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125-605: The PAUM is the Barcelona Process's parliamentary institution and plays a consultative role. The PAUM consists of parliamentarians appointed by: The PAUM consists of a maximum of 240 Members, of which 120 are Europeans (75 from the EU national parliaments and 45 from the EP) and 120 are from the NPs of the EU's Mediterranean partner countries, so as to guarantee north–south parity. It is organised on

250-442: A sui generis political entity combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation . Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$ 16.6   trillion in 2022, constituting approximately one sixth of global nominal GDP . Additionally, all EU states except Bulgaria have a very high Human Development Index according to

375-570: A European Citizens' Initiative (ECI). Citizenship of the EU confers the right to consular protection by embassies of other EU member states when an individual's country of citizenship is not represented by an embassy or consulate in the foreign country in which they require protection or other types of assistance. EU citizens have the right to address the European Parliament , the European Ombudsman and EU agencies directly, in any of

500-656: A European customs union for the struggling post-war European economies, and in 1923 the oldest organisation for European integration, the Paneuropean Union was founded, led by Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi , who later would found in June 1947 the European Parliamentary Union (EPU). Aristide Briand —who was Prime Minister of France , a follower of the Paneuropean Union, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate for

625-621: A directly effective right upon citizens to reside in another Member State. Before the case of Baumbast , it was widely assumed that non-economically active citizens had no rights to residence deriving directly from the EU Treaty, only from directives created under the Treaty. In Baumbast , however, the ECJ held that (the then) Article 18 of the EC Treaty granted a generally applicable right to residency, which

750-639: A proposal that linked funding with adherence to the rule of law . The budget included a COVID-19 recovery fund of €750   billion. The budget may still be approved if Hungary and Poland withdraw their vetoes after further negotiations in the council and the European Council . Bodies combatting fraud have also been established, including the European Anti-fraud Office and the European Public Prosecutor's Office . The latter

875-473: A " collective head of state " and ratifies important documents (for example, international agreements and treaties). Tasks for the president of the European Council are ensuring the external representation of the EU, driving consensus and resolving divergences among member states, both during meetings of the European Council and over the periods between them. The European Council should not be mistaken for

1000-587: A broad forum to further cooperation and shared issues, achieving for example the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950. Essential for the actual birth of the institutions of the EU was the Schuman Declaration on 9 May 1950 (the day after the fifth Victory in Europe Day ) and the decision by six nations (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, West Germany and Italy) to follow Schuman and draft

1125-661: A limited form of EU citizenship is available to transgender people. Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states that State employment reserved exclusively for nationals varies between member states. For example, training as a barrister in Britain and Ireland is not reserved for nationals, while the corresponding French course qualifies one as a 'juge' and hence can only be taken by French citizens. However, it

1250-740: A member state may withhold EU citizenship from certain groups of citizens, most commonly in overseas territories of member states outside the EU. A previous example was for the United Kingdom. Owing to the complexity of British nationality law , a 1982 declaration by Her Majesty's Government defined who would be deemed to be a British "national" for European Union purposes: This declaration therefore excluded from EU citizenship various historic categories of British citizenship generally associated with former British colonies, such as British Overseas Citizens , British Nationals (Overseas) , British protected persons and any British subject who did not have

1375-534: A permanent president of the European Council , the first of which was Herman Van Rompuy , and strengthened the position of the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy . In 2012, the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe". In 2013, Croatia became the 28th EU member. From

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1500-534: A pooled military aid package to Ukraine for lethal weapons funded via the European Peace Facility off-budget instrument. Next Generation EU ( NGEU ) is a European Commission economic recovery package to support the EU member states to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic , in particular those that have been particularly hard hit. It is sometimes styled NextGenerationEU and Next Gen EU , and also called

1625-455: A possibility of strong changes in the 2024 elections. Since the end of World War II , sovereign European countries have entered into treaties and thereby co-operated and harmonised policies (or pooled sovereignty ) in an increasing number of areas, in the European integration project or the construction of Europe ( French : la construction européenne ). The following timeline outlines

