| For other uses, see EU (disambiguation).It traces its origins to the European Economic Community (EEC) formed in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome among six European countries.Since then the EU has grown in size through the accession of new member states and has increased its powers by the addition of new policy areas to its remit.In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty established the current legal framework.The EU creates a single market by a system of laws which apply in all member states, guaranteeing the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital.In 1999 the EU introduced a common currency, the euro, which has been adopted by fifteen member states.It has also developed a role in foreign policy, and in justice and home affairs.EU countries are members of NATO.Important institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank.EU citizens elect the Parliament every five years.The political climate after the end of World War II favoured unity in Western Europe, seen by many as an escape from the extreme forms of nationalism which had devastated the continent.One of the first successful proposal for European cooperation came in 1951 with the European Coal and Steel Community.This had the aim of bringing together control of the coal and steel industries of its member states, principally France and West Germany.The Community's founders declared it "a first step in the federation of Europe".The other founding members were Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.Two additional communities were created in 1957: the European Economic Community (EEC) establishing a Customs Union, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for cooperation in developing nuclear energy.In 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities, although more commonly just as the European Community (EC).In 1973 the European Communities enlarged to include Denmark, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.The first direct, democratic elections of members of the European Parliament were held in 1979.Greece, Spain and Portugal joined in the 1980s.In 1986 the European flag was adopted by the Communities and leaders signed the Single European Act.This revised the way community decision making operated in light of its greater membership, aimed to further reduce trade barriers and introduce greater European Political Cooperation.In 1990 after the fall of the iron curtain, the former East Germany became part of the Community as part of a newly reunited Germany.With enlargement toward eastern Europe on the agenda, the Copenhagen Criteria for candidate members to join the European Union were agreed.Maastricht established a revised structure and the name 'European Community' officially replaced the earlier 'European Communities'.The term European Union generally replaced the term European Community, which will be abolished by the Treaty of Lisbon along with the pillar system.The Amsterdam Treaty in 1997 amended the Maastricht treaty in areas such as democracy and foreign policy.Amsterdam was followed by the Treaty of Nice in 2001, which revised the Rome and Maastricht treaties to allow the EU to cope with further enlargement to the east.In 2002 euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states.In 2004 ten new countries (eight of which had formerly been Eastern Bloc countries) joined the EU.At the start of 2007 Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU and the euro was adopted by Slovenia.EU was signed in Rome in 2004, intended to replace all previous treaties with a new single document.It will come in effect in January 2009 if ratified by that date.The European Union is composed of 27 independent sovereign countries which are known as member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.To join the EU, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 Copenhagen European Council.These require a stable democracy which respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy capable of competition within the EU; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law.Evaluation of a country's fulfilment of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council.Four Western European countries that have chosen not to join the EU have been partly integrated into the EU's economy; Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are a part of the single market through the European Economic Area, and Switzerland has similar ties through bilateral treaties.The total territory of the EU is the seventh largest in the world by area and its highest peak is Mont Blanc in the Alps, 4807 metres above sea level.The EU has the world's second longest coastline, after Canada.Including the overseas territories of member states, the EU experiences most types of climate from Arctic to tropical, rendering meteorological averages for the EU as a whole meaningless.In practice, the majority of the population lives either in areas with a Mediterranean climate (Southern Europe), a temperate maritime climate (Western Europe), or a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate (Eastern Europe).The EU is regulated by a number of institutions, primarily the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, and European Parliament.The President of the Commission and all the other commissioners are nominated by the Council.The Council of the European Union (also known as the Council of Ministers) forms one half of the EU's legislative branch.EU is primarily provided by the European Council (not to be mistaken for the Council of Europe), which is the Council of the European Union, meeting in the specific composition of the heads of government of the member states (e.United Kingdom), plus the President of the European Commission.The European Council meets up to four times a year, is headed by the head of government of the member state which is holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and has the task to define overall EU policy and to deal with matters that could not be resolved by the ministers at normal Council meetings.The rotating Council Presidency is taken by each member state in turn for a period of six months, during which the relevant member chairs all meetings of the European Council and the Council of Ministers.The member state holding the presidency typically uses it to drive a particular policy agenda such as