CONTENTS

Overview Objectives Flag History of EU Treaties Monetary union The European Central Bank (ECB) Agricultural Policy Dr. Sherko Soltanpanahi Culture
1 sherko2003@gmail.com

The European Union

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe.

Overview
Area - Total : 4,324,782 km2 - Water (%) :3.08 Official languages : 23 Population - (2010) : - Total : 501,064,211 - Density: 115.9/km2

GDP 2009 : - Total: us$16.447 trillion formally established at: 1993 - Per capita: us$33,052 Political centers - Brussels - Luxembourg - Strasbourg
Leaders - European Council: Herman Van Rompuy - Commission: Jos Manuel Barroso - Parliament: Jerzy Buzek - Council of ministers: Hungary
3

1. Elimination of custom duties among member states. 2. Elimination of obstacles to the free flow of import and export of goods and services among member nations. 3. Establishment of common custom duties and united industrial/commercial policies regarding countries outside the community. 4. Free movement of capital and people within the block. 5. Acceptance of common agricultural policies ,transportation policies ,technical standards health and safety regulations.
4

6. Common measures for consumer protection. 7. Common laws to maintain competition throughout the community and to fight monopolies or illegal cartels. 8. Regional fund to encourage economic development of certain regions. 9. Greater monetary and fiscal coordination among member states and certain common fiscal policies.

Flag
o It is the symbol of the European Union o the symbol of Europe's unity and
identity in a wider sense. o The circle of gold stars represents solidarity and harmony between the peoples of Europe. o There are 12 stars because the number 12 is traditionally the symbol of perfection, completeness and unity.
The history of the flag goes back to 1955.

1952 1973 1981 1986 1995 2004 2007

1-Belgium 7-Denmark 10-Greece

2-France 8-Ireland

3-Germany 9-UK

4-Italy

5-Luxembourg

6-Netherlands

11-Portugal 12-Spain 13-Austria 16-Cyprus 22-Malta 14-Finland 15-Sweden 17-Czech 23-Poland 18-Estonia 24Slovakia 19-Hungary 25-Slovenia 20-Latvia 21-Lithuania

26-Bulgaria 27-Romani

Candidate Countries

Croatia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Iceland

Potential candidate Countries

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia

7

Procedure of Joining EU
To join the EU a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 Copenhagen European Council: 1. stable democracy that respects human rights and the rule of law 2.functioning market economy capable of competition within the EU 3.the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. Evaluation of a country's fulfillment of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council. No member state has ever left the Union, though Greenland withdrew in 1985. The Lisbon Treaty now provides a clause dealing with how a member leaves the EU.
8

1. The historical roots of the European Union lie in the Second World War. Soon after the war, Europe is split into East and West as the 40-year-long Cold War begins. West European nations create the Council of Europe in 1949. It is a first step towards cooperation between them.

 Founding Member States:

Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

9

2- 1952, The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a six-nation international organization serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union. The ECSC was the first organization to be based on the principles of supranationalism. 3- 1957, these six countries signed the Treaties of Rome which extended the earlier cooperation within the European Coal and Steel Community and created the European Economic Community, (EEC)
10

4- 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom 5- 1979, the first direct, democratic elections to the European Parliament were held. 6- 1985, the Schengen Agreement led the way toward the creation of open borders without passport controls between most member states and some non-member states. 7- 1986 the European flag began to be used by the Community and the Single European Act was signed.

11

8- 1990, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the former East Germany became part of the Community as part of a newly united Germany. With enlargement toward Eastern and Central Europe on the agenda, the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the European Union were agreed. 9- 1993, The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force on 1 November 1993. 9- 2002, euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states
12

10- 2007, European leaders signed the Lisbon Treaty which was intended to replace the earlier, failed European Constitution, which never came into force after being rejected by French and Dutch voters.! 11- 2009, the Lisbon Treaty was ratified by all countries and expected to go into effect soon

13

Treaties1

14

Treaties2
Brussels Treaty (1948-49) was signed between Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as an expansion to the preceding year's defense pledge, the Dunkirk Treaty signed between Britain and France. As the Treaty of Brussels contained a mutual defense clause. The Treaty of Paris (1951-52) (formally the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community) was signed on 1951 between France, West Germany, Italy and the three Benelux countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) (1952) established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), because of F Some of the main enemies during the war were now sharing production of coal and steel, the keyresources which previously had been central to the war effort. 15