1750-678: A post-war world and Europe increasingly became a part of the agenda. This led to a decision at the Yalta Conference in 1944 to form a European Advisory Commission , later replaced by the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Allied Control Council , following the German surrender and the Potsdam Agreement in 1945. By the end of the war, European integration became seen as an antidote to

1875-545: A right of unilateral withdrawal under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. In addition, the principle of subsidiarity requires that only those matters that need to be determined collectively are so determined. Under the principle of supremacy , national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions. The direct effect and supremacy doctrines were not explicitly set out in

2000-642: A set number of seats and is divided into sub-national constituencies where this does not affect the proportional nature of the voting system. In the ordinary legislative procedure , the European Commission proposes legislation, which requires the joint approval of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to pass. This process applies to nearly all areas, including the EU budget . The parliament

2125-483: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . European Union in Europe  (dark grey) The European Union ( EU ) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The Union has a total area of 4,233,255 km (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 449   million. The EU has often been described as

2250-594: Is a decentralized independent body of the European Union (EU), established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 22 of the 27 states of the EU following the method of enhanced cooperation . The European Public Prosecutor's Office investigate and prosecute fraud against the budget of the European Union and other crimes against the EU's financial interests including fraud concerning EU funds of over €10,000 and cross-border VAT fraud cases involving damages above €10 million. Member states retain in principle all powers except those that they have agreed collectively to delegate to

2375-638: Is a particularly important factor when considering the degree of integration. The ECJ's case law on citizenship has been criticised for subjecting an increasing number of national rules to the proportionality assessment. Also, the right to free movement is not fully available to certain groups of Union citizens because of the various hurdles they face in real life. For example, transgender EU citizens face problems getting identity documents and going through identity checks, reuniting with their family members and accompanying children, as well as accessing social assistance. The scale of those issues gives grounds that only

2500-564: Is based in Kirchberg, Luxembourg City alongside the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Auditors. Constitutionally, the EU bears some resemblance to both a confederation and a federation , but has not formally defined itself as either. (It does not have a formal constitution: its status is defined by the Treaty of European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of

2625-480: Is broadly limited to those roles that exercise a significant degree of public authority, such as judges, police, the military, diplomats, senior civil servants or politicians. Note that not all Member States choose to restrict all of these posts to nationals. Much of the existing secondary legislation and case law was consolidated in the Citizens' Rights Directive 2004/38/EC on the right to move and reside freely within

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2750-463: Is inconsistent with EU law. It is not possible to appeal against the decisions of national courts in the CJEU, but rather national courts refer questions of EU law to the CJEU. However, it is ultimately for the national court to apply the resulting interpretation to the facts of any given case. Although, only courts of final appeal are bound to refer a question of EU law when one is addressed. The treaties give

2875-413: Is limited by secondary legislation, but only where that secondary legislation is proportionate. Member States can distinguish between nationals and Union citizens but only if the provisions satisfy the test of proportionality. Migrant EU citizens have a "legitimate expectation of a limited degree of financial solidarity... having regard to their degree of integration into the host society" Length of time

3000-593: Is organised as a directorial system , where the executive power is jointly exercised by several people. The executive branch consists of the European Council and European Commission. The European Council sets the broad political direction of the Union. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the president of the European Council (presently António Costa ), the president of the European Commission and one representative per member state (either its head of state or head of government ). The high representative of

3125-550: Is regulated to try to balance the aspirations of private initiatives with public interest decision-making process. The European Union had an agreed budget of €170.6  billion in 2022. The EU had a long-term budget of €1,082.5 billion for the period 2014–2020, representing 1.02% of the EU-28's GNI. In 1960, the budget of the European Community was 0.03 per cent of GDP. Of this, €54bn subsidised agriculture enterprise , €42bn

3250-502: Is the final body to approve or reject the proposed membership of the commission, and can attempt motions of censure on the commission by appeal to the Court of Justice . 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. The judicial branch of

