European Union

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe.^[7] The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), formed bysix countries in 1958. In the intervening years the EU has grown in size by the accession of new member states, and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union under its current name in 1993.^[8] The last amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009.

The EU operates through a hybrid system of supranational independent institutions andintergovernmentally made decisions negotiated by the member states.^[9][10][11] Importantinstitutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens.

The EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws which apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area (which includes EU and non-EU states) passport controls have been abolished.^[12] EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital,^[13] enacts legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintains common policies on trade,^[14] agriculture,^[15] fisheries and regional development.^[16] A monetary union, the eurozone, was established in 1999 and is currently composed of 17 member states. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy the EU has developed a limited role in external relations and defence. Permanent diplomatic missions have been established around the world and the EU is represented at the United Nations, the WTO, theG8 and the G-20.

With a combined population of over 500 million inhabitants,^[17] the EU generated a nominalGDP of 16,242 trillion U.S. dollars in 2010 which represents an estimated 20% of global GDP when measured in terms of purchasing power parity).^[18]

[ [edit] Member states

Main article: Member State of the European Union

See also: Special Member State territories and the European Union, Enlargement of the European Union, Future enlargement of the European Union, and Withdrawal from the European Union

The member states of the European Union (European Communities pre-1993), animated in order of accession. Only territories in and around Europe are shown. Albania Czech І celand Mont. Slovenia Austria Rep. Ireland Netherlands Spain Belarus Denmark Italy Norway Sweden Belgium Estonia Latvia Poland Switzerland Bos. Finland Lithuania Portugal Turkey & Herz. France Luxembourg Romania Ukraine Bulgaria Germany Mac. Russia United Kingdom Croatia Greece Malta→ Serbia Cyprus Hungary Moldova Slovakia

The European Union is composed of 27 sovereign 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 theUnited Kingdom.^[41] The Union's membership has grown from the original six founding states—Belgium, France, (then-West) Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands—to the present day 27 by successive enlargements as countries acceded to the treaties and by doing so, pooled their sovereignty in exchange for representation in the institutions.^[42] To join the EU a country must meet theCopenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 Copenhagen European Council. These require a stable democracy that 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 is the responsibility of the European Council.^[43] No member state has ever left the Union, although Greenland (anautonomous province of Denmark) withdrew in 1985.^[44] The Lisbon Treaty now provides a clause dealing with how a member leaves the EU.^[45]

There are five official candidate countries, Croatia, Iceland,Macedonia,^{[nb 4][46]} Montenegro and Turkey. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are officially recognised as potential candidates.^[47] Kosovo is also listed as a potential candidate but the European Commission does not list it as an independent country becausenot all member states recognise it as an independent country separate from Serbia.^[48]

Four Western European countries that are not EU members have partly committed to the EU's economy and regulations: Iceland (a candidate country for EU membership), Liechtenstein and Norway, which are a part of the single market through the European Economic Area, andSwitzerland, which has similar ties through bilateral treaties.^[49][50] The relationships of the European microstates, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican include the use of the euro and other areas of cooperation.^[51]

[edit

[edit]Politics

Main article: Politics of the European Union

European Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the European Union

Parliament[show]

Council of Ministers[show]

European Council[show]

Commission[show]

Court of Justice[show]

Other institutions[show]

Policies and issues[show]

Foreign relations[show]

Elections[show]

Law[show] v · d · e

The EU operates solely within those competencies conferred on it upon the treaties and according to the principle of subsidiarity (which dictates that action by the EU should only be taken where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states alone). Laws made by the EU institutions are passed in a variety of forms. Generally speaking they can be classified into two groups: those which come into force without the necessity for national implementation measures, and those which specifically require national implementation measures.^[57]

[] European Council

President of the European Council,Herman Van Rompuy

The European Council gives direction to the EU, and convenes at least four times a year. It comprises the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and one representative per member state; either its head of state or head of government. The European Council has been described by some as the Union's "supreme political authority".^[58] It is actively involved in the negotiation of the treaty changes and defines the EU's policy agenda and strategies.

The European Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreements over controversial issues and policies. It acts externally as a "collectiveHead of State" and ratifies important documents (for example, international agreements and treaties).^[59]

On 19 November 2009, Herman Van Rompuy was chosen as the first permanent President of the European Council. On 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force and he assumed office. Ensuring the external representation of the EU,^[60] driving consensus and settling divergences among members are tasks for the President both during the convocations of the European Council and in the time periods between them. The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an international organisation independent from the EU.

[edit]Commission

Commission PresidentJosé Manuel Barroso

The European Commission acts as the EU's executive arm and is responsible for initiating legislation and the day-to-day running of the EU. The Commission is also seen as the motor of European integration. It operates as acabinet government, with 27 Commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state, though Commissioners are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state.

One of the 27 is the Commission President (currently José Manuel Durão Barroso) appointed by the European Council. After the President, the most prominent Commissioner is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy who is ex-officio Vice President of the Commission and is chosen by the European Council too.^[61] The other 25 Commissioners are subsequently appointed by the Council of the European Union in agreement with the nominated President. Eventually, the 27 Commissioners as a single body are subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament.

