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EUROPEAN COMMISSION MEMO Brussels / Helsinki, 12 October 2012 Joint statement of José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council on the award of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the EU "It is a tremendous honour for the European Union to be awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. This Prize is the strongest possible recognition of the deep political motives behind our Union: the unique effort by ever more European states to overcome war and divisions and to jointly shape a continent of peace and prosperity. It is a Prize not just for the project and the institutions embodying a common interest, but for the 500 million citizens living in our Union. At its origins the European Union brought together nations emerging from the ruins of devastating World Wars – which originated on this continent – and united them in a project for peace. Over the last sixty years, the European Union has reunified a continent split by the Cold War around values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. These are also the values that the European Union promotes in order to make the world a better place for all. The European Union will continue to promote peace and security in the countries close to us and in the world at large. We are proud that the European Union is the world's largest provider of development assistance and humanitarian aid and is at the forefront of global efforts to fight climate change and promote global public goods. This Nobel Peace Prize shows that in these difficult times the European Union remains an inspiration for leaders and citizens all over the world." MEMO/12/779 .

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EUROPEAN UNION the EU Celebrates the Awarding of the 2012
EUROPEAN UNION Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Lebanon Beirut, 6 December 2012 Press Release The EU celebrates the awarding of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize with Lebanese youth On the occasion of the awarding of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union and to celebrate International and European Human Rights Day, the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Lebanese University are organising a panel debate on the topic of "Peace and Reconciliation". The event will take place on Monday 10 December at the Lebanese University Central Administration in presence of Ambassadors of the EU Member States, representatives of the Justice and Human Rights Parliamentary Committees, students and academics, civil society and media. The Nobel Prize Committee has decided to award the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union for over six decades' contribution to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. The award ceremony takes place in Oslo on 10 December, where the President of the European Council Herman Von Rompuy, the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz will receive the prize. Four young Europeans, winners of the online contest on the subject of "Peace" organised by the European Union, will be joining the delegation of the EU in Oslo to collect the award. The European Union will give the award money (€930 000) to projects supporting children who are victims of war and conflicts. The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon has also chosen to engage with youth to celebrate the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.
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The European Union Nobel Peace Prize: a Legacy to Be Shared by John Gatt-Rutter, EU Representative – (West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNRWA)
The European Union Nobel Peace Prize: a legacy to be shared By John Gatt-Rutter, EU Representative – (West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNRWA) The news of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the European Union came as a surprise to many. The Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision is a clear reflection of what the EU has achieved internally. Today four young European children are attending the award-winning ceremony in Oslo; a symbolic representation of the 500 million citizens of our Union to whom the prize goes to. It is an opportunity to reflect on a reality that the generation of these children take as a matter of course: living in peace and security. The European Union is a group of nations and a group of diverse people; initially not always well-disposed towards each other. Over our 60 years history we have managed to create a historic example of cooperation based on a serious attempt to reconcile, defend human rights and spread the values of peace and democracy across the continent. The Union was created in the aftermath of a devastating war. The first steps were to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that countries who trade with one another become economically interdependent and so more likely to avoid conflict. Over a seventy-year period Germany had fought three wars with the 'arch-enemy' France. Today a war between Germany and France is simply unthinkable. The solid Franco-German reconciliation lies at the heart of the EU's peace project. The ceremony falls on the International and European Human Rights Day.
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A united, open and stronger Europe José Manuel Barroso is President of the European Commission “When you find yourself in a storm, the only way out is to stay true to your course. The one thing you don’t do is change direction.” (Jean Monnet) urope has witnessed an unprecedented period of that many of Europe’s member states were living beyond their change in the five years since this European Commission means and lacked competitiveness. And whilst our economies took office. The financial crisis evolved into a sovereign were deeply interdependent, we lacked the strong governance debt crisis, an economic crisis and a social crisis, tearing framework to prevent unsound policies or to handle the crisis Edown barriers between European and national politics. when it hit. Over the past 5 years, the Commission has been a driving force behind the initiatives to put this right. In this time of change, business as usual was no longer an option. If the five years before the start of this Commission were Today, Europe is protecting citizens and taxpayers through defined by constitutional issues that were formally settled by necessary stronger regulation that guarantees savings, makes the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty, then these 5 years have banks more responsible and limits bankers’ risk-taking. We been shaped by the threat of the financial and sovereign debt brought fairness back into the system. And we have taken the crisis. In the face of these challenges, we can all be extremely decisive step – unthinkable before the crisis – to create a Banking proud that we have kept Europe united, open and made it Union.
