The European Union:
493 million people – 27 countries
Member states of the European Union
Candidate countries
Founding fathers
New ideas for lasting peace and prosperity…
Konrad Adenauer
Alcide De Gasperi
Winston Churchill
Robert Schuman
Jean Monnet
The EU symbols
The European anthem
The European flag
Europe Day, 9 May
The motto: United in diversity
23 official languages
Eight enlargements
1952
1973
1981
1986
1990
1995
2004
2007
41989
Fall of Berlin Wall – end of Communism
EU economic help begins: Phare programme
41992
Criteria set for a country to join the EU:
• democracy and rule of law
• functioning market economy
• ability to implement EU laws
41998
Formal negotiations on enlargement begin
42002
Copenhagen summit agrees enlargement
42004
10 new EU members: Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia
42007
Bulgaria and Romania join the EU
Candidates
Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey
© Reuders
The big enlargement:
healing the division of Europe
The treaties – basis for democratic cooperation
built on law
1958
1952
The treaties of Rome:
The European Economic Community
The European Atomic Energy Community
(EURATOM)
The European Steel and Coal Community
2007
1987
Treaty of Lisbon (signed)
The European Single Act:
the Single Market
2003
1999
Treaty of Nice
Treaty of Amsterdam
1993
Treaty of European Union
– Maastricht
The Lisbon treaty - taking Europe into
the 21st century
The Treaty will make the European Union:
More efficient
Simpler processes, full-time president
for the Council, etc.
More democratic
Stronger role for the European Parliament
and national parliaments, "Citizens initiative",
Charter of Fundamental Rights, etc.
More transparent Clarifies who does what, greater public access
to documents and meetings, etc.
More united on
the world stage
High Representative for Foreign Policy, etc.
More secure
New possibilities to fight climate change
and terrorism, secure energy supplies, etc.
Signed in December 2007 – enter into force when ratified by all 27
EU countries.
A transparent Union at your service
The website of the European Union
europa.eu
One and a half million documents available to the public
Europe Direct contact centre
Answers your questions:
00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11
Europe Direct relays
Over 400 EU Info Points across the EU
European Union Documents
Access to internal documents
upon request
The European Ombudsman
Deals with complaints over EU administration
Nikoforos Diamandouros, the EU ombudsman
EU population in the world
Population in millions, 2007
1322
497
301
128
EU
China
Japan
142
Russia United States
The area of the EU compared to the rest
of the world
Surface area, 1 000 km²
16 889
9327
9159
4234
365
EU
China
Japan
Russia United States
How rich is the EU compared to the rest
of the world?
37 300
27 800
24 700
10 793
10 035
10 000
6 400
3676
1 326
EU
China
468
Japan
Russia
United States
Size of economy: Gross Domestic Product in
billion of euros, 2006
EU
China
Japan
Russia
United States
Wealth per person: Gross Domestic Product
per person in Purchasing Power Standard, 2007
2.6
0.3
Malta
9.3
Cyprus
Luxemburg
20.1
Slovenia
30.3
Belgium
43.4
Estonia
33.8
49.0
Slovakia
Netherlands
62.3
Latvia
43.1
62.7
Lithuania
Denmark
68.4
82.5
Austria
Ireland
91.9
Portugal
77.3
93.0
Hungary
Czech Republic
111.0
Bulgaria
130.7
230.0
Romania
Greece
243.8
295.1
304.5
544.0
506.0
410.3
357.0
312.7
United Kingdom
Italy
Finland
Poland
Germany
Sweden
Spain
France
How big are the EU countries?
Surface area 1 000 km²
21.6
9.0
8.3
Sweden
Austria
5.4
5.3
4.3
3.4
2.3
2.0
1.3
0.8
0.5
0.4
Finland
Ireland
Lithuania
Latvia
Slovenia
Estonia
Cyprus
Luxemburg
Malta
5.4
Slovakia
Denmark
7.7
10.1
Hungary
Bulgaria
10.3
Czech Republic
10.5
10.6
Portugal
Belgium
11.2
Greece
Netherlands
16.3
38.2
Romania
Poland
59.1
Italy
44.5
60.9
United Kingdom
Spain
63.4
France
Germany
82.4
How many people live in the EU?