economic reform, reform of the EU itself, enlargement or furthering European integration.The other half of the EU's legislative branch is the European Parliament.The 785 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years.Each country has a set number of seats.Council in Community matters and has the power to reject or censure the Commission.The President of the European Parliament carries out the role of speaker in parliament and represents it externally.The president and vice presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years.Some parties (most actively the Greens) are forming European parties.This is usually in the form of a regulation, a directly applicable act, or a directive which states must implement under national law.Once legislation has been proposed there are three alternative EU legislative procedures which may be followed to implement it.In most cases it is the codecision procedure which gives equal rights to Parliament and Council who must both agree before it comes into force.In other procedures, the Parliament has fewer powers.The EU is often described as being divided into three areas of responsibility, called "pillars".The original European Community policies form the first pillar, while the second consists of Common Foreign and Security Policy.Broadly speaking, the second and third pillars can be described as the intergovernmental pillars because the supranational institutions of the Commission, Parliament and the Court of Justice play less of a role or none at all, while the lead is taken by the intergovernmental Council of Ministers and the European Council.Most activities of the EU come under the first, Community pillar.Two major political issues for the EU are European integration and enlargement.Enlargement, the accession of new states to the EU, is a highly politicised issue.Supporters argue it aids democracy in new members, as well as supporting the European economy as a whole.Public opinion, and hence political party viewpoint, has been more sceptical towards enlargement since the simultaneous accession of 10 members in 2004.This is most acute in relation to the candidacy of Turkey.Integration is another political issue, where the public view is sometimes that national interest conflicts with that of the EU.The aim of increasing harmonisation between states has meant that national powers have been transferred to the European level.This is criticised by eurosceptics who fear the loss of national sovereignty.In 2004 the European Constitution was agreed between national leaders and the EU institutions.In October 2007 European leaders finalised a new Treaty of Lisbon which contains much of the now defunct constitution, without the latter's constitutional terms and elements.The treaty is expected to come into force in 2009.If ratified it will introduce more majority voting in the Council and increase the powers of the European Parliament.The treaty also proposes to abolish the EU's pillar system.More aspects of foreign policy will now be subject to the supranational, as opposed to intergovernmental, institutions.The EU is based on a series of treaties.These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties.The treaties lay down the broad policy goals of the organisation and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals.National courts are required to enforce the EU treaties and the laws enacted under them, as provided for in national legislation when each country joins the EU.In the case of a conflict where a law stemming from EU legislation conflicts with another national law, the EU law is considered to take precedence (principle of 'Supremacy').Decisions regarding EU legislation may be appealed to the European Court of Justice.Legislation
Although the Treaties are the ultimate source of EU Law, there are a number of legislative instruments available to the EU institutions.Regulations are legislative acts which become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures to have been taken by member states.Once in force their contents automatically override conflicting domestic provisions, as a result of having direct effect in the national law of the member states.Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them discretion as to how to achieve the result within a certain time period.Directives are generally utilised where it is thought preferable to leave the precise details of legislative implementation to national governments.Decisions will be found most commonly in Competition Law, or on rulings on State Aid, and can be challenged by the addressee under certain circumstances before the EU courts.The EU's legal system contains a multiplicity of legislative procedures used to enact the above legislation.EU's legislative procedures, however, is that almost all legislation must be proposed by the Commission, rather than member states or European parliamentarians.European Parliament can veto proposed legislation, and consultation, under which Parliament is only permitted to give an opinion which can, subsequently, be ignored by European leaders.Courts
The judicial branch of the EU consists of the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance (to be renamed the "General Court" upon the entering into force of the Treaty of Lisbon).Together they interpret and apply the treaties and the law of the EU.The Court of First Instance mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts.While the Court of Justice deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions and cases referred to the EU's courts by the courts of member states.National courts within the Member States also play a key role in the EU as enforcers of EU law, and a "spirit of cooperation" between EU and national courts is laid down in the Treaties.National courts can apply EU law in domestic cases, and if they require clarification on the interpretation or validity of any EU legislation related to the case it may make a reference for a preliminary ruling to the ECJ.The right to declare EU legislation invalid however is reserved to the EU courts.Much of the EU's competence in the justice and home affairs area originates from the signing of the Schengen Agreement in 1985 on gradual abolition of border controls between six of the then ten European Community member states.The Maastricht Treaty transferred the Schengen acquis to the EU.Additional competencies were assigned to the EU by the Maastricht Treaty to facilitate the freedom of movement of people by adopting common rules in civil matters, such as contract and family law.The Maastricht Treaty also introduced the concept of citizenship of the European Union, which is complementary to national citizenship.Amendments to these treaties by the Amsterdam Treaty added a new aim of the EU as the creation of an "area of Justice, Freedom and Security".That treaty also made it easier to pass laws in the justice and home affairs area and more difficult for member states to veto them.It also increased the powers of the European Parliament in relation to Justice and Home affairs' measures.Fundamental rights
