One Earth 1: Chapter 2.5 onwards

• Aardrijkskunde
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Which country voted to leave the EU?

1. Italy
2. Greece
3. the UK
4. Russia

The European Parliament is located in:

1. Rome
2. Brussels
3. Strassbourg
4. Brussels & Strassbourg

How many member states does the EU have today?

1. 17
2. 28
3. 9
4. 24

Which country is NOT a member of the EU?

1. Norway
2. Finland
3. Romania
4. Portugal

European Union

> The Beginning
> Growth of the European Union
> How does the EU work? 
> Different departments

The European Union (EU)

- Two world wars made the world feel less safe.

--> Some European countries decided to work together

--> European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
(colaboration in a common market)

Later Treaty of Rome (1957)

European Economic Community (EEC) was formed. 

--> liberal idea of a free common market

1973: Three more countries joined. 
Total: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, 

The European colaboration grows even more!

- The EEC went on to evolve into something stronger
--> through the 70's and 80's more EU-oriented colaborations came to exist: 
           - European Council: Consist of all leaders
           - European Parliament: Deciding on European Laws
           - 1985: Schengen Agreement: Free movement

After the Cold War

• Borders opened up for Eastern European countries
• A lot of countries changed their politics drastically
• "The Iron Curtain" dissapeared
   --> An imaginary border between communist East and capitalist West. 
• Countries searched for new allies and support....

The Maastricht Treaty (1993)

The European Union was formed
--> To apply countries had to have the following criteria:

1. They have to be a democracy
2. They need to have a working market economy
3. They need to implement any EU-laws. 

To summarize:
What is the EU?

Growth of the EU

The EU

• 1993: Started out with 12 members
• 2019: 27 members (UK not included)
  
  --> 27 members that had one aim: 'a Europe without borders'
  
  They try to focus on freedom of movement for goods, people, services and money. 

Competition

- the European Union became a very strong economic colaboration, competing with the BRICS countries (picture) and the U.S.A. 

- Europe had one big disadvantage over the others... 

What is that disadvantage? 

Solution

- One single currency

2002: EU introduced the Euro as the new currency.  

--> Very good for internal economic traffic

How does the EU work? 

So......

There are 3 major institutions responsible for the most important decisions made by the EU. 

• The European Commission
• The European Parliament
• The Council of the European Union

Let's start off with:

European Commission 
--> Decides on legislation (Laws) 
--> Has 27 members, a.k.a. European Commissioners 
 (one from each country) 
--> Represents the EU internationally

--> The European Commission is based in Brussels.

And then....

The European Parliament. 
--> MEP's keep an eye out for the European Commission. 
--> They approve and supervise all decisions made by the European Commission. 

Council of the European Union

--> Used to be called "The Council of Ministers".
--> Main decision-making institution. 

--> foreign policy, justice, security, defence, legislation and (most important one) budget.