Treaties3
Modifying Brussels Treaty The London and Paris Conferences (1954, 1955) were two related conferences in London and Paris to determine the status of West Germany. The Treaties of Rome (1957) are two treaties that they were the following: The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (the EAEC Treaty; often referred to as the Euratom Treaty) The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (the EEC Treaty; often referred to as the Treaty of Rome). The Merger Treaty (1965) was a European treaty which combined the executive bodies of the (ECSC), (Euratom) and (EEC) into a single institutional structure.
16

Treaties4
The Single European Act (SEA) (1986) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a Single Market and codified European Political Cooperation, the forerunner of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy. The Treaty of Maastricht (formally, the Treaty on European Union, -TE)) (1992) it created the European Union and led to the creation of the single European currency, the euro. The Maastricht Treaty has been amended to a degree by later treaties

17

Treaties5
The Amsterdam Treaty (1997) meant a greater emphasis on citizenship and the rights of individuals, an attempt to achieve more democracy in the shape of increased powers for the European Parliament, a new title on employment, a Community area of freedom, security and justice, the beginnings of a common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and the reform of the institutions in the run-up to enlargement The Treaty of Nice (2001) The Treaty of Nice reformed the institutional structure of the European Union to withstand eastward expansion, a task which was originally intended to have been done by the Amsterdam Treaty, but failed to be addressed at the time.
18

Treaties6
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty 2007)) Prominent changes included the move from required unanimity to double majority voting in several policy areas in the Council of Ministers, a more powerful European Parliament as its role of forming a bicameral legislature alongside the Council of Ministers becomes the ordinary procedure, a consolidated legal personality for the EU and the creation of a long-term President of the European Council and a High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The Treaty also made the Union's bill of rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, legally binding.
19

Single market
The euro is designed to help build a single market by: easing travel of citizens and goods eliminating exchange rate problems providing price transparency creating a single financial market price stability and low interest rates providing a currency used internationally and protected against shocks by the large amount of internal trade within the Eurozone. It is also intended as a political symbol of integration and stimulus for more. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
20

Monetary union1
The creation of a European single currency
became an official objective of the European Economic Community in 1969. However, it was only with the advent of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 that member states were legally bound to start the monetary union no later than 1 January 1999.  On 1999 date the euro was launched by 11 member states of the EU.
21

Monetary union2
The Eurozone has since grown to 17 countries, All other EU member states, except Denmark and the United Kingdom, are legally bound to join the euro when the convergence criteria are met, however only a few countries have set target dates for accession.

22

Monetary union3
Since its launch the euro has become the second reserve
currency in the world with a quarter of foreign exchanges reserves being in euro.

Euro exchange rate (2010)

23

The European Central Bank (ECB) The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank for the
eurozone (consisting of the EU member states which have adopted the euro), and thus controls monetary policy in that area with an agenda to maintain price stability.

It is at the centre of the European System

of Central Banks, which comprehends all EU national banks, and is guided by a board comprising of the President of the European Central Bank, who is appointed by the European Council, and national bank governors.

The European Central Bank in Frankfurt

24

Agricultural Policy1
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the oldest policies of the European Community, and was one of its core aims. The policy has the objectives of: a) increasing agricultural production b) providing certainty in food supplies c) ensuring a high quality of life for farmers d) stabilizing markets e) ensuring reasonable prices for consumers.  It was, until recently, operated by a system of subsidies and market intervention.
25

Agricultural Policy2
 Since the beginning of the 1990s, the CAP has been subject to a series of reforms.  Initially these reforms included the introduction of set-aside in 1988, where a proportion of farm land was deliberately withdrawn from production, milk quotas (1992) and, more recently, the 'de-coupling' (or disassociation) of the money farmers receive from the EU and the amount they produce (2004).  Agriculture expenditure will move away from subsidy payments linked to specific produce, toward direct payments based on farm size. This is intended to allow the market to dictate production levels, while maintaining agricultural income levels.
26

Culture
The percentage of Europeans in each member state who believe in "a God"

Eurostat (2005), "Social values, Science and Technology", Special Eurobarometer 225 (Europa, web portal): pp. 9, retrieved 11 June 2009.
27

TANK

YOU

28