3375-485: Is then able to recruit staff from among the pool of candidates selected by EPSO. On average, EPSO receives around 60,000–70,000 applications a year with around 1,500–2,000 candidates recruited by the European Union institutions. The European Ombudsman is the ombudsman branch of the European Union that holds the institutions, bodies and agencies of the EU to account, and promotes good administration. The Ombudsman helps people, businesses and organisations facing problems with

3500-437: The 2013 enlargement , some countries implemented restrictions on Croatian nationals following the country's EU accession on 1 July 2013. As of March 2021, all EU countries have dropped restrictions entirely. There is no common EU policy on the acquisition of European citizenship as it is supplementary to national citizenship. (EC citizenship was initially granted to all nationals of European Community member states in 1994 by

3625-674: The Common Foreign and Security Policy , the union has developed a role in external relations and defence . It maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations , the World Trade Organization , the G7 and the G20 . Due to its global influence, the European Union has been described by some scholars as an emerging superpower . The EU

3750-658: The Council of Europe , an international organisation independent of the EU and based in Strasbourg. The European Commission acts both as the EU's executive arm , responsible for the day-to-day running of the EU, and also the legislative initiator , with the sole power to propose laws for debate. The commission is 'guardian of the Treaties' and is responsible for their efficient operation and policing. It has 27 European commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state, though commissioners are bound to represent

3875-531: The Court of Justice of the European Union , the European Central Bank and the European Court of Auditors . Competence in scrutinising and amending legislation is shared between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, while executive tasks are performed by the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council (not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of

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4000-711: The Declaration of St James's Palace of 1941, when Europe's resistance gathered in London. This was expanded on by the 1941 Atlantic Charter , establishing the Allies and their common goals, inciting a new wave of global international institutions like the United Nations ( founded 1945 ) or the Bretton Woods System (1944). In 1943 at the Moscow Conference and Tehran Conference , plans to establish joint institutions for

4125-597: The EU Treaty languages , provided the issue raised is within that institution's competence. EU citizens have the legal protections of EU law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and acts and directives regarding protection of personal data, rights of victims of crime, preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, equal pay, as well as protection from discrimination in employment on grounds of religion or belief, sexual orientation and age. The office of

4250-638: The European Communities in 1985, the autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark remains associated with the European Union , being one of the overseas countries and territories of the EU. The relationship with the EU means that all Danish citizens residing in Greenland are EU citizens. This allows Greenlanders to move and reside freely within the EU. This contrasts with Danish citizens living in

4375-498: The European Union Recovery Instrument . Agreed in principle by the European Council on 21 July 2020 and adopted on 14 December 2020, the instrument is worth € 750 billion . NGEU will operate from 2021 to 2026, and will be tied to the regular 2021–2027 budget of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The comprehensive NGEU and MFF packages are projected to reach €1824.3 billion. Preparing

4500-635: The Faroe Islands who are excluded from EU citizenship. This is a summary of nationality laws for each of the twenty-seven EU member states. People born in Austria: Austrian nationality is acquired by descent under one of the following conditions: People born in Belgium who: Belgian nationality is acquired by descent under one of the following conditions: Foreigners can obtain nationality by declaration at their municipality of residence if they have

4625-615: The French Union was installed by the new Fourth French Republic to direct the decolonization of its colonies so that they would become parts of a European community. By 1947 a growing rift between the western Allied Powers and the Soviet Union became evident as a result of the rigged 1947 Polish legislative election , which constituted an open breach of the Yalta Agreement . March of that year saw two important developments. First

4750-555: The Locarno Treaties —delivered a widely recognized speech at the League of Nations in Geneva on 5 September 1929 for a federal Europe to secure Europe and settle the historic Franco-German enmity . With large-scale war being waged in Europe once again in the 1930s and becoming World War II , the question of what to fight against and what for, had to be agreed on. A first agreement was