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48 Cosmopolitan Europe Postcolonial interventions and global transitions Sandra Ponzanesi Is the notion of Cosmopolitan Europe an oxymoron? How can we think of a borderless world when, despite its supranational status, Europe still clings to its fortified external borders and is undergoing a revamping of internal national identities? Both terms included in the proposed oxymoron are highly contested. Europe – whether we want to define it as a geographical space, a cultural identity or a political entity – is still subject to many ambivalences, disagreements and disputes. “Where does Europe begin and where does it end?” asks Stuart Hall (2003 : 36); “Is Europe a dead political project?” questions Étienne Balibar provocatively ( 2010 ) or is Europe “an unfinished adventure”, as Bauman (2004 ) puts it more utopically? In his essay “‘In but not of Europe’: Europe and its Myths”, Stuart Hall quotes critic C.L.R. James’s position towards Europe, which was one of “he was in but not of it”. He concluded that he was formed by a relationship of “colonial dependency, subalternity and ‘otherness’ to Europe” ( Hall 2003: 36). Hall has dedicated a lot of attention to the diasporic roots of Europe, and had accounted for the result of this process as producing “cultures of hybridity”, since cultural iden- tities are emerging while in transition, drawing on different traditions but resisting wholesale assimilation ( Hall 1992 ). Whether we want to define Europe as an identity, a political project, a financial unit or a securitized bulwark, the oft-recited mantra of ‘Fortress Europe’ being predicated upon the motto of ‘Unity in Diversity’ rests on a profound ambivalence: whose unity and whose diversity is being addressed? What are the paradigms of universalism and difference that are being invoked? Cosmopolitanism is as controversial and as contested a term as the notion of Europe.
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Guide for Americans”
EUintheUS.org Contents Chapter One 1 Introducing the European Union 2 Chapter Two 2 How Is the EU Run? A Unique Governing System 6 Chapter Three 3 The EU-U.S. Partnership 13 Chapter Four 4 Economic and Monetary Union and the Euro 18 Editor’s Notes The entry into force of the European Union’s The term “European Union” (EU) is used in Chapter Five Treaty of Lisbon, in December 2009, ushered this brochure whenever appropriate. Other 5 European Enlargement and in a more efficient, more democratic, more terms, such as “European Community” and the European Neighborhood: transparent, more united, and more secure EU “European Coal and Steel Community”, are than ever before. The treaty’s provisions have used when the historical context is appropriate Europe Whole and Free 21 modernized the EU’s operations, reinforced its or to describe the statutory functions of bod- capacity to take action, enhanced democratic ies that still have legal identities within the EU. Chapter Six processes within the EU, and given the EU a 6 The EU on the World Stage – single voice in external relations. All information regarding EU institutions, Policies, Tools, and Global Relationships 26 policies, and programs is the most recent avail- The evolution brought about by the Treaty of able at the time of publication. For updated in- Chapter Seven Lisbon is only one of the many aspects of the formation, please consult www.euintheus.org, 7 European Union covered by this “Guide for the website of the Delegation of the European Signature EU Policies 38 Americans.” It also outlines the growth of the Union to the United States.
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The EU Should Consolidate Its Enlargement Process Steven Blockmans 8 November 2012
The Prize is more Peace: The EU should consolidate its enlargement process Steven Blockmans 8 November 2012 or its contribution “to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe” over six decades the European Union has been awarded the F 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. This is a magnificent honour and a much-needed boost for an integration project that is bedevilled by economic crisis and deep-seated political and social unrest. The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision could be interpreted as a signal to breathe new life into the EU enlargement agenda, indisputably the Union’s peace project par excellence. What started out as a post-World War II project to pacify erstwhile rivals France and Germany has pushed the boundaries of the zone of peace outwards so as to embrace almost the entire continent. It has seen the incorporation of post-dictatorial Greece, Spain and Portugal, and the re-unification with post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. But the accession of Bulgaria and Romania has taken the Schwung out of the EU enlargement process and cast doubt on the strength of its transformative power. Accession talks with Turkey have ground to a halt, despite the Commission’s efforts to launch a positive agenda. For Bosnia-Herzegovina, pre-accession conditionality also fails to inspire; successive ‘progress reports’ by the European Commission read as ‘stagnation reports’. And for the fourth year running, the Council has been held back by Greece from taking a decision on opening accession negotiations with (the Former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia until the dispute over the country’s official name is resolved.
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Eu Myths and Success Stories
www.mega.bupnet.eu EU MYTHS AND SUCCESS STORIES The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.mega.bupnet.eu INTRODUCTION What is an EU myth? EU myth or euromyth usually refers to invented stories or distorted facts about the European Union (EU) and the activities of its institutions. The EU is accused of nonsensical EU legislation, bureaucracy and all difficulties and challenges arising from global trends. Why should we talk about EU myths and check the real facts? As European Union constantly faces different manifestations of Europhobia, unmasking EU myths becomes more and more important to keep the EU united. Web-based communication and social media take a significant part in today’s Eurosceptic mobilization. Facts checking help not only to unmask the EU myths but as well to better understand the EU processes. What is MEGA project? MEGA project stands for Make Europe Great Again and is a two-year project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme (project number 2019-3-DE04-KA205- 018681) that aims at enhancing critical thinking and media literacy of young people by analysing and unmasking Europhobic myths. The project partnership is coordinated by the German Adult Education provider BUPNET GmbH based in Göttingen and consists of partners from Austria, Cyprus, France, Italy and Lithuania. Compilation of the EU myths (fake news) and success stories consists of 145 of the most common EU myths along with the explanations with facts and useful links where correct information can be found and 60 success stories along with shortcomings of the EU.
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