THE EUROPEAN UNION – MEMBERS, INSTITUTIONSMartina Bukovjanová, 4.A

MEMBERS

27 members (European states) 1957 - the original six members states included:

Belgium (Brussels), Germany (Berlin), France (Paris), Italy (Rome), Luxembourg (Luxembourg), the Nederlands (Amsterdam)

1973 – Denmark (Copenhagen), Ireland (Belfast), United Kingdom (London)

1981 – Greece (Athens) 1986 – Spain (Madrid) and Portugal (Lisbon) 1995 – Austria (Vienna), Finnland (Helsinki), Sweden

(Stockholm) 2004 – Estonia (Talinn), Latvia (Riga), Lithuania

(Vilnius), Malta (Valletta), Poland (Warsaw), Slowakia (Bratislava), Slovenia (Ljubljana), Czech Republic (Prague), Hungary (Budapest), Cyprus (Nicosia)

2007 – Bulgaria (Sofia), Romania (Bucharest)

CANDIDATE COUNTRIES

5 candidate countries: Croatia (Zagreb), Iceland (Reykjavík), Macedonia (Scopje), Montenegro (Podgorica) and Turkey (Ankara)

Potential candidate countries: Albania (Tirana), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo), Serbia (Belgrade), Kosovo (Pristina)

Croatia may become the next member of the EU on 1 July 2013, other countries have applied for admission to EU

Problems with admission: e.g. problem with Turkey, because Turkey borders with unstable states, has bad relationship with Cyprus (Turkey occupies a part of Cyprus‘s territory) and has death penalty (which breaks elements of democracy)

COPENHAGEN CRITERIA

OTHER STATES

states, which apllied for admission, but they weren‘t accepted

Norway (Oslo) – has some advantages of EU, for example it is in Schengen Area

Switzerland (Bern) – also in Schengen Area since 2009

SCHENGEN AREA

BLUE – Member states of EU, members of Schengen Area

GREEN – States, which are in Schengen Area, but not in EU

ORANGE – Member states of EU, which don‘t comply with criterions to enter the Schengen Area

BEIGE – Member states od EU, which are partly in Schengen Area

free travel area 1995 27 members

MAIN INSTITUTIONS

European Commision Council of EU European Parliament European Court of Justice European Central Bank

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

seat: Brussells (Belgium) and some workplaces in Luxembourg

27 commissioners – one from each member state, term in office: 5 years, each commissioner has specific part of politic, appointed by the chairman and European Council

chairman: José Manuel Barroso, appointed by European Council

commission is an institution and also a name for college of commissioners

executive power, stands in interests of EU, not in interests of individual member states, performs politics of EU, prepares motions of new European legal regulations

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (COUNCIL OF EU, COUNCIL OF MINISTERS)

seat: Brussells (Belgium), building named Justus Lipsius, also Luxembourg

ministers of member states, each member state has different number of votes (it depends on size of state, e.g. France has 29 votes, Czech republic 12 votes and Luxembourg only 4 votes)

chairman: a minister form member state, who has been charged to chairmanship in EU (one state has a chairmanship for 6 months)

approves laws and one – year budget of EU, signs agreements between EU and other states

deciding institution, legislative and executive power

this is not European Council or Council of Europe

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

seat: Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Brussels 736 members (number depends on

number of inhabitants in each member state), they are elected in direct elections by citizens of EU for 5 years

chairman: Jerzy Buzek (since summer 2009), elected on 2,5 year

legislative and monitoring power, it approves and controls budget, leads political discussions

one of the most important, it has almost the most rights

EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE

seat: Luxembourg 27 judges (one of each member state),

elected for 6 years by collective agreement member states, and 8 general advocates, help court in decision – making

chairman: Vassilios Skouris, elected for 3 years

solves disputes of member states, European Commission, European Parliament Council of EU, exceptionally disputes of individuals

controls reading and applications of EU laws and rights

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

seat: Frankfurt am Main consists of: Council of Governors (executive council of

ECB, governors of national central banks of Eurozone members)

Executive Council (president of ECB, vicepresident and other 4 members), elected for 8 years

General Council (president of ECB, vicepresident and governors of national central banks of 27 member states)

President: Mario Draghi, elected for 8 years keeps stability of prices in Eurozone, responsible

for currency issues and euro

OTHER INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANS

The Court of Auditors (controls investments and monitors correct and lawful application of the EU budget)

The European Economic and Social Committee (voices the opinions of organized society on economic and social issues)

The Committee of Regions (voices the opinions of regional and local organs)

The European Ombudsman (deals with complains by people about EU institutions or organs)

The European Investment Bank (helps meeting EU objectivies by funding investment projects)

European Council In addition, the system includes a number of

supplementary institutions and organs

MY OPINIONS

Personally, I donť like European Union, but I don’t want to present my strong political opinions. This topic was pretty hard, but I chose it, because I need to learn about EU for an entry test to university.

Membership in EU has a lot of advantages – e.g. subsidize (EU gives to member states money for various social occasion), but also a lot of disadvantages – e.g. current situation of euro

EU instututions are very important for Europe, they are making decisions about our future almost every day – if they make good or bad decisions, see for yourselves.

QUESTIONS

How many members has the EU? In what year did the Czech Republic become

a member state? Which state should become a member state

in year 2013? Who is the chairman of European

Commission? In what year had the Czech Republic

chairmanship in Council of EU? How many judges are there in European

Court of Justice? Which institution has its seat in Frankfurt am

Main?

SOURCES

www.euroskop.cz www.wikipedie.en www.europa.eu ŠÍMA, A., SUK, M. ZÁKLADY PRÁVA PRO

STŘEDNÍ ŠKOLY A VYŠŠÍ ODBORNÉ ŠKOLY, 7. VYDÁNÍ, PRAHA: C.H. BECK, 2006

SMITH – DLUHÁ, G. A KOLEKTIV ANGLIČTINA OTÁZKY A ODPOVĚDI NEJEN K MATURITĚ, 1. VYDÁNÍ, OLOMOUC: T.A.V.A BOOKS, 2007

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