4875-872: The Treaty of Brussels was signed, establishing the Western Union (WU), followed by the International Authority for the Ruhr . Furthermore, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), the predecessor of the OECD, was also founded in 1948 to manage the Marshall Plan , which led to the Soviets creating Comecon in response. The ensuing Hague Congress of May 1948 was a pivotal moment in European integration, as it led to

5000-748: The Treaty of Paris . This treaty was created in 1952 the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which was built on the International Authority for the Ruhr , installed by the Western Allies in 1949 to regulate the coal and steel industries of the Ruhr area in West Germany. Backed by the Marshall Plan with large funds coming from the United States since 1948, the ECSC became a milestone organisation, enabling European economic development and integration and being

5125-534: The United Kingdom . Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum . The Ostpolitik and the ensuing détente led to establishment of a first truly pan-European body, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), predecessor of the modern Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1979, the first direct elections to

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5250-538: The United Nations Development Programme . Its cornerstone, the Customs Union , paved the way to establishing an internal single market based on standardised legal framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within

5375-583: The Western Union , the International Authority for the Ruhr , the European Coal and Steel Community , the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community , which were established by treaties. These increasingly amalgamated bodies grew, with their legal successor the EU, both in size through the accessions of a further 22 states from 1973 to 2013, and in power through acquisitions of policy areas. In 2012,

5500-440: The extreme nationalism that had caused the war. On 19 September 1946, in a much recognized speech, Winston Churchill , speaking at the University of Zürich , reiterated his calls since 1930 for a "European Union" and "Council of Europe", coincidentally parallel to the Hertenstein Congress of the Union of European Federalists , one of the then founded and later constituting members of the European Movement . One month later,

5625-457: The monetary branch of the European Union, the prime component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks. It is one of the world's most important central banks . The ECB Governing Council makes monetary policy for the Eurozone and the European Union, administers the foreign exchange reserves of EU member states, engages in foreign exchange operations, and defines the intermediate monetary objectives and key interest rate of

5750-447: The principle of conferral (which says that it should act only within the limits of the competences conferred on it by the treaties ) and of subsidiarity (which says that it should act only where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states acting alone). Laws made by the EU institutions are passed in a variety of forms. Generally speaking, they can be classified into two groups: those which come into force without

5875-545: The 'right of abode' under British immigration law. In 2002, with the passing of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 , EU citizenship was extended to almost all British overseas territories citizens when they were automatically granted full British citizenship (with the exception of those with an association to the British sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the Island of Cyprus). This had effectively granted them full EU citizenship rights, including free movement rights, although only residents of Gibraltar had

6000-405: The 1957 Treaty of Rome provided for the free movement of workers and services. However, we can find traces of an emerging European personal status in the legal framework regulating the rights and obligations of foreign residents in Europe well before a formal status of European citizenship was introduced. In particular through the interplay between secondary European legislation and the case-law of

6125-480: The 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power. Nevertheless, in 1965 an agreement was reached, and on 1 July 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities . Jean Rey presided over the first merged commission ( Rey Commission ). In 1973, the communities were enlarged to include Denmark (including Greenland), Ireland, and

6250-415: The CJEU the power for consistent application of EU law across the EU as a whole. The court also acts as an administrative and constitutional court between the other EU institutions and the Member States and can annul or invalidate unlawful acts of EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. The General Court is a constituent court of the European Union. It hears actions taken against the institutions of

6375-417: The Council of the European Union and the "Council of Ministers", its former title), forms one half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a representative from each member state's government and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed . Notwithstanding its different configurations, it is considered to be one single body. In addition to the legislative functions, members of

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6500-438: The Court to hold that a mere recipient of services has free movement rights under the Treaty, so that almost every national of an EU country moving to another member state as a recipient of services, whether economically active or not, but provided they do not constitute an unreasonable burden for the host state, shall non be granted equality of treatment had a right to non-discrimination on the ground of nationality even prior to

