European Union Totally Explained

The European Union (EU) is a unique political and economic community with supranational and intergovernmental dimensions. It is composed of twenty-seven member states primarily located in Europe. In 1957, six European countries formed the European Economic Community (EEC) by the Treaty of Rome. Since then the EU has grown in size through the accession of new member states and has increased its powers by the addition of new policy areas to its remit. In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty established the base of the current legal framework.
   The EU created a single market which seeks to guarantee the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital between member states. It maintains a common trade policy, agricultural and fisheries policies, and a regional development policy. In 1999 the EU introduced a common currency, the euro, which has been adopted by thirteen member states. It has also developed a role in foreign policy, and in justice and home affairs. Passport control and customs checks between many member states were abolished under the Schengen Agreement.
   With almost 500 million citizens the EU generates an estimated nominal GDP of €11.6 ($16.5) trillion in 2007. One such attempt to unite Europeans was the European Coal and Steel Community which, while having the modest aim of centralised control of the previously national coal and steel industries of the its member states, was declared to be "a first step in the federation of Europe". The founding members of the Community were Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and West Germany.
   Two additional communities were created 1957: the European Economic Community (EEC) establishing a Customs Union, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for cooperation in nuclear energy.
   In 1973 the European Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. In 1979 the first direct, democratic, elections of members of the European Parliament were held. Greece, Spain and Portugal joined in the 1980s. In 1985 the Schengen Agreement was developed between European states to allow for the abolition of systematic border controls between the participating countries. In 1986 the European flag was adopted and leaders signed the Single European Act which was to reduce trade barriers and introduce European Political Cooperation. In 1990 after the fall of the iron curtain, the former East Germany bacame part of the Community as part of a newly reunited Germany. With enlargement toward eastern Europe on the agenda, the Copenhagen Criteria for candidate members to join the European Union were agreed.
   The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force on 1 November 1993. In 1995 Austria, Sweden and Finland joined the newly established EU. The Amsterdam Treaty, which was signed in 1997, amended the Maastricht treaty in areas such as democracy and foreign policy. Amsterdam was followed by the Treaty of Nice in 2001, which revised the Rome and Maastricht treaties to allow the EU to cope with further enlargement to the east. In 2002 euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. In 2004 ten new countries (eight of which had formerly been communist countries) joined the EU.
   Later in 2004, the European Constitution was signed in Rome. It was to replace all previous treaties with a single document, however it never completed ratification after rejection by French and Dutch voters in referenda. In 2007, it was agreed to replace that proposal with a new Reform Treaty, that would amend rather than replace the existing treaties. At the start of 2007 Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU and the euro was adopted by Slovenia. The total territory of the EU is the seventh largest territory in the world by area. The landscape, climate and economy of the EU are heavily influenced by its long coastline, which is long. The EU has the second longest coastline, after Canada. The combined member states of the EU's share land borders with 21 non-member states for a total of, the fifth longest border in the world.
   Some parts of member countries are not part of the EU. This is the sometimes the case even when these territories are part of the European continent. Examples include the Channel Islands and Faroe Islands. Several territories associated with member states that are outside geographic Europe are also not part of the EU (such as Greenland, Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles and all the non-European territories associated with the United Kingdom). On the other hand, some overseas territories are formally part of the EU even if they're not geographically part of Europe, such as the Azores, the Canary Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Madeira, Martinique and Réunion.
   When the overseas territories of member states are included, the EU includes most types of climate from Arctic to tropical, rendering meteorological averages for the EU as a whole meaningless. In practice, the majority of the population lives either in areas with a Mediterranean climate (Southern Europe), a temperate maritime climate (Western Europe), or a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate (Eastern Europe).

Member states

The European Union currently has 27 member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. There are currently three official candidate countries, Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. In addition the western Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are officially recognised as potential candidates.
   To join the EU, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 Copenhagen European Council. These require a stable democracy which respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy capable of competition within the EU; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. Evaluation of a country's fulfilment of the criteria rests with the European Council.
   A number of Western European countries who have chosen not to join the EU have nevertheless been partly integrated into the EU's economy. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are a part of the EU's market through the European Economic Area while Switzerland has similar ties through bilateral treaties. The microstates' relationships include use of the euro and other co-operation. In 2007, the Polish government sought to build a motorway through the Rospuda valley, but the Commission has been blocking construction as the valley is a wildlife area covered by the programme.
   The REACH directive was a piece of EU legislation designed to ensure that 30,000 chemicals in daily use are tested for their safety. In 2006, toxic waste spill off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, from a European ship, prompted the Commission to look into legislation regarding toxic waste. With members such as Spain now having criminal laws against shipping toxic waste, the Commission proposed to create criminal sentences for "ecological crimes". Although the Commission's right to propose criminal law was contested, it was confirmed in this case by the Court of Justice.
   The EU was involved in the development of the Kyoto protocol and signed it alongside its member states. One way it has sought to counter climate change was by creating the Emissions Trading Scheme, the world's biggest multinational environmental trading scheme. The EU is also involved in trying to secure a post-Kyoto deal. It is also planned that by 2020, 10% of all automobiles should run on biofuels.

