Tag: geography

The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organization established by the Treaty of Rome. Its original purpose is of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, developing nuclear energy and distributing it to its member states while selling the surplus to non-member states.

It is legally distinct from the European Union (EU), but has the same membership, and is governed by many of the EU's institutions but is the only remaining community organization that is independent of the European Union and therefore outside the regulatory control of the European Parliament.

Vatican city,the smallest country of the world is not the member of European Union but it uses its currency Euro.

The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific Council, its governing body consisting of distinguished researchers, and an Executive Agency, in charge of the implementation.

The Court of Auditors (European Court of Auditors, ECA) is the fifth institution of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg. 

Despite its name, the Court has no judicial functions. The primary role of the court is to externally check if the budget of the European Union has been implemented correctly, in that EU funds have been spent legally and with sound management.

To become a member, a country must meet the Copenhagan Criteria defined at the 1993 meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen

Tariffs are taxes that governments levy on imports of goods in order to protect domestic producers and raise revenues for the government. Sometimes tariffs are accompanied by quotas, which set import limits. Sometimes governments are able to restrict trade and protect domestic producers without the use of tariffs. National product safety standards are an example of a non-tariff barrier to trade. For example, by setting national safety standards, a country can effectively bar foreign producers from selling their goods in the country unless they make modifications for that specific national market-usually too costly for a manufacturer to undertake. Non-tariff barriers to trade proliferated during the economic downturn in the 1970s, as national governments sought to protect their domestic producers. 

European Political Co-operation (EPC), the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) are all forms of political co-operation in the EU. This means that they are all programmes that share the goal of co-operation in the 'high politics' of foreign policy, either in the diplomatic or the military realm. These forms of co-operation are intergovernmental, which means that the European Council, and not the Commission, plays a leading role. Most decisions in political co-operation are taken by unanimity, although there are provisions for qualified majority voting in limited circumstances as well as provisions for member states to abstain from voting without blocking the process of political cooperation among other member states.

The European Union was set up as a three-pillar structure, comprising the three Communities (the first pillar), a Common Foreign and Security Policy (the second pillar) and Co-operation on Justice and Home Affairs (the third pillar).

Commissioners are nominated by the President of the Commission and Member States and approved by Heads of State or Government by qualified majority voting followed by approval, as a body, by the European Parliament.

The European Union (EU) has enlarged on seven separate occasions growing from six to nine, then ten, then twelve, then fifteen, then twenty-five and now twenty-seven member states. The first enlargement was in 1973 when Britain, Ireland and Denmark became members. The second enlargement was in 1981 when Greece joined and the third was in 1986 when Spain and Portugal acceded to the Community. The fourth enlargement was that of 1995, which admitted Austria, Finland and Sweden. The fifth enlargement in 2004 was the single biggest expansion of the EU. It brought ten new member states into the EU - eight from Central and Eastern Europe - and two small Mediterranean states - Cyprus and Malta. The sixth enlargement happened in 2007 when Romania and Bulgaria joined and the most recent enlargement was in 2013 when Croatia acceded to the EU.