6625-401: The ECB and the national central banks (NCBs) of all 27 member states of the European Union. The ESCB is not the monetary authority of the eurozone, because not all EU member states have joined the euro. The ESCB's objective is price stability throughout the European Union. Secondarily, the ESCB's goal is to improve monetary and financial cooperation between the Eurosystem and member states outside

6750-401: The EU administration by investigating complaints, as well as by proactively looking into broader systemic issues. The current Ombudsman is Emily O'Reilly . The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is the prosecutory branch of the union with juridical personality, established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 23 of the 27 states of the EU following the method of enhanced cooperation. It

6875-474: The EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU , in 2020; ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it . Internationalism and visions of European unity had existed since well before the 19th century, but gained particularly as a reaction to World War I and its aftermath. In this light the first advances for the idea of European integration were made. In 1920 John Maynard Keynes proposed

7000-420: The EU, which together with the Council of the European Union is tasked with amending and approving the European Commission's proposals. 705 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years on the basis of proportional representation . MEPs are elected on a national basis and they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has

7125-412: The EU. New member states may undergo transitional regimes for Freedom of movement for workers , during which their nationals only enjoy restricted access to labour markets in other member states. EU member states are permitted to keep restrictions on citizens of the newly acceded countries for a maximum of seven years after accession. For the EFTA states (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland),

7250-436: The EU. The ECB Executive Board enforces the policies and decisions of the Governing Council, and may direct the national central banks when doing so. The ECB has the exclusive right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes . Member states can issue euro coins , but the volume must be approved by the ECB beforehand. The bank also operates the TARGET2 payments system. The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) consists of

7375-437: The Euro . After the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic , the EU leaders agreed for the first time to create common debt to finance the European Recovery Program called Next Generation EU (NGEU). On 24 February 2022, after massing on the borders of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces undertook an attempt for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The European Union imposed heavy sanctions on Russia and agreed on

7500-400: The European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties. These are power-giving treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislation which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants. The EU has legal personality , with

7625-428: The European Council of its decision to leave on 29 March 2017, initiating the formal withdrawal procedure for leaving the EU ; following extensions to the process, the UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, though most areas of EU law continued to apply to the UK for a transition period which lasted until 31 December 2020. The early 2020s saw Denmark abolishing one of its three opt-outs and Croatia adopting

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7750-420: The European Council. The other 25 commissioners are subsequently appointed by the Council of the European Union in agreement with the nominated president. The 27 commissioners as a single body are subject to approval (or otherwise) by a vote of the European Parliament . All commissioners are first nominated by the government of the respective member state. The council, as it is now simply called (also called

7875-438: The European Court of Justice. This formed an embryo of the future European Citizenship, and came to be defined by the practice of freedom of movement of workers within the newly established European Economic Community. The rights of an "embryonic" European citizenship have been developed by the European Court of Justice well before the formal institution of European citizenship by the Maastricht Treaty. This could happen after

8000-416: The European Ombudsman can be directly approached by EU citizens. The modern EU citizenship status partially relies on the millennia of European history and Europe's common cultural heritage. "The introduction of a European form of citizenship with precisely defined rights and duties was considered as long ago as the 1960s", but the roots of "the key rights of EU citizenship—primarily the right to live and

8125-420: The European Parliament were held. Greece joined in 1981. In 1985, Greenland left the Communities , following a dispute over fishing rights. During the same year, the Schengen Agreement paved the way for the creation of open borders without passport controls between most member states and some non-member states. In 1986, the Single European Act was signed. Portugal and Spain joined in 1986. In 1990, after

8250-480: The European Personal Status were firstly recognized "to certain categories of workers, then expanded to all workers, to certain categories of non-workers (e.g. retirees, students), and finally perhaps to all citizens". In line with the model of social citizenship proposed by Thomas Humphrey Marshall , the "European Personal Status" or "Proto-European citizenship" was built by recognizing the social rights connected to freedom of movement and freedom of establishment in

8375-432: The European Treaties but were developed by the Court of Justice itself over the 1960s, apparently under the influence of its then most influential judge, Frenchman Robert Lecourt . The question whether the secondary law enacted by the EU has a comparable status in relation to national legislation, has been a matter of debate among legal scholars. The European Union is based on a series of treaties . These first established

