European Union

European union is a political and economic group of 27 countries. The EU was

created in the aftermath of world war 2. The Maastricht treaty was signed in
1993, which replaced European community with European union. The treaty
was signed to form common security and foreign policy. A coordinated policy
on asylum, immigration drugs and terrorism. The European union citizenship
was created which allowed citizens to travel freely throughout the EU. The
countries forming the Europeans union are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Bulgaria,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. United
Kingdom was the founding member of the EU left the organization in 2020.

Symbols
 A blue color flag which has a circle of stars.
 The star symbolizes unity, solidarity, and harmony among the people.
 They add their cultures, languages, and different traditions.

How are decisions made?

 Decisions are made after reviewing the proposals introduced by EU
Parliament and Council.
 The parliament has the power to block the legislation if there is a
disagreement.
 A conciliation committee tries to find a solution.
 The Council and the parliament have the power to block the legislation
in the final reading.

European Monetary Union

 Coordinated fiscal and economic policy and having euro as their
common currency.
 On January 1,1999, the euro was first launched as a virtual currency for
cash less payments and accounting purposes. Bank notes were
introduced on January 2,2002.

Eurozone Crisis
 The countries with weaker economies borrowed large amount of money
and accumulated huge debt.
 Due to poor financial planning of Greece’s government, they were
unable to repay the debt.
 Other countries and banks viewed EU countries as a credit risk which
affected the Eurozone.

Brexit Deal
 Withdrawal of UK on 31 January 2020 resulted in loss of tariff benefits.
 Freedom to work and live in UK came to an end.
 Now UK nationals need a visa if they are staying for more than 180 days.

SAARC
Eco political organization of 8 south Asian nations. Established on 8th
December 1985, for friendship and cooperation within themselves and
other developing countries.

Objectives
 To improve quality of life and welfare of the people.
 Economic, social, and cultural development.
 Contribute mutual trust and understanding.
 Sports and arts.
 Looks in Critical areas like poverty, education, and culture.

Organizational Structure
 A council.
 Council of members.
 Standing committee.
 Programming committee.
 Technical committee.
 The secretariat.

Areas of operation
 Agriculture and biotechnology.
 Trade and finance.
 Science and technology.
 Energy and environment.
 People to people contacts.
 Education, culture.
 Tourism and social development.

SAFTA
The Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) was signed at
Islamabad during the Twelfth SAARC Summit on 6 January
2004.Members of SAFTA are India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are categorized as
Non-Least Developed Contracting States (NLDCS) and Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal are categorized as Least Developed
Contracting States (LDCS).

Preferential Trade Agreement

 A special type of agreement that allows access to certain goods.
 Reduction in tariffs rates but not eliminating them completely.
 Established through a trade pact which is the weakest form of economic
integration.
 Among the SAARC countries, India enjoys PTA with Afghanistan.