Population in millions, 2007
497 million
GDP per inhabitant: the spread of wealth
GDP per inhabitants in Purchasing Power Standards, 2007
Index where the average of the 27 EU-countries is 100
280
144
131 129 127
123 121
118 117
113 113
104 102 100
94 89
87
79
77 75
67 66 63
58 56
53
Bulgaria
Romania
Poland
Latvia
Lithuania
Slovakia
Hungary
Estonia
Portugal
Malta
Czech Republic
Slovenia
Greece
Cyprus
EU-27
Spain
Italy
France
Germany
Finland
United Kingdom
Sweden
Belgium
Denmark
Austria
Netherlands
Ireland
Luxembourg
38 37
How is the EU’s money spent?
Total EU budget 2008: 129.1 billion euro
= 1.03% of Gross National Income
Citizens, freedom,
security and justice
1%
The EU as a global player:
including development aid
6%
Natural resources:
agriculture,
environment
43%
Other, administration
6%
Sustainable growth:
new jobs, cohesion,
research
45%
Climate change – a global challenge
To stop global warming, EU leaders decided in 2007 to:
reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by 20% by 2020 (30% if other developed
countries do likewise)
4
4
improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020
raise the share of renewable energy
to 20% by 2020 (wind, solar, hydro
power, biomass)
4
Energy sources in a changing world
Types of fuel used for making
energy in the 27 EU countries,
2005
Import dependency: share of fuel imported from
outside the EU-countries, 2005
100%
82%
Gas
35%
Oil
37%
57%
50%
39%
Coal
18%
Nuclear
14%
Renewables
7%
0%
Coal
Oil
Gas
Nuclear Renewables All types
of fuel
(uranium)
Jobs and growth
Challenges:
4Demography: Europeans live longer, have fewer children
4Globalisation: European economy faces competition from other parts of the world
4Climate change: Emission of greenhouse gases must come down
Solutions:
European leaders have therefore agreed on a joint strategy for:
4More research and innovation
4A more dynamic business environment
4Investing in people
4A greener economy
Research - investing in the knowledge society
Spending on research and development in percentage of Gross
Domestic Product, 2006
3.3%
3.0%
2.6%
1.8%
1.3%
EU
EU objective
for 2010
China
Japan
United States
Solidarity in practice: the EU cohesion policy
2007-2013: 347 billion euro invested for infrastructure,
business, environment and training of workers for less
well-off regions or citizens
4
Regional fund
4
Social fund
4
Cohesion fund
Convergence objective: regions with
GDP per capita under 75% of the EU
average. 81.5% of the funds are
spent on this objective.
Regional competitiveness and
employment objective.
The euro – a single currency for Europeans
Can be used everywhere in the euro area
4Coins: one side with national symbols,
one side common
4Notes: no national side
EU countries using the euro
EU countries not using the euro
Beating inflation
European Economic and Monetary Union: stable prices
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
Average annual inflation in the 15 EU-countries that used the euro in 2008
The single market: freedom of choice
Since 1993:
4 2.5 million new jobs
4 prices of phone calls
Four freedoms of movement:
and airfares halved
4 goods
4 services
© Getty Images
4 people
4 capital
Free to move
“Schengen”:
No police or customs checks at borders between most
EU countries
4
4
Controls strengthened at EU external borders
More cooperation between police from different EU
countries
4
You can buy and bring back any goods for personal use
when you travel between EU countries
© Corbis
4
Going abroad to learn
Over two million young people have studied or
pursued personal development in other European
countries with support from EU-programmes:
4 Comenius: school education
4 Erasmus: higher education
4 Leonardo da Vinci: vocational training
4 Grundtvig: adult education
© Getty Images
4 Youth in Action: voluntary work and
non-formal education
Improving health and the environment
Pollution knows no borders – joint action needed
EU action has helped bring us:
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
© Van Parys Media
4
Cleaner bathing water
Much less acid rain
Lead-free petrol
Free and safe disposal of old electronic equipment
Strict rules on food safety from farm to fork
More organic and quality farming
More effective health warnings on cigarettes
Registration and control of all chemicals (REACH)
An area of freedom, security and justice
4
Charter of Fundamental Rights
4
Joint fight against terrorism
Police and law-enforcers from
different countries cooperate
4
Coordinated asylum and
immigration policies
4
Civil law cooperation
© European Union Police Mission
4
The EU: an exporter of peace and prosperity
4
World trade rules
Common foreign and security
policy
4
Development assistance and
humanitarian aid
4
EU runs the peacekeeping operations
and the rebuilding of society in
war-torn countries like Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The EU – a major trading power