Governance

The political leadership in the EU is derived from the European Council which consisting in two senior politicians from each member state (normally the prime and foreign ministers). It usually meets four times a year. It is headed by a rotating presidency, with every member state taking the helm of the EU for a period of six months during which they chair all meetings of the European Council and the Council of ministers. The head of Government of the member state holding the presidency becomes the President of the European Union. The member state holding the presidency typically uses it to drive a particular policy agenda such as economic reform, reform of the EU itself, enlargement or furthering European integration.
   The EU is governed by a number of institutions, primarily the Council of the European Union the European Commission, and European Parliament. The Commission acts as the EU's executive arm and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the EU. It is currently composed of 27 commissioners, one from each member state. The President of the Commission and all the other commissioners are nominated by the Council. The President and then the Commission in its entirety, need to be confirmed by Parliament.
   The Council of the European Union (also known as the Council of Ministers, and not be confused with the European Council) forms one half of the EU's legislative branch. It is composed of the national ministers responsible for the area of policy being addressed. In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
   The other half of the EU's legislative branch is the European Parliament. The 785 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years. Although members of parliament are elected in on a national basis, they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Parliament has near-equal legislative powers with the Council in Community matters and has the power to reject or censure the Commission. The speaker of the Parliament, its president, and is elected by MEPs every two and a half years.

Politics

The EU is often described as being divided into three "pillars". Under this conception the European Community, upon which the EU was founded, forms the first pillar of the EU. The second pillar consists of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The third pillar originally consisted of Justice and Home Affairs, however owing to changes introduced by the Amsterdam and Nice treaties, it currently only consists of Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters. Broadly speaking, the second and third pillars can be described as the intergovernmental pillars because the supranational institutions of the Commission, Parliament and the Court of Justice play less of a role or none at all, while the lead is taken by the intergovernmental Council (of ministers) and the European Council. Most activities of the EU come under the first, Community pillar. This is mostly economically orientated and the same supranational institutions which are, more or less, excluded from the second and third pillars, have more influence.
The political leadership in the EU is derived from the European Council, consisting of the leaders of each country. The council is currently headed by a rotating presidency, in person the leader of the president country. Enlargement, the accession of new states to the EU, is a highly politicised issue. Supporters argue it aids democracy in new members, as well as supporting the European economy as a whole. Opponents fear the EU is expanding beyond its current political capabilities, and/or cultural boundaries. Public opinion, and hence political party viewpoint, has been in increased opposition since the simultaneous accession of 10 members in 2004. This is most acute in relation to the candidacy of Turkey. Integration is another political issue, where national interest in the public view often collides with EU interest. This is caused by the increasing harmonisation between states due to powers having been transferred to European level. This is criticised by eurosceptics who fear the loss of national sovereignty. In 2004 the European Constitution was signed by government leaders. However it didn't come into force after it was rejected in referenda in two states.
In October 2007 European leaders finalised a new Lisbon Treaty which contains much of the now defunct constitution, without the latter's constitutional baggage. It is expected to come into force in 2009. If ratified the treaty will introduce more majority voting in the Council and insrease the powers of the European Parliament. The treaty also proposes to abolsh the EU's pillar system. More aspects of foreign policy will now be subject to the supranational, as opposed to intergovernmental, institutions.

Legal system

The EU is based on a series of treaties. These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties. These are power giving treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislation which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants. National courts are required to enforce the EU treaties and the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore their national law and constitution.
EU legislation (other than the treaties themselves) comes in two forms: directives and regulations. Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them free to choose how to achieve that result. One of the main advantages being that policy choices can be made at a European leaving while leaving the details of their implementation to national governments. Regulations are legislative acts which become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures to have been taken. Once in force their contents automatically override conflicting domestic provisions. A common feature of the EU's legislative procedures, however, is that almost all legislation must be proposed by the Commission, rather than member states or European parliamentarians. The two most common procedures are co-decision, under which the European Parliament can veto proposed legislation, and consultation, under which Parliament is only permitted to give an opinion which can, subsequently, be ignored by European leaders.
The judicial branch of the EU consists of the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance. Together they interpret and apply the treaties and the law of the EU. The Court of First Instance mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts. While the Court of Justice deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions and cases referred to the EU's courts by the courts of member states. Decisions from the Court of First Instance can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on a point of law.

