1 The European Union in brief
The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political union between 27 European countries.
The EU that we know today has its roots in several treaties signed in the aftermath of the Second World War. The first step was to foster economic cooperation, based on the idea that countries that trade with one another become economically interdependent and so are more likely to avoid conflict. The result was the European Economic Community, created in 1958 with the initial aim of increasing economic cooperation between six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
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Since then, 22 more countries have joined (the United Kingdom left the EU on 31 January 2020) and a huge single market (also known as the internal market) has been created and continues to develop towards its full potential.
What began as a purely economic union has evolved into an organisation spanning many different policy areas – from climate, environment and health to external relations and security, justice and migration.
The EU has delivered more than half a century of peace, stability and prosperity, helped raise living standards and launched a single European currency: the euro. More than 340 million EU citizens in 19 countries now use it as their currency and enjoy its benefits.
Thanks to the abolition of border controls between most EU countries, people can travel freely throughout most of the continent. It has also become much easier to live and work in another country in Europe. All EU citizens have the right and freedom to choose in which EU country they want to study, work or retire. Every EU country must treat EU citizens in exactly the same way as its own citizens when it comes to matters of employment, social security and tax.
The EU’s main economic engine is the single market. It enables goods, services, money and people to move freely. The EU aims to follow suit in other areas like energy, knowledge and capital markets to ensure that Europeans also obtain the maximum benefit from these resources.
The EU remains focused on making its governing institutions more transparent and democratic. Decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen. More powers have been given to the directly elected European Parliament, while national parliaments play a greater role than before, working alongside the EU institutions.
The EU is governed by the principle of representative democracy, with citizens directly represented at the EU level in the European Parliament and Member States represented in the European Council and the Council of the European Union.
Citizens are encouraged to contribute to the democratic life of the EU by giving their views on EU policies during their development or by suggesting improvements to existing laws and policies. The European Citizens’ Initiative empowers citizens to have a greater say on EU policies that affect their lives. Citizens can also submit complaints and enquiries concerning the application of EU law.
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As enshrined in the Treaty on European Union, ‘The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.’
These values are an integral part of the European way of life. Human dignity constitutes the basis of fundamental rights; it must be respected and protected.
Human rights are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. These cover the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, the right to the protection of your personal data and the right to get access to justice.
In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.
Being an EU citizen also means enjoying political rights. Every adult EU citizen has the right to stand as a candidate for and vote in European Parliamentary elections, whether in their country of residence or country of origin.
The EU is based on the rule of law. All citizens have equal right before the law and everything the EU does is founded on treaties, which are voluntarily and democratically agreed by its member countries. Law and justice are upheld by an independent judiciary. The countries that belong to the EU have given final jurisdiction in matters of EU law to the Court of Justice of the European Union, whose judgments have to be respected by all.
EU Member States and institutions
At the core of the EU are its 27 Member States and their citizens. The unique feature of the EU is that although the Member States all remain sovereign and independent states, they pool together some of their sovereignty in areas where this has an added value.
In practice, this means that the Member States delegate some of their decision-making powers to the shared institutions they have created, so that decisions on specific matters of common interest can be made democratically at the EU level.
Member States of the European Union in 2022
Several institutions are involved in making decisions at the EU level, in particular:
- the European Parliament, which represents EU citizens and is directly elected by them;
- the European Council, which consists of the Heads of State or Government of the EU Member States;
- the Council of the European Union (also called the Council), which represents the governments of the EU Member States; and
- the European Commission, which represents the interests of the EU as a whole.
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The national parliaments of the Member States also play a role in taking decisions and making laws, as do two advisory bodies. These are: the European Committee of the Regions, which consists of representatives of regional and local government; and the European Economic and Social Committee, comprising representatives of employees’ and employers’ organisations and stakeholders’ groups.
Generally, it is the Commission that proposes new laws and the Parliament and the Council that adopt them.
The advisory bodies (the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions) and the national parliaments are involved in the process by providing their opinions on the proposals, mainly from the perspective of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. Subsidiarity means that, except in the areas where it has exclusive powers, the EU only acts where action will be more effective at the EU level than at the national level. Under the principle of proportionality, the EU’s action must be limited to what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the EU treaties.
The Member States and the EU institution or institutions concerned then implement adopted EU laws. The third section of this publication contains more information on how the EU makes decisions, and how it implements them.
The EU treaties
Every action taken by the EU is founded on treaties that have been approved voluntarily and democratically by all EU countries. The treaties lay down the objectives of the EU and set out the rules on how the EU institutions operate, on how decisions are made and on the relationship between the EU and its Member States.
In certain specific cases, not all Member States participate in all areas of EU policy. For example, while the euro is the single currency of the EU as a whole, the euro area currently comprises only 19 Member States, while Denmark has an opt-out and the remaining countries do not yet meet the criteria for joining. 22 Member States are members of the Schengen area, which means people can cross a border between two of these countries without having to show a passport. Five Member States maintain their own border controls.
Looking ahead
Building on the strategic agenda agreed by EU leaders, the von der Leyen Commission set a new and ambitious course towards a greener, more digital and fairer EU when it took office in December 2019.
Today, the EU is responding to the challenges of an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world against the backdrop of two historic world events – the global pandemic, declared in March 2020, and Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. These new threats have required all 27 Member States to work even closer together and to act more swiftly than ever before.
The NextGenerationEU recovery plan, for example, has made the EU better able to withstand COVID-19 and future health emergencies, while strengthening the resilience of EU economies and jobs. In dealing with these crises, the EU has been firmly united – both in its fight against the virus and in its solidarity with Ukraine. What’s more, it has not only held but also accelerated its bold course towards a green and digital future.
The EU not only depends on the solidarity and collaborative efforts of its Member States, it also seeks the input and encourages the participation of its citizens. A recent example of this is the Conference on the Future of Europe. The citizen-centred initiative, which kicked off in spring 2021 and ran for 1 year, saw hundreds of thousands of people from all over the EU come together to discuss what matters to them as Europeans. The EU institutions will now examine and respond to proposals from the conference.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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