Share of world trade
in goods (2006)
Share of world trade
in services (2005)
EU
17.1%
Others
50.5%
EU
26%
United States
16%
Others
44.9%
Japan
6.6%
China
9.6%
United States
18.4%
China
3.8%
Japan
6.9%
The EU is the biggest provider of development aid
in the world
The EU provides 60% of all development aid
93€
53€
44€
EU
Japan
United States
Official development assistance per citizen, 2007
Three key players
The European Parliament
- voice of the people
Hans-Gert Pöttering, President
of the European Parliament
The council of Ministers
- voice of the Member States
Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council
of the European Union and High Representative
for Common Foreign and Security Policy
The European Commission
- promoting the common interest
José Manuel Barroso, President
of the European Commission
Three pillars
The European Union
European
Community
domain
(most of
common
policies)
Common
foreign and
security
policy
The Treaties
Police and
judicial
cooperation
in criminal
matters
The EU institutions
European Council (summit)
European Parliament
Court of
Justice
Court of
Auditors
European Investment Bank
Council of Ministers
(Council of the EU)
European Commission
Economic and Social
Committee
Committee of the Regions
Agencies
European Central Bank
How EU laws are made
Citizens, interests groups, experts: discuss, consult
Commission: makes formal proposal
Parliament and Council of Ministers: decide jointly
National or local authorities: implement
Commission and Court of Justice: monitor implementation
The European Parliament – voice of the people
4 Decides EU laws and budget together with Council of Ministers
4 Democratic supervision of all the EU’s work
Number of members elected in each country
Austria
18
Finland
14
Latvia
Belgium
24
France
78
Lithuania
Bulgaria
18
Germany
99
Greece
Cyprus
6
9
Romania
35
13
Slovakia
14
Luxembourg
6
Slovenia
7
24
Malta
5
Spain
54
19
Czech Republic
24
Hungary
24
Netherlands
27
Sweden
Denmark
14
Ireland
13
Poland
54
United Kingdom 78
Italy
78
Portugal
24
Total
Estonia
6
785
The European political parties
Number of seats in the European Parliament
per political group (March 2008)
Independence/
Democracy
24
Greens/European
Free Alliance
43
Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe
101
Union for Europe
of the Nations
44
Socialist Group
215
Total : 785
European United
Left - Nordic Green Left
41
European People’s Party
(Christian Democrats)
and European Democrats
288
Non-attached members and
temporarily empty seats
29
Council of Ministers – voice of the member states
4One minister from each EU country
4Presidency: rotates every six months
4Decides EU laws and budget together
with Parliament
4Manages the Common Foreign and
Security Policy
Council of Ministers – number of votes per country
Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom
29
Spain and Poland
27
Romania
14
Netherlands
13
Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Portugal
12
Austria, Bulgaria and Sweden
10
Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland
7
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia
4
Malta
3
Total:
345
“Qualified majority” needed for many decisions:
255 votes and a majority of member states
Summit at the European Council
Summit of heads of state and government of all EU countries
4Held at least 3 times a year
4Sets the overall guidelines for EU policies
The European Commission – promoting
the common interest
27 independent members,
one from each EU country
4Proposes new legislation
4Executive organ
4Guardian of the treaties
4Represents the EU on the international stage
The Court of Justice – upholding the law
27 independent judges,
one from each EU country
4Rules on how to interpret EU law
4Ensures EU laws are used in the same
way in all EU countries
The European Court of Auditors:
getting value for your money
27 independent members
4Checks that EU funds are used
properly
4Can audit any person or organisation
dealing with EU funds
The European Central Bank:
managing the euro
4Ensures price stability
4Controls money supply and decides interest rates
4Works independently from governments
Jean-Claude Trichet
President of the Central Bank
The European Economic and Social Committee:
voice of civil society
344 members
4Represents trade unions, employers,
farmers, consumers etc
4Advises on new EU laws and policies
4Promotes the involvement of
civil society in EU matters
The Committee of the Regions:
voice of local government
344 members
4Represents cities, regions
4Advises on new EU laws and policies
4Promotes the involvement of local
government in EU matters
Civil servants working for the EU
Commission: about 24 000 civil servants
Other EU institutions: about 10 000 employed
4Permanent civil servants
4Selected by open competitions
4Come from all EU countries
4Salaries decided by law
4EU administration costs 15 euro per EU citizen per year