Foreign relations

The foreign relations of the EU are primarily dealt with through the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Co-operation in international trade negotiations, under the Common Commercial Policy, dates back to the establishment of the Community in 1957. The CFSP itself has its origins in the formation of European Political Co-operation in 1970. European Political Co-operation was an informal consultation process between member states on foreign policy matters, with the aim of forming common policies. It was formally introduced into the then European Community by the Single European Act and subsequently renamed as the "Common Foreign and Security Policy" by the Maastricht Treaty.
   The Amsterdam Treaty created the office of the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (currently held by Javier Solana) to co-ordinate the EU's foreign policy. The High Representative, in conjunction with the current Presidency, speaks on behalf of the EU in foreign policy matters and can have the task of articulating ambiguous policy positions created by disagreements among member states. The Common Foreign and Security Policy requires unanimity among the now 27 member states on the appropriate policy to follow on any particular policy. The unanimity and difficult issues treated under the CFSP makes disagreements, such as those which occurred over the war in Iraq, are not uncommon.
   Besides the emerging international policy of the European Union, the international influence of the EU is also felt through the enlargement. The potential benefits of becoming a member of the EU act as an incentive for both political and economic reform in states wishing to fulfil the EU's accession criteria, and are considered a major factor contributing to the reform and stabilisation of former Communist countries in Eastern Europe. Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, cited the common foreign policy as a factor why Finland is, de facto, no longer a neutral country. It isn't known if this view is shared by the leaders of the other neutral countries in the EU.
   Besides its own foreign and security policy, the Commission is also gaining greater representation in international bodies. Representation in international bodies is primarily through the European Commissioner for External Relations, who works along side the High Representative. In the UN the EU has gained influence in areas such as aid due to its large contributions in that field (see below). In the G8, the EU has the rights of membership besides that of chairing/hosting summit meetings. The EU is represented at the G8 by the presidents of the Commission and the Council. In the World Trade Organisation (WTO), where all 27 member states are represented, the EU as a body is represented by Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.

Humanitarian aid

The European Community humanitarian aid office, or "ECHO", provides humanitarian aid from the EU to developing countries. In 2006 its budget amounted to 671 million euro, 48% of which went to the ACP countries. Counting the EU's own contributions and those of its member states together, the EU is the largest aid donor in the world.
The EU's aid has previously been criticised by the think-tank Open Europe for being inefficient, mis-targeted and linked to economic objectives. Furthermore, some charities have claimed European governments have inflated the amount they've spent on aid by incorrectly including money spent on debt relief, foreign students, and refugees. Under the de-inflated figures, the EU didn't reach its internal aid target in 2006 and the EU wouldn't reach the international target of 0.7% of GNP until 2015. However only a few countries have reached that target. In 2005 EU aid was 0.34% of the GNP which was higher than that of the United States and Japan. The current commissioner for aid, Louis Michel, has called for aid to be delivered more rapidly, to greater effect, and on humanitarian principles.
Following the Kosovo war in 1999, the European Council agreed that "the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and the readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO." To that end, a number of efforts were made to increase the EU's military capability, notably the Helsinki Headline Goal process. After much discussion, the most concrete result was the EU Battlegroups initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 men each. EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from Africa to the former Yugoslavia and the middle east. EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, satellite centre and the military staff.

Demographics

City	City limits (2006)	Density/km² (city limits)	Urban area (2005)	LUZ (2001)
Berlin	3,405,000	3,815	3,761,000	4,935,524
London	7,512,400	4,761	9,332,000	11,624,807
Madrid	3,228,359	5,198	4,858,000	5,372,433
Paris	2,153,600	24,672	9,928,000	10,952,011
Rome	2,705,603	2,105	2,867,000	3,700,424

The combined population of all 27 member countries was approximately 493 million in 2006. There is some increase in population expected, primarily due to net immigration, present in most European countries.
The EU's population is 7.3% of the world total, yet the EU covers just 3% of the earth's land, amounting to a population density of 114/km² making the EU one of the most densely populated regions of the world. Eighty percent of EU citizens live in an urban area and a third live in cities of over a million people. The EU is home to more global cities than any other region in the world and 16 cities with populations of over one million (using city proper figures).
Besides many large cities, the EU also includes several densely populated regions that have no single core but have emerged from the connection of several cites and are now encompassing large metropolitan areas. The largest are Rhine-Ruhr having approximately 10.5 million inhabitants (Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf et al.), Randstad approx. 7 million (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht et al.), Frankfurt Rhine Main Area approx. 5.8 million (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden et al.) and the Upper Silesian Industry Area approx. 3.5 million. (Katowice, Sosnowiec et al.).

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