The Development of the European Union

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The Development of the European Union

• Dr. Burkhard Auffermann
• (Burkhard.Auffermann_at_uta.fi)
• Lecture 23.2.2006

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The European Union (15103)
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Legend for the EU map

• Yellow Pre-May 1, 2004 EU Members
• Blue May 1, 2004 Acceding Members
• Lavender Post-May 1, 2004 Candidate Countries.

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Polish and Czech presidents against unified Europe

• Friday February 17, 1111 PM
• By Jan Korselt ADVERTISEMENTPRAGUE (Reuters) -
  Czech President Vaclav Klaus and his Polish
  counterpart Lech Kaczynski on Friday said they
  both agreed on the need to avoid European
  unification and said the EU needed a constitution
  giving nation states more power.
• The conservative heads of state from the two new
  EU nations agreed Europe needed a "foundation"
  akin to the constitution, but it would have to be
  different from the one put on ice after failed
  referenda in France and the Netherlands last
  year.
• "We both are looking for a reasonable arrangement
  in the European Union which would have more
  benefits than costs," Klaus told reporters after
  meeting his Polish counterpart.
• "We do not think there should be a total
  unification of the European continent, we fear
  the loss of our sovereignty and therefore we
  think that these voices should be heard," he
  said.
• Kaczynski was on his first visit to the Poland's
  southern neighbour, one of his first foreign
  trips since he became president in October.
• Klaus is a free market enthusiast while Kaczynski
  combines conservative social views with leftist
  economics.
• But they both agree on the need to have strong
  nation states and less of supra-national EU.
• Klaus has proposed turning the EU into a looser
  "Organisation of European States" working by
  consensus only.
• Kaczynski said "For Poland, the European Union
  is a great value and it is our success. But that
  does not mean that sovereignty gained 16 years
  ago is not of value.
• "The European Constitution treaty includes some
  coordination and that raises doubts," he said,
  adding that his euroscepticism did not mean he
  was an adversary of the EU.
• Klaus quickly denied he was a eurosceptic
  himself.
• "I resolutely reject the word eurosceptic. I
  fight euro-naive-ists and consider myself a
  euro-realist."

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French referendum on the European Constitution

• French referendum on the European Constitution
• From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• On 29 May 2005 a referendum was held in France to
  decide whether the country should ratify the
  proposed Constitution of the European Union. The
  result was a victory for the "No" campaign, with
  55 of voters rejecting the treaty on a turnout
  of 69 .
• The question put to voters was
• Approuvez-vous le projet de loi qui autorise la
  ratification du traité établissant une
  Constitution pour l'Europe?
• "Do you approve the bill authorising the
  ratification of the treaty establishing a
  Constitution for Europe?"
• France was the first country to reject the
  Constitution, and the second country to go to the
  polls in a referendum on ratification, after a
  Spanish referendum approved the treaty by a wide
  margin in February 2005. France's rejection of
  the Constitution left the treaty with an
  uncertain future, with other EU member states
  pledging to continue with their own arrangements
  for ratification.

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The European Union (15103)
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Legend for the EU map

• Yellow Pre-May 1, 2004 EU Members
• Blue May 1, 2004 Acceding Members
• Lavender Post-May 1, 2004 Candidate Countries.

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EU in 2005
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EU-25 Member states
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Why? What purpose does the EU serve?

• Peace
• Safety and security
• Economic and social solidarity
• Working more closely together to promote the
  European model of society
• European Commission , Directorate-General for
  Press and Communication Europe in 12 lessons, by
  Pascal Fontaine Former assistant to Jean Monnet
  and Professor at the Institut dEtudes
  Politiques, Paris (2003)

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Historic steps

• The ground rules of the European Union are set
  out in a series of treaties
• the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European
  Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951
• the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European
  Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic
  Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957.
• These founding treaties were subsequently
  amended by
• the Single European Act (1986),
• the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht, 1992)
• the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and
• the Treaty of Nice (2001).

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Enlargements

• Six members 1951 (ECSC) /1957 (EURATOM EEC)
• Belgium, West Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy
  and the Netherlands
• (In 1967 the institutions of the three European
  communities were merged. From this point on,
  there was a single Commission and a single
  Council of Ministers as well as the European
  Parliament)

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EEC 6
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EU 9
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EU 9

• 1973 9 member states. The United Kingdom,
  Denmark (with Greenland but not the Faroe
  Islands) and Ireland join. Greenland left in
  1985.
• Finally, Britain joined successfully on January
  1, 1973. In 1972, Ireland (application from July
  1961), Denmark (application from August 1961),
  Norway (application from April 1962) held
  referenda on whether to join. The results were
• Ireland - 83.1 in favour (May 10) (see also
  Third Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland)
• Norway - 46.5 in favour (September 25)
• Denmark - 63.3 in favour (October 2)
• Following the rejection by the Norwegian
  electorate (53.5 against), Norway did not join,
  an event that was to be repeated again twenty
  years later, when the government proposed joining
  along with Austria, Sweden and Finland.

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EU 10-12
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EU 10-12

• 1981 10 member states. Greece joins.1985
  Greenland leaves.1986 12 member states. Spain
  and Portugal join.

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EU 12-15
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EU 12-15

• 1990 German unification former German
  Democratic Republic joins
• 1995 Finland, Austria and Sweden join

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EU 25
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EU 25

• 2004 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the
  Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia,
  Malta and Cyprus

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EU 27
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EU 27

• 2007 27 member states. Bulgaria and Romania will
  join

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Copenhagen Criteria 1993

• The Copenhagen criteria are the rules that define
  whether a nation is eligible to join the European
  Union. The Criteria require that a nation-state
  have the institutions to forward and preserve
  democratic governance, human rights, a
  functioning coordinated market economy, and
  accept the obligations and intent of the EU.
  These membership Criteria were drawn and
  established at the June 1993 European Council in
  Copenhagen, Denmark.

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Copenhagen Criteria 1993

• First, a political criterion candidate countries
  must have stable institutions guaranteeing
  democracy, the rule of law, human rights and
  respect for and protection of minorities.
• Second, an economic criterion candidate
  countries must have a functioning market economy
  and be able to cope with competitive pressure and
  market forces within the Union.
• Third, the criterion of being able to take on the
  obligations of EU membership, including adherence
  to the aims of political, economic and monetary
  union. This means candidate countries must adopt
  the entire body of EU law known as the acquis
  communautaire.