8500-402: The European Union by individuals and member states, although certain matters are reserved for the Court of Justice. Decisions of the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice, but only on a point of law. Prior to the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, it was known as the Court of First Instance. The European Central Bank (ECB) is one of the institutions of

8625-410: The European Union ). It is more integrated than a traditional confederation of states because the general level of government widely employs qualified majority voting in some decision-making among the member states, rather than relying exclusively on unanimity. It is less integrated than a federal state because it is not a state in its own right: sovereignty continues to flow 'from the bottom up', from

8750-419: The European Union is formally called the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and consists of two courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court . The Court of Justice is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law . As a part of the CJEU, it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its uniform application across all EU member states under Article 263 of

8875-447: The European Union was first introduced by the Maastricht Treaty , and was extended by the Treaty of Amsterdam . Prior to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, the European Communities treaties provided guarantees for the free movement of economically active People, but not, generally, for others. The 1951 Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community established a right to free movement for workers in these industries and

9000-538: The European Union). The monetary policy of the eurozone is determined by the European Central Bank. The interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EU budget is scrutinised by the European Court of Auditors. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area. The Union's executive branch

9125-492: The Maastricht Treaty. The Maastricht Treaty dispositions on the status of European citizenship (having direct effect, i.e. directly conferring the status of European citizen to all member states nationals) were not immediately applied by the Court, which continued following the previous interpretative approach and employed European citizenship as a supplementary argument in order to confirm and consolidate precedent law. It

9250-518: The Maastricht treaty concluded between the member states of the European community under international law, this changed into citizenship of the European Union in 2007 when the European Community changed its legal identity to be the European Union. Many more people became EU citizens when each new EU member state was added and, at each point, all the existing member states ratified the adjustments to

9375-507: The Netherlands , and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome , which created the European Economic Community (EEC) and established a customs union . They also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for cooperation in developing nuclear power. Both treaties came into force in 1958. Although the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, they shared

9500-740: The Soviets. Immediately following the February 1948 coup d'état by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia , the London Six-Power Conference was held, resulting in the Soviet boycott of the Allied Control Council and its incapacitation, an event marking the beginning of the Cold War . The year 1948 marked the beginning of the institutionalised modern European integration . In March 1948

9625-535: The Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The Court was established in 1952, and is based in Luxembourg . It is composed of one judge per member state – currently 27 – although it normally hears cases in panels of three, five or fifteen judges. The Court has been led by president Koen Lenaerts since 2015. The CJEU is the highest court of the European Union in matters of Union law . Its case-law provides that EU law has supremacy over any national law that

9750-504: The UK (e.g. they had lived in the UK for five years, were born in the UK, or had parents or grandparents born in the UK) and had no EU voting rights. (see Guernsey passport , Isle of Man passport , Jersey passport ). Another example are the residents of Faroe Islands of Denmark who, though in possession of full Danish citizenship, are outside the EU and are explicitly excluded from EU citizenship under

9875-430: The Union as a whole, though the exact delimitation has on occasions become a subject of scholarly or legal disputes. In certain fields, members have awarded exclusive competence and exclusive mandate to the Union. These are areas in which member states have entirely renounced their own capacity to enact legislation. In other areas, the EU and its member states share the competence to legislate. While both can legislate,

10000-549: The Union for a new great enlargement is a political priority for the Union, with the goal of achieving over 35 member states by 2030. Institutional and budgetary reforms are being discussed in order to the Union to be ready for the new members. In May 2024, concerns rise, that the outcome of the elections in June, can undermine some of the crucial policies of the EU in the domain of environment, diplomacy, economy . The war in Ukraine by creating inflation, lowering life level created

10125-523: The Union shall have the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, subject to the limitations and conditions laid down in this Treaty and by the measures adopted to give it effect. The European Court of Justice has remarked that, EU Citizenship is destined to be the fundamental status of nationals of the Member States The ECJ has held that this Article confers

