EU -- Geography--
Official name: European Union
Capital: Brousels
Languages: 20 official languages
Currency: EURO
Religians: Christian
Population: 455 000 000
Land area: 3 900 000 square kilometers
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EU -- History --
EU is founded in 1952. Founding member states: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands. In 1973 Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom join EU. In 1981 Greece joins EU. In 1986 Portugal and Spain join EU.
In 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden join EU. In May 2004 Cyprus, Czech Republik, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovak Republik, Slovenia join to EU15 to form EU25.
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EU -- Economy --
GDP (EU25, figures:2002) 9 613 000 000 000 EURO (28% of the world GDP)
GDP per capita (EU25, figures:2002) 21 100 EURO
Total trade with the world: 1 799 000 000 000 EURO
Share of world trade: 19.8%
Degree of opening to international trade (total trade/GDP): 26.9%
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EU -- Culture --
European research programs are broadly open to international participation, including US researchers, and have incorporated partners from the new member states since the early 1990s. As a result, strong partnerships and networks of researchers already exist across the twenty-five member states and beyond. Furthermore, thirty-four multidisciplinary Centers of Excellence in the new member states receive financial support from the European Commission to bring together theoretical and applied research in the natural, social and economic sciences.
The EU is focused on creating the European Research Area (ERA), which is characterized by free movement of knowledge, researchers and technology. The aim is to increase cooperation between member states toward shared objectives, stimulate competition and achieve a better allocation of resources. All member states are committed to achieving the twin objectives of making Europe the most competitive knowledge-based society in the world and approaching R&D investment levels of 3% of GDP by 2010.
Europe has considerable human resources in research and development, both within the Union and around the world. A major objective of the ERA is to encourage and support mobility of researchers and to attract scientists from other parts of the world into the EU. The Marie Curie Fellowship scheme and the European Researchers Portal are key tools to achieve this objective. Networking of EU researchers working in countries outside the EU will also strengthen the European research endeavor.
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EU --Life style --
Free movement of persons is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed to EU citizens and includes the right to work and live in another member state. However, in both the 1981 Greek accession and the 1986 Spanish/Portuguese accession, a seven-year transition period was provided before workers from the new member countries could work throughout the EU. The rationale for the transition is to ensure that labor migration from one country does not have a sudden and adverse impact on another country’s economy.
Under the 2004 accession arrangements, there will also be a transition period of up to seven years for workers from the Eastern European countries, although there are no such restrictions for Cyprus or Malta. During this seven-year period, it is up to the EU countries that were members prior to 2004 to decide freely when workers from the new member states can enter their job markets. By 2011, at the latest, there will be complete freedom of movement for workers from the new member states.
There are no automatic restrictions on the right of nationals of EU15 member states to move to work in the new member countries; however, the new countries may choose to impose equivalent restrictions on the nationals of those countries that have themselves imposed restrictions.
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EU -- Political system, law and government --
As formal we define first of all the rules of the European law. The European law is the basis for political and economical unification of Europe. It is an independent legal system which takes precedence over national legal provisions. A number of key players are involved in the process of implementing, monitoring and further developing this legal system for which a variety of procedures apply. In general, EU law is composed of three different - but interdependent - types of legislation.
Primary legislation includes in particular the Treaties and other agreements having similar status. Primary legislation is agreed by direct negotiation between Member State governments. These agreements are laid down in the form of Treaties which are then subject to ratification by the national parliaments. The same procedure applies for any subsequent amendments to the Treaties. The Treaties establishing the European Communities have been revised several times through the Single European Act (1987), the Treaty on European Union (the so called Maastricht Treaty, 1992), the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997), which entered into force on 1 May 1999. The Treaties also define the role and responsibilities of EU institutions and bodies involved in decision-making processes and the legislative, executive and juridical procedures which characterize Community law and its implementation.
Secondary legislation is based on the Treaties and implies a variety of procedures defined in different articles thereof. In the framework of the Treaties establishing the European Communities, Community law may take the forms of regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions. The regulations are directly applicable and binding in all EU Member States without the need for any national implementing legislation. Directives bind Member States as to the objectives to be achieved within a certain time-limit while leaving the national authorities the choice of form and means to be used. Directives have to be implemented in national legislation in accordance with the procedures of the individual Member States. Decisions are binding in all their aspects for those to whom they are addressed. Thus, decisions do not require national implementing legislation. A decision may be addressed to any or all Member States, to enterprises or to individuals.
Case-law includes judgments of the European Court of Justice and of the European Court of First Instance, for example, in response to referrals from the Commission, national courts of the Member States or individuals.
Key players in EU are Council of Ministers, European Commission, European Parliament, European ombudsman, the consultative institutions like the Economic and Social committee, Committee of Regions, European Court of Justice, European Court of First Instance etc.
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