EUROPEAN UNION

50 Years of Peace, Prosperity and Partnership

What is European Union?

• Shared values: liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms, and the rule of law.

• Largest economic body in the world.

• World’s most successful model for advancing peace and democracy.

• World’s most open market for goods and commodities from developing
countries.

EU Institutions

European Commission

• 27 Commissioners, representing the European perspective, each responsible

for a specific policy area.

• EU’s executive branch proposes legislation, manages Union’s day-to-day

business and budget, and enforces rules.

• Negotiates trade agreements and manages Europe’s multilateral

development cooperation.

Council of the European Union

• EU’s main decision-making body comprised of ministers of 27 Member

States, representing Member State’s point of view.

• Decides on foreign policy issues.

• Council presidency rotates among Member States every six months.

European Parliament

• Voice of European citizens – members elected for five-year terms.

• With the Council, passes EU laws and adopts EU budgets.

• Approves EU Commissioners.

European Court of Justice

• Highest EU judicial authority.

• Ensures all EU laws are interpreted and applied correctly and uniformly.

European Central Bank

• The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank for Europe's single
currency, the euro.

• The ECB’s main task is to maintain the euro's purchasing power and thus
price stability in the euro area.

The €uro

• In 1999, the euro area was established as a currency in eleven of the then
fifteen EU Member States.

• Of the 27 EU Member States today, fifteen have adopted the euro.

• One of the striking benefits of a single European currency is low interest

rates due to a high degree of price stability.
 1951

European Coal and Steel Community

• In the aftermath of World War II, the aim was to secure peace among
Europe’s victorious and vanquished nations and bring them together as
equals, cooperating within shared institutions.

• Based on a plan by French Foreign Minister

Robert Schuman.

• Six founding countries – Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany,

France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – signed a treaty to run
heavy industries (coal and steel) under common management.

1957

Treaty of Rome

• The six founding countries expanded cooperation to other economic sectors,

creating the European Economic Community (EEC) – or “common market.”

• As a result, people, goods, services, and capital today move freely across the
Union.

Fall of Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was the physical division between West Berlin and East Germany. However, it
was also the symbolic boundary between democracy and Communism during the Cold War.

A Divided Berlin

At the end of World War II, the Allied powers divided conquered Germany into four zones, each
occupied by either the United States, Great Britain, France, or the Soviet Union (as agreed at the
Potsdam Conference). The same was done with Germany's capital city, Berlin.

Although an eventual reunification of Germany had been intended, the new relationship between
the Allied powers turned Germany into West versus East, democracy versus Communism.

In 1949, this new organization of Germany became official when the three zones occupied by the
United States, Great Britain, and France combined to form West Germany (the Federal Republic
of Germany). The zone occupied by the Soviet Union quickly followed by forming East
Germany (the German Democratic Republic).

This same division into West and East occurred in Berlin. Since the city of Berlin had been
situated entirely within the Soviet zone of occupation, West Berlin became an island of
democracy within Communist East Germany.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was eventually chipped away, into smaller pieces (some the size of a coin and
others in big slabs). The pieces have become collectibles and are stored in both homes and
museums.

After the Berlin Wall came down, East and West Germany reunified into a single German state
on October 3, 1990.
EU in the world

The EU is a global player.

Its soft power promotes stability, prosperity, democracy and human rights, delivers
concrete results in the fight to eradicate poverty, and in achieving sustainable
development.

Addressing Global Challenges

• Peace & Security

– Works for global peace and security alongside the United States and
multilateral organizations – including NATO and the United Nations.

– Undertakes humanitarian and peacekeeping missions and has

provided military forces for crisis management around the globe.

• Counterterrorism & Homeland Security

– Taken steps to improve intelligence sharing, enhance law enforcement

and judicial cooperation, curtail terrorist financing.

– Boosts trade and transport security to support the struggle against

terrorism.

• Democracy & Human Rights

– Works globally for free elections and open democratic processes.

– Fights racism and intolerance at home and abroad.

– Campaigns globally against capital punishment.

• Development Assistance & Humanitarian Relief

– The EU and its Member States are the world’s largest aid donor,
providing 55% of total official development assistance.

– Provides billions of dollars in humanitarian aid to more than 100

countries in response to crises and natural disasters.
 • Trade

– European Commission represents all 27 EU Member States before the

World Trade Organization.

– Supports free trade and open markets, within the rules-based structure
of the WTO, to promote growth and jobs in both industrialized and
developing countries.

Note : The world's most open market for products and commodities from
developing countries – 40% of all EU imports are from developing countries.

• Environmental Protection

– A leader in global efforts to protect the environment, maintaining

rigorous and comprehensive systems at home.

– Takes the lead in the fight against global warming with the adoption
of binding energy targets (cutting 20% of the EU’s greenhouse gas
emissions by 2020).

The EU and United States

• EU and U.S. work together to develop international standards:

– Fighting terrorism and transnational crime

– Advancing global trade liberalization

– Combating piracy and intellectual property violations

– Spreading benefits of globalization

• When the EU and U.S. agree, others tend to follow.

• European companies are the leading foreign investors in the U.S.

– The UK, Germany, France, and the Netherlands – top four sources of
jobs created by foreign investment in the United States.

• American companies invest far more in EU countries than in Asia.

– U.S. businesses make 5 times the profit in the Netherlands - alone - as

they make in China.

– In 2005, EU investments in Texas alone surpassed all U.S.

investments in China and Japan, combined.