10250-462: The Union. Citizenship of the Union shall be additional to and not replace national citizenship." While nationals of Member States are citizens of the union, "It is for each Member State, having due regard to Union law, to lay down the conditions for the acquisition and loss of nationality." As a result, there is a great variety in rules and practices with regard to the acquisition and loss of citizenship in EU member states. In practice this means that

10375-654: The WEU and NATO in 1955, prompting the Soviet Union to form the Warsaw Pact in 1955 as an institutional framework for its military domination in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe . Assessing the progress of European integration the Messina Conference was held in 1955, ordering the Spaak report , which in 1956 recommended the next significant steps of European integration. In 1957, Belgium , France , Italy , Luxembourg ,

10500-442: The basis of national delegations and European Parliament delegations. It meets at least once a year. The Assembly consists of four committees and one ad hoc committee, each with 80 members and a four-member Bureau. They are responsible for addressing each of the partnership's strands: This article about the European Union is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an international organization

10625-459: The beginning of the 2010s, the cohesion of the European Union has been tested by several issues, including a debt crisis in some of the Eurozone countries , a surge in asylum seekers in 2015 , and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU . A referendum in the UK on its membership of the European Union was held in 2016, with 51.9 per cent of participants voting to leave. The UK formally notified

10750-504: The birth of children, the right to reside with a non-spousal partner, the payment of funeral expenses. As later stated in Levin, the Court found that the "freedom to take up employment was important, not just as a means towards the creation of a single market for the benefit of the member state economies, but as a right for the worker to raise her or his standard of living". Under the ECJ case-law,

10875-487: The citizens of European Economic Area countries and Switzerland. However, with the creation of EU citizenship, certain political rights came into being. The adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR) enshrined specific political, social, and economic rights for EU citizens and residents. Title Five of the CFR focuses specifically on the rights of EU Citizens. Protected rights of EU citizens include

11000-539: The condition of having health insurance and "sufficient resources" in order not to become an "unreasonable burden" for the social assistance system of the host Member State, which otherwise can legitimately expel them. The rights of EU Citizens are enumerated in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Historically, the main benefit of being a citizen of an EU state has been that of free movement. The free movement also applies to

11125-416: The council also have executive responsibilities, such as the development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy and the coordination of broad economic policies within the Union. The Presidency of the council rotates between member states, with each holding it for six months. Beginning on 1 July 2024, the position is held by Hungary. The European Parliament is one of three legislative institutions of

11250-556: The creation of the European Movement International , the College of Europe and most importantly to the foundation of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949 (which is now Europe Day ). The Council of Europe was one of the first institutions to bring the sovereign states of (then only Western) Europe together, raising great hopes and fevered debates in the following two years for further European integration. It has since been

11375-451: The entire cabinet, the final say in accepting or rejecting a candidate submitted for a given portfolio by a member state, and oversees the commission's permanent civil service. After the President, the most prominent commissioner is the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy, who is ex-officio a vice-president of the European Commission and is also chosen by

11500-457: The euro, followed by Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014, and Lithuania in 2015. On 1 December 2009, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force and reformed many aspects of the EU. In particular, it changed the legal structure of the European Union, merging the EU three pillars system into a single legal entity provisioned with a legal personality , created

11625-481: The eurozone. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) is the auditory branch of the European Union. It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members (1 from each EU member-state) supported by approximately 800 civil servants. The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is the EU's civil service recruitment body and operates its selection of candidates via generalist and specialist competitions. Each institution

11750-540: The fall of the Eastern Bloc , the former East Germany became part of the communities as part of a reunified Germany . The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty —whose main architects were Horst Köhler , Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand —came into force on 1 November 1993. The treaty also gave the name European Community to the EEC, even if it was referred to as such before

11875-423: The first years of the EEC, when workers' rights in the host state were progressively extended to their family members even beyond the status of "worker", so as to promote the full social integration of the workers and their families in the host member state. When Regulation 1612/68 abolished movement and residence restrictions for member state workers and their families in the entire EEC territory, thus ending

