European Union

TEAM MEMBERS

Kajal Sharma Shivani PandeyKaran Gujral Shriya ChaurasiaMohit Bhat Surender SinghPrasanth Narisetty Vamsi KrishnaPrudhvi Sadhu

The EU is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 European countries that together cover much of the continent.

created in the aftermath of the Second World War.

the idea being that countries who trade with one another become economically interdependent and so more likely to avoid conflict.

the European Economic Community (EEC), created in 1958

Initially increasing economic cooperation between six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands

World’s largest trading bloc, and second largest economy, after USA

• President is appointed (not elected) by the EU Council for a 5-year term and confirmed by Parliament.

• 15 judges and 8 advocate generals appointed by member states for 6 year terms.

• The Court of Justice ensures that Communitylaw is uniformly interpreted and effectively applied.

• It has jurisdiction in disputes involving Member States, EU institutions, businesses and individuals

President of the EU

Court of Justice

FUNCTIONS

aim to ensure free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, and regional development

to get countries using the Euro to

enact fiscal policies that will keep the

Euro stable

create and implement laws

and regulations that integrate the

member states of the EU

countries of the EU are supposed to have uniform

laws and policies concerning a variety of things (like

immigration, labor, weights and measures -- all sorts of

things).

decide how this integration should be done and to carry it out.

to devise the

currency

The Single Market

Based on Four Freedoms:– Free movement of goods;– Free movement of capital;– Free movement of persons;– Free movement of services.

GDP boosted by nearly €900 billion over 10 year period 1992-2002 (over $1 trillion) and 2.5 million jobs created from the single market alone.

• The EU created European single currency, euro to help build a single market by, for example: easing travel of citizens and goods, eliminating exchange rate problems, providing price transparency, creating a single financial market, price stability and low interest rates.

• The EU has established a single economic market which involves the free circulation of goods, capital, people and services within the territory of all its members.

• the EU generated an estimated nominal GDP of US$18.39 trillion in 2008, amounting to over 22% of the world's total economic output.

What the EU affects

• Liberalizing trade in goods and services could bring a potential 20% boost to bilateral trade and GDP gains of up to $12 billion for Canada by 2014.

• In 2008, Canadian goods and services exports to the EU totalled $52.2 billion, an increase of 3.9% from 2007, and imports from the EU amounted to $62.4 billion.

• the EU is the second largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Canada, with the stock of FDI amounting to $133.1 billion at the end of 2008.

Impact of EU on Canada

How EU decisions are made

The EU’s standard decision-making procedure is known as 'Ordinary Legislative Procedure’ (ex “codecision"). This means that the directly elected European Parliament has to approve EU legislation together with the Council (the governments of the 28 EU countries). The Commission drafts and implements EU legislation. EU treatiesThe European Union is based on the rule of law. This means that every action taken by the EU is founded on treaties that have been approved voluntarily and democratically by all EU member countries.The Treaty of Lisbon increased the number of policy areas where 'Ordinary Legislative Procedure' is used. The European Parliament also has more power to block a proposal if it disagrees with the Council.

The budget of the EU Parliament for 2012 is 1.7 billion euros, 24% of this amount is spent for basic expenditures of MPs, such as travel, accommodation, food etc..;

• The number of employees in the Parliament is 6166; 3279 of them are located in Brussels, 80 in Strasbourg, while others are in Luxembourg;

• In 2012 MPs received a monthly salary of € 7.957;

• 1.07 million EU citizens signed an online petition to the EP requesting the European parliament to be permanently located;

• Approximately one third of MPs are women;

• The turnout in general elections in 2009 was 43.4% , while in 2004 it was 45.6%;

the maximum number of members of the European Parliament, as set by the Treaty of Nice, is 732. After the election in June 2004 the number of MPs increased to 754, while before it was 626.

• European harmony- Europe has managed to heal the divisions which were so painfully exposed in the World War –II. EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 for helping to promote peace and international co-operation.

• Free trade within the bloc- Free trade and removal of non-tariff barriers have helped reduce costs and prices for consumers.

• Market access and trade creation- Easier access to each other’s markets & high cost domestic producers to be replaced by lower cost, and more efficient imports.

• Flexible Economy- Free movement of labour and capital have helped create a more flexible economy & the immigration of workers helped to fill labour market shortages.

• Protection- Firms inside the bloc are protected from cheaper imports from outside, such as cheap imports from China and Vietnam.

Benefits of EU

Problems/Challenges of EU

• Loss of benefits- The benefits of free trade between countries in different blocs is lost.

• Distortion of trade-Trading blocs are likely to distort world trade, and reduce the beneficial effects of specialization and the exploitation of comparative advantage.

• Inefficiencies and trade diversion- Inefficient producers within the bloc can be protected from more efficient ones outside the bloc.

• Unemployment- due to prolong recession.• Prolonged Fall in GDP- Economic stagnancy • More bureaucracy less democracy- EU has created

extra layers of bureaucracy whilst taking away decision making process further from local communities.

What Does it Take to qualify for

Membership in the EU:1. The candidate country has achieved stability of

institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law,

human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.

2. The candidate country has the existence of a functioning market

economy, as well as the capacity to cope with competitive

pressure and market forces within the Union.

3. The candidate country has the ability to take on the obligations

of membership, including adherence to the aims of

political, economic and monetary union.