The EU has developed a role in human rights protection.All EU states have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and the EU has been a prominent campaigner for global abolition.Signing the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership, however the institutions of the EU are not covered by this.As the EU was not capable of signing the ECHR without a treaty change, the EU drew up the Charter of Fundamental Rights.The charter consolidated not only the rights of the ECHR but from other UN and EU agreements, covering economic, political and social rights including "third generation" rights such as good governance and a clean environment.Although it was proclaimed in 2000, it has no legal force at present (2007).European Court of Human Rights, currently totally separate from the EU, the highest court in the EU for Human Rights, above the EU's Court of Justice.Court of Justice already treats the ECHR as though it was part of EU law.The High Representative, Javier Solana, is the EU's spokesperson on foreign policy.The foreign relations of the EU are primarily dealt with through the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).It was formally introduced into the then European Community by the Single European Act and subsequently renamed as the "Common Foreign and Security Policy" by the Maastricht Treaty.The Maastricht Treaty gives the Common Foreign and Security Policy the aims of promoting both the EU's own interests and those of the international community as a whole.The High Representative, in conjunction with the current Presidency, speaks on behalf of the EU in foreign policy matters and can have the task of articulating ambiguous policy positions created by disagreements among member states.Besides the emerging international policy of the European Union, the international influence of the EU is also felt through the enlargement.The perceived benefits of becoming a member of the EU act as an incentive for both political and economic reform in states wishing to fulfil the EU's accession criteria, and are considered a major factor contributing to the reform of former Communist countries in Eastern Europe.This influence on the internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, cited the common foreign policy as a factor why Finland is, de facto, no longer a neutral country.It is not known if this view is shared by the leaders of the other neutral countries in the EU.Besides the CFSP, the Commission is also has its own representation in international organisations, its representation in international bodies is primarily through the European Commissioner for External Relations, who works along side the High Representative.In the UN the EU has gained influence in areas such as aid due to its large contributions in that field (see below).The EU is represented at the G8 by the presidents of the Commission and the Council.In the World Trade Organisation (WTO), where all 27 member states are represented, the EU as a body is represented by Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.The EU is the largest contributor of aid in the world.The European Community humanitarian aid office, or "ECHO", provides humanitarian aid from the EU to developing countries.Counting the EU's own contributions and those of its member states together, the EU is the largest aid donor in the world.Furthermore, some charities have claimed European governments have inflated the amount they have spent on aid by incorrectly including money spent on debt relief, foreign students, and refugees.EU would not reach the international target of 0.However only a few countries have reached that target.In 2005 EU aid was 0.The current commissioner for aid, Louis Michel, has called for aid to be delivered more rapidly, to greater effect, and on humanitarian principles.Member states are responsible for their own territorial defence.Many EU members are also members of NATO.The Western European Union (WEU) is a European security organisation related to the EU.In 1992, the WEU's relationship with the EU was defined, when the EU assigned it the "Petersberg tasks" (humanitarian missions such as peacekeeping and crisis management).These tasks were later transferred from the WEU to the EU by the Amsterdam Treaty; they formed part of the new CFSP and the European Security and Defence Policy.Elements of the WEU are currently being merged into the EU's CFSP, and the President of the WEU is currently CFSP High Representative.EU forces are peacekeeping in areas such as the Balkans.Following the Kosovo war in 1999, the European Council agreed that "the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and the readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO."To that end, a number of efforts were made to increase the EU's military capability, notably the Helsinki Headline Goal process.After much discussion, the most concrete result was the EU Battlegroups initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 men each.EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from Africa to the former Yugoslavia and the middle east.EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, satellite centre and the military staff.Fortune Global 500) are headquartered in the EU.The EU was originally created as an economic union.The oldest and largest constituent organisation, the European Community, was founded as the European Economic Community.Creating and maintaining the EU's single market has been a prominent goal of the Community since its inception in 1993.It seeks to guarantee four freedoms: these relate to ensuring the free movement of goods, services and capital around the EU's internal market as well as the flow of people within the area.Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway via the European Economic Area.Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU.Services account for between sixty and seventy percent of GDP, although legislation permitting free movement is not as established as in other sectors.Free movement of capital is intended to permit movement of investments such as property purchases and buying of shares between countries, but as with services national rules still vary in some cases.An example of its impact is the Bosman ruling which prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with European citizenship.The euro is used in 15 EU countries.EU has been an official objective since 1969 and work began in 1990 on Economic and Monetary Union.Nine years later the euro was launched in eleven of the then fifteen member states as an accounting currency, meaning that national currencies remained in use but with exchange rates locked to the euro.On 1 January 2002, euro notes and coins were issued and the national currencies were phased out.Membership increased to twelve in 2002 and now fifteen countries belong to the Eurozone using the euro as their sole official currency.All other EU members except Denmark and the United Kingdom have agreed to join as a condition of being members of the EU.Cyprus and Malta adopted the euro on the 1 January 2008 and dates for others will be set when economic conditions have been met.Public opinion in Denmark currently favours joining, but Sweden has pointedly failed to take necessary economic steps.There are twelve other currencies used in the EU.EU, such as Montenegro, also use the euro unofficially.The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it, are under the control of the European Central Bank (ECB).The euro is designed to help build the 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, low interest rates, having a currency used internationally and protecting against shocks due to the large amount of internal trade within the eurozone.It is also intended as a political symbol of integration and stimulus for further integration.European Commissioner for Competition
The EU operates a competition policy aimed at furthering its aim of ensuring undistorted competition within the single market.Microsoft, resulted in the Commission fining Microsoft over 777 million euro following nine years of legal action.However in negotiations on the Treaty of Lisbon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy succeeded in removing words "free and undistorted competition" from the treaties.However as the requirement is maintained in an annex, it is unclear whether this would have any practical effect on EU policy.The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one the oldest policies of the European Community and was one of its core aims.It was, until recently, operated by a system of subsidies and market intervention.EU farms are supported by the CAP, the largest budgetary expenditure (Vinyard in Spain).These were intervention stores which were built up from produce bought by the Community to ensure minimum price levels.The overproduction has also been criticised on environmental grounds in that it encourages environmentally unfriendly intensive farming methods.Supporters of CAP say that the economic support which it gives to farmers provides them with a reasonable standard of living, in what would otherwise be an economically unviable way of life.EU and the amount they produce (by the Fischler reforms in 2004).It is intended to move away from subsidy payments linked to specific produce, toward direct payments based on farm size.Caribbean nations with a privileged relationship with the EU.Many EU member states import oil and gas from Russia.The EU has been a legislative power in the area of energy policy for most of its existence.This involvement has its roots in the original European Coal and Steel Community.The introduction of a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was approved at the meeting of the European Council in October 2005.There are concerns that the EU is largely dependent on other countries, primarily Russia for its energy.This concern has grown following a series of clashes between Russia and its neighbours, threatening the flow of gas.As a result the EU is attempting to diversify its energy supply.The developing European transport policies will increase the pressure on the environment in many regions by the increased transport network.EU members, the major problem in transport deals with congestion and pollution.After the recent enlargement, the new states that joined since 2004 added the problem of solving accessibility to the transport agenda.The Polish road network in particular was in poor condition.At the time of Poland's accession to the EU, 4,600 roads needed to be upgraded to EU standards demanding an approximate expenditure of 17 billion euro.Galileo is a proposed Global Navigation Satellite System, to be built by the EU and launched by the European Space Agency (ESA).EU and is to be operational by 2010.It has been criticised by some due to costs, delays, and the perception of redundancy due to the existing GPS system.There are substantial economical disparities across the EU.There are a number of Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds to support development of underdeveloped regions of the EU.Such regions are primarily located in the new member states of eastern Europe.Several funds provide emergency aid, support for candidate members to transform their country to conform to the EU's standard (Phare, ISPA, and SAPARD), and support to the former USSR commonwealth of independent states (TACIS).TACIS has now become part of the worldwide EuropeAid programme.The EU Framework Programmes sponsor research conducted by consortia from all EU members to work towards a single European Research Area.The first environmental policy of the European Community was launched in 1972.The Water framework directive is an example of a water policy, aiming for rivers, lakes, ground and coastal waters to be of "good quality" by 2015.Wildlife is protected through the Natura 2000 programme and covers 30,000 sites throughout Europe.In 2007, the Polish government sought to build a motorway through the Rospuda valley, but the Commission has been blocking construction as the valley is a wildlife area covered by the programme.The REACH directive