[edit]Parliament

The European Parliament building inStrasbourg, France

The European Parliament (EP) forms one half of the EU's legislature (the other half is the Council of the European Union, see below). The 736 (soon to be 751) Members of the European Parliament(MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years on the basis of proportional representation to the share of votes collected by each political party. Although MEPs are elected on a national basis, they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats and is divided into sub-national constituencies where this does not affect the proportional nature of the voting system.^[62]

The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union.

The Parliament and the Council of the European Union pass legislation jointly in nearly all areas under the ordinary legislative procedure. This also applies to the EU budget. Finally, the Commission is accountable to Parliament, requiring its approval to take office, having to report back to it and subject to motions of censure from it. The President of the European Parliament carries out the role of speaker in parliament and represents it externally. The EP President and Vice Presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years.^[63]

[edit]Council

The Council of the European Union (also called the "Council"^[64] and sometimes referred to as the "Council of Ministers"^[65]) forms the other half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a government minister from each member state and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed. Notwithstanding its different configurations, it is considered to be one single body.^[66] In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

[[edit]Legal system

Further information: EU Law, EU treaties, and Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

The Court of Justice in Luxembourg is the highest court in the European Union in matters of EU law

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.^[77] 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^{[nb 5]} which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants.^{[nb 6]} The EU has legal personality, with the right to sign agreements and international treaties.^[78]

Under the principle of supremacy, national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, and thus the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions.^{[nb 7]}

[edit]Courts of Justice

The judicial branch of the EU—formally called the Court of Justice of the European Union—consists of three courts: the Court of Justice, the General Court, and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal. Together they interpret and apply the treaties and the law of the EU.^[79]

The Court of Justice primarily deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions, and cases referred to it by the courts of member states.^[80] The General Court mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts,^[81] and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal adjudicates in disputes between the European Union and its civil service.^[82] Decisions from the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on a point of law.^[83]

] Acts

The main legal acts of the EU come in three forms: regulations, directives, and decisions. Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures,^{[nb 11]} and automatically override conflicting domestic provisions.^{[nb 5]} Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them discretion as to how to achieve the result. The details of how they are to be implemented are left to member states.^{[nb 12]} When the time limit for implementing directives passes, they may, under certain conditions, have direct effect in national law against member states.

Decisions offer an alternative to the two above modes of legislation. They are legal acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a particular member state. They are most often used in Competition Law, or on rulings on State Aid, but are also frequently used for procedural or administrative matters within the institutions. Regulations, directives, and decisions are of equal legal value and apply without any formal hierarchy.^[89]

[edit]Military

The Eurofighter is built by a consortium of four EU countries.

Main articles: Military of the European Union, Common Security and Defence Policy, European Defence Initiative, Synchronised Armed Forces Europe, and European Rapid Reaction Force

The European Union does not have one unified military. The predecessors of the European Union were not devised as a strong military alliance because NATO was largely seen as appropriate and sufficient for defence purposes.^[106] 21 EU members are members of NATO^[107] while the remaining member states follow policies of neutrality.^[108] However the compatibility of their neutrality with EU membership is questioned (including by the Prime Minister of Finland)^[109] and with mutual solidarity in the event of disasters, terrorist attacks and armed aggression covered by TEU Article 42 (7) andTFEU Article 222 of the EU treaties; the Western European Union, a military alliance with a mutual defence clause, was disbanded in 2010 as its role had been transferred to the EU.^[110]

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), France spent more than $44 billion on defence in 2010, placing it third in the world after the US and China, while the United Kindom spent almost €39 billion, the fourth largest.^[111] Together, France and the United Kingdom account for 45 per cent of Europe's defence budget, 50 per cent of its military capacity and 70 per cent of all spending in military research and development.^[112] In 2000, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany accounted for 97% of the total military research budget of the then 15 EU member states.^[113]

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 personnel.^[114]

EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from Africa to the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East.^[115] EU military operationsare supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, satellite centre and the military staff.^[116] In an EU consisting of 27 members, substantial security and defence cooperation is increasingly relying on great power cooperation.^[117]

[edit]

Relations between Ukraine and the European Union (EU) are currently shaped via the European Neighbourhood Policy(ENP), a foreign policy instrument of the EU designed for the countries it borders. The European Union (EU) is seeking an increasingly close relationship with Ukraine, going beyond cooperation, to gradual economic integration and deepening of political cooperation.^[1] Ukraine is said to be a priority partner within the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP).

[edit]Legal instruments

[edit]Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (1994)

The political dialogue between the EU and Ukraine started in 1994 when the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) was signed. That document was focused on economic and social issues as well as on the necessity of improving public government and guaranteeing free press and civil rights. The framework set for political discussions was modest: yearly meeting between EU Troika and Ukrainian leadership and some inter ministerial consultations. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1994 entered into force in 1998 and expired in 2008. None of the top level meetings brought any major changes to a reserved EU approach. Leaders focused chiefly on economic transition and human rights records as well as on issues connected to theChernobyl nuclear power plant and its containment.

[edit]European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)

Main article: European Neighbourhood Policy

sources: [4], [5], ENP official page [6]

A Joint EU–Ukraine Action Plan was endorsed by the European Council on 21 February 2005. It was based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1994 and provided, according to the European Commission, a comprehensive and ambitious framework for joint work with Ukraine in all key areas of reform.

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