THETHE EUROPEANEUROPEAN UNIONUNION 28 COUNTRIES??? 500 MILLION PEOPLE

Prof.ssa Daniela Andriulo Closing lesson CONTENTS:CONTENTS:

Why the EU?

How does the EU work?

EU institutions

Founders

New ideas for lasting peace and prosperity…

Konrad Adenauer Alcide De Gasperi

Winston Churchill

Robert Schuman Jean Monnet

To keep peace and stability + economic integration On 9 May 1950: the Schuman Declaration proposed the establishment of a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) which became reality with the

Treaty of Paris of 18 April 1951 The process of a full economic integration was achieved on 25 March 1957:

The Treaty of ROME

EURATOM ( European Atomic Energy Community) +

EEC ( European Economic Community)

DRAMATIC CHANGES IN EUROPE ( 70s/80s/90s) • What happened? THEN: • 1992, Treaty of Maastricht ( also known as the Treaty on European Union - TEU) • EEC does not exist any more • Treaty of Niece amended the previous treaties ( It came into force in 2003) • On 13 December 2007: Lisbon Treaty that replaced the TEU with TFEU Enlargement: from six to 28 countries

1952 1973 1981 1986

1990 1995 2004 2007

Candidate and potential candidate countries

Area Population Wealth (gross domestic product (1000 km²) (million) per person)

Croatia; EU member 2013 56 4.4 15 200

Bosnia and Herzegovina 51 3.8 7 400

Montenegro 13 0.6 10 500

Iceland 100 0.3 28 100

Kosovo under UN Security 11 2.2 : Resolution 1244 The former Yugoslav 25 2.1 9 100 Republic of Macedonia

Albania 27 3.2 6 500

Serbia 77 7.3 8 300

Turkey 770 73.7 13 000

The 27 EU countries 4 234 502 25 200 together

• From the approval to the full membership: • the long accession process The Copenhagen criteria:

- economic/political stability - obligations of membership (under the Community Acquis)

Eurozone ( only 19 countries use

as official currency

people services The Single Market has led to: 4 freedoms of movements

capital goods

HOW DOES THE EU WORK?

• The Eu is more than just a confederation of countries, BUT it is not a federal state.

• Its structure does not fall into any tradition legal category.

• Its decision-making system has been evolving for the past 60 years.

Primary and secondary legislation

• REGULATIONS • DIRECTIVES • RECOMMENDATIONS

• TREATIES (They are binding to the parties who agree on them and sign them)

THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL BRUSSELS ( Palace Europe) CHARLES MICHEL Former P. HERMAN VAN ROMPUY The President (elected by a qualified majority In 2017 DOUBLE MAJORITY SYSTEM)

The very driving force of the Eu. Heads of State or Governments It decides the agenda of Eu policies, or Prime Ministers priorities and guidelines. of all the Member State + President of EU Commission + The President of Eu Council

THE COUNCIL of the Eu (also known as the Council of Ministers)

• Decision-making body (to pass Eu law)* • No permanent composition: it depends on the topic to be discussed • Presidency: rotating-basis

*CO-DECISION PROCEDURE WITH EU PARLIAMENT

Justus Lipsius Palace- Brussels+ Other offices in Luxembourgh THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Directly elected by EU voters every 5 years; it represents the people.

 Parliament is one of the EU’s main law-making institutions, along with the Council of the European Union ( as far as the budget is concerned among others)

20 Committes ( work for plenary sessions held in Strasbourgh or Brussels)

General Secretariat (day-to-day work)are in Luxembourgh and Brussels. The European Parliament has three main roles:

• debating and passing European laws, with the Council

• It exercises democratic supervision over the union

• debating and adopting the EU's budget, with the Council.

THE COMMISSION

1 Commissioner from each country + President + High Representative for Foreign Affairs Executive body: (as Vice President) right of initiative + it drows up proposals for the Eu Legislation

43 DGs for specific areas in Belgium and in other European cities President elected for a 5-year term

THE COURT OF JUSTICE

• Judicial Body

• Interprets Eu laws and ensures their equal application across all Member States

• It is made up of 1 judge per each country + 8 advocates-general

Adenauer Palace – Luxembourgh - THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

MONETARY POLICY Its main task is to mantain price stability in the euro area.

Eurotower – Frankfurt - THE COURT OF AUDITORS

• It checks the Eu expenditures: that the Eu budget has been managed correctly It was set up in 1975 and is based in Luxembourg.

OTHER BODIES

- Appointed by the Council

-Various economic/social The Committee interest groups The European Of Regions Investment Bank (CoR)

The European Economic And Social Committee - Matters of relevance (EESC) - Luxembourgh to the Regions - Provides loans

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

• It is ONLY an international organization • It has nothing to do with the Council / European Council !!!!

-HUMAN RIGHTS -DISCRIMINATION -VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN -ETC.

- Strasbourgh -

( It was born in London in 1949) UNITED IN DIVERSITY…

This is EUROPE!

DO YOU AGREE?