COMENIUS PROJECT Building the future on the foundations of the past : comparing local architecture EUROPEAN UNION HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY AND MORE

COMENIUS PROJECT

Building the future on the foundations of the past :

comparing local architecture

EUROPEAN UNION

HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY AND MORE

ZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 5 TYCHY


2007-01-01, EU ENLARGEMENT• Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU

• Now the EU includes 27 countries


EUROPEAN UNION

• a family of democratic European countries;• not a State intended to replace existing state;• more than any other international organization;• Member states:

– set up common institutions

– delegate some of their sovereignty

• More than an economic organization or trading bloc;• Three pillars (or spheres) of activities:

– trade and economic matters,– justice and home affairs,– foreign and security policy.


OUTLINE

• How and why did the EU emerge?

• What are its main decision-making bodies?

• Progress of European integration

– bursts of growth

– broadening (add new members)

– deepening (add new powers)

– stagnation, doubts, and criticisms


• Destruction of World War II,

• 1950-05-09 “Europe Day”,

• Schuman (Fr.) proposed an organized Europe to maintain peace.

„EUROPE DAY” (1950)


EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY6 members: Belgium, West Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy,

and the Netherlands


EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY• Same 6 countries as in ECSC

• Treaties of Rome (1957)

– European Atomic Energy Community

– European Economic Community

– remove trade barriers

– form common market


MERGE OF 3 COMMUNITIES (1967)

• 1967, executives of ECSC, EURATOM, and EEC were merged,

• one single Commission,

• one single Council of Ministers,

• European Parliament:

– members chosen by national parliaments

– directly elected every 5 years since 1979,


ENLARGEMENT (1973 - 1995)• 1973 - Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom

• 1981 - Greece

• 1986 - Spain and Portugal

• 1995 - Austria, Finland, and Sweden


CREATION OF EUROPEAN UNION

• Treaty on European Union was signed in Maastricht in 1992,

• add to the existing “Community” system,

• inter-government cooperation between member states:

– justice and home affairs

– foreign and security policy


SINGLE MARKET• free movement of

– goods

– services

– people

– and capital

• formally completed by January 1, 1993

• passport and customs checks were abolished at most of the internal borders


SINGLE CURRENCY

• Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)

– exchange rate stability

– interest rates, the budget deficit, the inflation rate, and the debt-to-GDP ratio

• When the euro was launched in 1999, the European Central Bank (ECB) took over full responsibility for monetary policy throughout the euro area


MONETARY UNION: STAGE III

• European Central Bank be set up

• exchange rates between participating currencies be fixed once and for all

• single currency be introduced for the administrations and the banks

• coins and notes of the single currency be in circulation on January 1, 2002 at the latest



INTRODUCTION OF THE EURO 2002-01-01


EU ENLARGEMENT

• Three main criteria that countries have to meet before being eligible to begin negotiations to join the EU (1997)

– establishment of a functioning and stable democratic regime

– market-oriented capitalist economy

– acceptance of the 80,000 pages of laws and regulations already on the EU’s books

• Ten countries joined the EU in 2004


EU ENLARGEMENT

• former communist countries

– Poland, Hungry, Czech, Slovakia, & Slovenia

• former Soviet republics

– Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

• Mediterranean islands

– Cyprus and Malta

• Two countries joined the EU in 2007



EU APPLICANT COUNTRIES

• Two candidate countries

– Turkey and Croatia

– Entry negotiations formally began in 2005

• An application for membership submitted by Macedonia was formally accepted by EU leaders in 2005

• The EU is now looking at further enlargements in the Western Balkans


OTHER PROBLEMS

• Few people identify themselves first as European.

• Key EU organizations are still superficial

• Democratic deficit

• Lack of common language

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COMENIUS PROJECT Building the future on the foundations of the past : comparing local architecture EUROPEAN UNION HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY AND MORE