbering system. n In 1993, the EU Documents were moved to the Main Library and cataloged under the LC call number. The resources are now accessible from the main computer, but are scattered through-out the building.

University of Oklahoma EU Center http: //www. ou. edu/eucenter/ n In 2001, OU received a grant from the European Commission, to support a European Union Center for the school. n OU’s EU Center is one of fifteen in the nation.