was a piece of EU legislation designed to ensure that 30,000 chemicals in daily use are tested for their safety.Ivoire, from a European ship, prompted the Commission to look into legislation regarding toxic waste.EU 27 should be running on biofuels.This is considered to be one of the most ambitious moves of an important industrialised region to fight global warming.The EU's attempts to cut its carbon footprint appear to have also been aided by an expansion of Europe's forests which, between 1990 and 2005, grew 10 percent in western Europe and 15 percent in Eastern Europe.During this period they soaked up 126 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 11 percent of EU emissions from human activities.Education and science are areas where the EU's role is limited to supporting national governments.The most visible of these has been the ERASMUS programme, a university exchange programme which began in 1987.These programmes are designed to encourage a wider knowledge of other countries and to spread good practices in the education and training fields across the EU.Through its support of the Bologna process the EU is supporting comparable standards and compatible degrees across Europe.Scientific development is facilitated through the EU's Framework Programmes, the first of which started in 1984.The independent European Research Council allocates EU funds to European or national research projects.The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) deals in a number of areas, for example energy where it aims to develop a diverse mix of renewable energy for the environment and to reduce dependence on imported fuels.Since January 2000 the European Commission has set its sights on a more ambitious objective, known as the European Research Area; extensively funding research in a few key research areas.This has the support of all member states, and extends the existing financing structure of the frameworks.Europe, improving conditions for researchers and encouraging links with business and industry as well as removing any legal and administrative barriers.The EU is involved with six other countries to develop ITER, a fusion reactor which will be built in the EU at Cadarache.ITER builds on the previous project, Joint European Torus, which is currently the largest nuclear fusion reactor in the world.The Commission foresees this technology to be generating energy in the EU by 2050.Europeans on the continent as a whole.There is some increase in population expected, primarily due to net immigration, present in most European countries.The EU's population is 7.EU one of the most densely populated regions of the world.Eighty percent of EU citizens live in an urban area and a third live in cities of over a million people.Besides many large cities, the EU also includes several densely populated regions that have no single core but have emerged from the connection of several cites and are now encompassing large metropolitan areas.Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht et al.Frankfurt, Wiesbaden et al.Katowice, Sosnowiec et al.The EU has 23 official and working languages: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.Important documents, such as legislation, are translated into every official language.The European Parliament provides translation into all languages for documents and its plenary sessions.Some institutions use only a handful of languages as internal working languages.Language policy is the responsibility of member states, but EU institutions promote the learning of other languages.German is the most widely spoken mother tongue (about 88.English, French and Italian.English is by far the most spoken foreign language, with German and French following suit.European citizens are able to engage in a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue.European language family, except Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian, which belong to the Uralic language family, and Maltese, which is a Semitic language.Most EU official languages are written in the Latin alphabet except Bulgarian, written in Cyrillic, and Greek, written in the Greek alphabet.Besides the 23 official languages, there are about 150 regional and minority languages, spoken by up to 50 million people.Of these, only the French and Spanish regional languages: Catalan, and Basque as well as the Spanish regional language Galician can be used in the communication with the Council of the European Union, the Commission, the Economic and Social Committee, the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman, as well as in the Committee of the Regions.Although EU programmes can support regional and minority languages, the protection of linguistic rights is a matter for the individual member states.Besides the many regional languages a broad variety of languages from other parts of the world are spoken by immigrant communities in the Member States.Turkish, Maghreb Arabic, Russian, Urdu, Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Ukrainian, and Balkan languages are spoken in many parts of the EU.Many older immigrant communities are bilingual, being fluent in both the local (EU) language and in that of their ancestral community.The EU is a secular body, with no formal connections to any religion and no mention of religion in any current or proposed treaty.God in the preamble of the text.Reference to Christianity stems from Christianity being the dominant religion in Europe, and thus the EU.Christianity in the EU can be roughly divided into Roman Catholicism, a wide range of Protestant churches (especially in northern Europe) and Eastern Orthodox (in south eastern Europe).Other religions such as Judaism and Islam are also represented in the EU population.Percentage of Europeans in each state who believe in a god.There is increasing atheism or agnosticism among the general population in Europe, with falling attendance and membership in many countries.In these countries, those who reported a faith can be wary of an organised religious movement.Liverpool is one of the two European Capitals of Culture for 2008.EU culture is intertwined with the culture of Europe and its specific national heritage; many of the policies on culture are with the individual member states.EU are selected for one year to assist the cultural development of the city.In addition, the EU gives grants to cultural projects (totalling 233 in 2004) and has launched a Web portal dedicated to Europe and culture, responding to the European Council's expressed desire to see the Commission and the member states "promote the networking of cultural information to enable all citizens to access European cultural content by the most advanced technological means."Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, the feudalism of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment, 19th century Liberalism and (sometimes) negative elements such as the World Wars.European values are assumed to be grounded in this shared heritage.Sport is mainly the responsibility of individual states or other international organisations rather than that of the EU.However, some EU policies have had an impact on sport, such as the freedom of employment which was at the core of the Bosman ruling, which prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with European citizenship.Under the proposed Treaty of Lisbon sports would be given a special status which would exempt this sector from much of the EU's economic rules.This followed lobbying by governing organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, due to objections over the applications of free market principles to sport which led to an increasing gap between rich and poor clubs.Several European sports associations are consulted in the formulation of the EU's sports policy, including FIBA, UEFA, EHF, IIHF, FIRA and CEV.All EU member states and their respective national sport associations are participating in European sport organizations such as UEFA.Symbols of the EU.Report for Selected Country Groups and Subjects (European Union).The EU Single Market: Fewer barriers, more opportunities.Activities of the European Union: Internal Market.Five Years of China WTO Membership.EU and US Perspectives about China's Compliance with Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review Mechanism.Social Science Research Network.Abolition of internal borders and creation of a single EU external frontier.Declaration of 9 May 1950.The new European Parliament.Treaty of Maastricht on European Union.Activities of the European Union.EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials, 4th ed.Oxford: Oxford University Press, p15.Accession criteria (Copenhagen criteria).The European Economic Area (EEA).The EU's relations with Switzerland.The use of the euro in the world.The Euro: Our Currency.EU, but excluding the French overseas collectivities and territories, which are not part of the EU.Europa (web portal) (2007).Institutions: The European Commission.Institutions: The Council of the European Union.The Council of the European Union.Council of the European Union.Council of the European Union.Institutions: The European Parliament.Pillars of the European Union.Fighting EU 'enlargement fatigue'.British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.A: Turkey's EU entry talks.FAQs on the EU, from the campaign trail.EU leaders agree on reform treaty.EU unveils bulky new treaty draft.Sources of EU law.European Union consolidated treaty, (article 249, provisions for making regulations).See also: Factortame Ltd.Secretary of State for Transport (No.AC 603, Solange II (Re Wuensche Handelsgesellschaft, BVerfG decision of 22 Oct.EC) of 22 December 2004 providing for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the European Community to be governed by the procedure laid down in Article 251 of that Treaty and the Protocol on Article 67 of the Treaty establishing the European Community attached to the Nice Treaty.See: European Union legislative procedure.Article 220 of the Treaty of Rome.The Court of Justice of the European Communities.The Schengen acquis and its integration into the Union.By Article 1(3) of the Amsterdam Treaty.European arrest warrant replaces extradition between EU Member States.European police office now in full swing.Article 39 and 114 of the Treaty of Rome on nationality and sexual discrimination respectively.EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (OJ L 180, 19.EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ L 303, 2.Launching the European Day against the Death Penalty.EU Charter of Fundamental Rights FAQ.European Union: "A sole ambition for the European continent" (PDF).Majority Voting: Common commercial policy.Divided EU agrees Iraq statement.Europa (web portal) (2003).Europe must keep its 'soft power'.Financial Times on Centre for European Reform.EU heading for single UN seat, UN official says.EU and the G8.European Commission delegation to Japan.ECHO, financial report 2006 (PDF).Commission calls for a European consensus to boost impact of humanitarian aid.EU attacked for 'inefficient' aid.EU accused of artificially inflating its aid figures.Overviews of the European Union activities: Development.Council of the European Union.Council of the European Union.Council of the European Union.The Euro: our currency.The Euro: Our Currency.Europa (web portal) (June 2007).China now EU's biggest import market.Fortune Global 500: Countries.Euro area and EU 27 unemployment down to 7.Single Market for goods.Single Market for Services.Single Market for Capital.ECB, ESCB and the Eurosystem."Will the Euro Eventually Surpass The Dollar As Leading International Reserve Currency?"Examining the EU executive.Microsoft caves in to European commission.EU competition to remain in place.The EU common agricultural policy.A: EU energy plans.European transport network: new guidelines and financial rules (PDF).European transport network: new guidelines and financial rules.White Paper on Transport.Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices at NUTS level 3.Regional GDP per inhabitant in the EU 27 (PDF).EU25 average in 2005.EU Structural and Cohesion Funds.Research Framework Programme (FP7).EU over road plans.EU chemicals directive agreed.Sharp, People Power Process, 2007, pp.EU sticks out neck in global climate change battle.European Union agrees on ambitious plan to fight global warming.European Research Council: What is the ERC?.What is the European Research Area?.EU25 population rises until 2025, then falls (PDF).Europe: Population and Migration in 2005.Population figure is from 2006, see ref: "Eurostat Population".Special Eurobarometer 243: Europeans and their Languages (Survey) (PDF).Special Eurobarometer 243: Europeans and their Languages (Executive Summery) (PDF).FAQ: Is every document generated by the EU translated into all the official languages?.Europa (web portal) (2004).Consolidated version of the Treaty establishing the European Community, Articles 149 to 150.Official Journal of the European Union (2004).European Parliament Fact Sheets: 4.Many tongues, one family.Languages in the European Union (PDF).Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (2004).Jewish population figures may be unreliable.These estimates are taken from: Sergio DellaPergola.Czech Republic: Most Atheist Country in Europe?.Cultural Policy and Politics in the European Union (PDF).An Overture to the European Union Youth Orchestra.The European Youth Orchestra.European Capitals of Culture.Cultural heritage as a vehicle of cultural identity.Inaugural speech by the new president of the European Parliament.IOC, FIFA presidents welcomes new EU treaty, call it breakthrough to give sports more power.Statement of European team sports.EU Law, Text, Cases and Materials, 4th ed.EU Law, 9th ed.The Substantive Law of the EU: The Four Freedoms, 2nd ed.Is Europe still sui generis?Signals from The White Paper on European Governance.Eighth Biennial International Conference, European Union Studies Association.The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream by Jeremy Rifkin (Jeremy P.Singapore Yearbook of International Law, Vol.Agencies
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Commission Regulation (EC) No.TLD) for the European Union, and organisations and citizens of EU member states, which was launched on December 7, 2005.Trademark owners were able to submit registrations through a sunrise process (similar to the launch of .Full registration started on April 7, 2006.The TLD is administered by EURid, a consortium consisting of the local ccTLD registry operators of Belgium, Czech Republic, Sweden and Italy.Use by the European Union institutions
3 Actual use
3.Internet root zone on May 2, 2005.The first phase, which began on December 7, 2005 was to facilitate applications by registrants with prior rights based on trademarks and geographic names.The second phase began on February 7, 2006 and covered company, trade and personal names.In the case of all Sunrise applications, the application needed to be accompanied by documents proving the claim to ownership of a certain right.The decision was then made by PricewaterhouseCoopers Belgium, which had been chosen as the validation agent by EURid.On February 7, 2006, the registry was opened for company, trade and personal names.In the first 15 minutes, there were 27,949 total applications, and after one hour, 71,235.Most people requesting domains had asked their registrars to put their requested domains in a queue, ensuring the best chance to register a domain.Some large registrars like Go Daddy and Dotster suffered from long queues and unresponsiveness, allowing people to 'beat the queue' by registering through a registrar that had already processed its queue.By August 2006, 2 Million .It is now the third largest domain in Europe, after .Go Daddy, criticized the landrush process designed by EURid.Particularly, he condemned the use of shell companies by some registrars.In his blog, he stated "These companies, instead of only registering their real active registrars, created hundreds of new "phantom" registrars."Parsons cited a group of about 400 companies, all with similar address and contact information based in New York, each registered as an LLC; in his opinion, these were phantom registrars "created to hijack the .These "phantom" registrars effectively had hundreds of opportunities of registering a domain whereas a genuine registrar effectively only had one opportunity to register the same domain.Parsons didn't dispute that each registrar was a separate legal entity, but noted that creating such entities was trivial: "Mr.Linden seemed proud that the EURid registry verified that each applicant was a legal entity before it was accredited.Take a moment and think about what that means.The EURid organisation investigated some allegations of abuse, and in July 2006 announced the suspension of over 74,000 domain names and that they were suing 400 registrars for breach of contract.The registrars also lost their access to the EURid registration database meaning that they could no longer register .The legal action relates to the practice of Domain name warehousing, whereby large numbers of domain names are registered, often by registrars, with the intention of subsequently selling them on to third parties.EURid rules state that applications for domains can only be made after a legitimate application has been made to a registrar.Ovidio Ltd, Fausto Ltd and Gabino Ltd.The affected registrars, joined in the action by the affected registrants obtained a provisional order from the Court of First Instance in Brussels, Belgium on 27 September 2006.EURid complied with the court order and changed the status of the domains from ON HOLD to ACTIVE and restored EURid registration database access to the affected registrars.The main legal action, that of EURid seeking the registrar agreements between EURid and the registrars in question to be dissolved has still to be heard.EU institution sites, with institutions and agencies making the switch from .Europe day of 9 May 2006.The European Central Bank is however not under the "Europa umbrella" due to its political independence, and uses only ECB.Actual use
The main users of .It is often used to emphasise the 'European identity' of a website, as opposed to the website having a strictly national ccTLD or global "dotcom" nature.In most countries of the EU, the national ccTLDs have the major share of the market with the remainder spread over .Over one year after the launch of .July 2007), the number of .EURid's statistics page was 796,561.The number of apparently UK owned .Parking and redirects
Many domain registrants use their .ISPs and web hosters will often point unused domains to a parking webpage with PPC advertising.According to page 20 of EURid's Annual Report for 2006, the breakdown of .Registrants with 1 domain: 610,679
The number of registrants with five domains or fewer registered in .TLD was, according to these statistics, 805,316.It had been actively targeted during the Sunrise period by speculators using fast track Benelux trademarks to create prior rights on various high value generic terms and during the landrush by speculators using EU front companies in the UK and Cyprus to register large numbers of domains.While speculative activity occurred with the launch of other domains, it was the scale of the activity that called into question the competence of EURid in protecting the integrity of eu ccTLD.April 7, 2006 to April 6, 2007 seems to have peaked at approximately 2.This is sometimes referred to as the Junk Dump.The EURid registry software is based on the DNS.This process differs from more sophisticated registries like that of .TLD and other ccTLDs that operate on a daily basis.The extent of the shrinkage of .TLD is difficult to estimate because EURid does not publish detailed statistics on the number of new domains registered each day.Instead it provides only a single figure for the number of active domains.The number of new registrations are combined with numbers of domains registered.ICANN board approves agreement with EURid.Check out our domain name: .Europe's very own domain name to be highjacked!.EU Domain Name System Irks U.News item from EURid announcing suspension of domain names and intention to sue domain name registrars.Retrieved on 26 July 2006.The European Registry of Internet Domain names
EURid registration status report, including breakdown of registrations by country
PWC Belgium's validation service for Eurid
EU to launch its own web domain (BBC)
No .Swiss (and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) (The Register)
".This page was last modified 17:39, 8 January 2008.See Copyrights for details.The goal of EU.NICs, especially in Europe.Any kind of help is welcome.You can see:
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its name.If you are looking for Web servers with E."Education is one of the most important issues in the EU today.The European Union offers a large number of opportunities for a lifelong learning, for more information please click here."Not surprisingly the sector is very important to the European economy.For more information, please click to visit the Tourism Information page of the European Commission."Disclaimer, Delegation of the European Commission in China.EU Slovenian Presidency
Jan.All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only.This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.Many of our documents are available as PDF files.Asia matters to Europe today as it did in the days of the spice trade and the silk road.Asia are of great importance for its own prosperity.The EU has committed itself to keep markets open and help recovery.EU, from 13 billion in 1996 to over 120 billion in 2000.Asia also accounts for a significant share of EU foreign investment flows, while certain Asian countries are important investors in the EU.WTO will help strengthen that body further.The European Union, with its worldwide economic interests, cannot afford to neglect Asia and still maintain a leading role in the world economy.The growing economic weight of Asia is reinforcing its weight on the international political scene.Asia play a more prominent role on the world stage.Asian partners on global and regional security issues is important for its own security.Asia, both in the region and globally.But the reverse is also true: Europe matters to Asia.Many Asians want a stronger European presence in Asia, at both the economic and political levels.Europe and calling for a balanced and comprehensive approach towards the region.Asia in the coming decade.Europe Meeting (ASEM), and with China, India, Japan and (soon) Korea.Ministerial dialogues with ASEAN continues and now includes active EU participation in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).Australia and New Zealand have likewise been strengthen.In addition, the EU has continued to make an active contribution to peace and security issues in the region.Trade and investment relations with Asia have also expanded substantially in recent years.East Asian Crisis from 1997.Europe outside the EU (30.EU, accounting for 6.Europe outside the EU (7.Latin America and for the Mediterranean countries), and from these modest beginnings has grown substantially in the following years.The EC also provides substantial humanitarian assistance to Asia.EU humanitarian aid efforts worldwide.At the Ministerial level, EU dialogue with ASEAN, and with Australia and New Zealand, continue to move forward.The EU has played an active part in addressing some of the key developments in Asia in recent years, for example on the Korean Peninsula, in Cambodia, Indonesia and East Timor, and in relation to refugees in Afghanistan.This evolution in EU relations with the region provides a strong foundation on which strengthened relations can be built.Promoting further the awareness between the two regions.Its key position in the Asia Pacific, its dedication to peace and stability in the region and its important economic weight, have made ASEAN an essential partner for the European Union in Asia.Myanmar became members in 1997.Cambodia joined in 1999.Agreement (1980) between the European Commission and member countries of ASEAN: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.The EU has been a longstanding Dialogue Partner of ASEAN.The EU is a full member of the ARF and is represented in its meetings by the EU Troika.ASEAN senior officials would meet between ministerial meetings.United States and Japan.EU maintained its commitment to keeping its market open to ASEAN after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.Generalised System of Preferences.Singapore, due to its advanced level of development, is excluded from the syetem.European investment was high in the region before the crisis and now seems once again to be on a rising trend.In essence, Ministers agreed to consolidate.To further boost trade and investment links between the EU and ASEAN, both sides are working on a number of projects designed to enhance trade and economic flows between the two regions.Europe Meeting (ASEM) was founded in 1996, which signaled the start of a new partnership between Asia and Europe.EU Member States and the European Commission, with ten Asian countries (Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam).The ASEM dialogue addresses political, economic and cultural issues, with the objective of strengthening the relationship between both regions, in a spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership. |
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