12000-437: The following: The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides for citizens to be "directly represented at Union level in the European Parliament " and "to participate in the democratic life of the Union" ( Treaty on the European Union , Title II, Article 10). Specifically, the following rights are afforded: Article 21 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states that Every citizen of

12125-422: The freedom of settlement and employment across the EU . They are free to trade and transport goods, services and capital through EU state borders, with no restrictions on capital movements or fees. EU citizens have the right to vote and run as a candidate in certain (often local) elections in the member state where they live that is not their state of origin, while also voting for EU elections and participating in

12250-732: The institutions of the developing European community under the European Political Community , which was to include the also proposed European Defence Community , an alternative to West Germany joining NATO which was established in 1949 under the Truman Doctrine . In 1954 the Modified Brussels Treaty transformed the Western Union into the Western European Union (WEU). West Germany eventually joined both

12375-425: The interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. The leader of the 27 is the president of the European Commission (presently Ursula von der Leyen for 2019–2024, reelected for the 2024-2029 term), proposed by the European Council , following and taking into account the result of the European elections, and is then elected by the European Parliament. The President retains, as the leader responsible for

12500-461: The internal market; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade , agriculture , fisheries and regional development . Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area . The eurozone is a group composed of the 20 EU member states that have fully implemented the economic and monetary union and use the euro currency . Through

12625-456: The legal inception of the European Union (EU)—the principal framework for this unification. The EU inherited many of its present responsibilities from the European Communities (EC), which were founded in the 1950s in the spirit of the Schuman Declaration . The European Union operates through a hybrid system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making, and according to

12750-864: The maximum is nine years. Following the 2004 enlargement , three "old" member states—Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom—decided to allow unrestricted access to their labour markets. By December 2009, all but two member states— Austria and Germany—had completely dropped controls. These restrictions too expired on 1 May 2011. Following the 2007 enlargement , all pre-2004 member states except Finland and Sweden imposed restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian citizens, as did two member states that joined in 2004: Malta and Hungary . As of November 2012, all but 8 EU countries have dropped restrictions entirely. These restrictions too expired on 1 January 2014. Norway opened its labour market in June 2012, while Switzerland kept restrictions in place until 2016. Following

12875-486: The member states can only legislate to the extent to which the EU has not. In other policy areas, the EU can only co-ordinate, support and supplement member state action but cannot enact legislation with the aim of harmonising national laws. That a particular policy area falls into a certain category of competence is not necessarily indicative of what legislative procedure is used for enacting legislation within that policy area. Different legislative procedures are used within

13000-500: The member states. Since then, the eurozone has increased to encompass 20 countries. The euro currency became the second-largest reserve currency in the world. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia , Hungary , Latvia , Lithuania , Malta , Poland , Slovakia , and Slovenia joined the union. In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became EU members. Later that year, Slovenia adopted

13125-420: The necessity for national implementation measures (regulations) and those which specifically require national implementation measures (directives). EU policy is in general promulgated by EU directives , which are then implemented in the domestic legislation of its member states , and EU regulations , which are immediately enforceable in all member states. Lobbying at the EU level by special interest groups

13250-534: The origin of the main institutions of the EU such as the European Commission and Parliament . Founding fathers of the European Union understood that coal and steel were the two industries essential for waging war, and believed that by tying their national industries together, a future war between their nations became much less likely. In parallel with Schuman, the Pleven Plan of 1951 tried but failed to tie

13375-443: The other hand, and the following is not meant to diminish this first fact, the inclusion of a certain group results in the differentiation of others. Only through active differentiation and demarcation, i.e. exclusion, an identity with formal criteria can be created. Due to the history of the EU and its mentioned development, the progress of including and excluding is inevitably full of tensions. Many dynamics in citizenship grounded in

13500-555: The right to sign agreements and international treaties. European Union citizenship European Union citizenship is afforded to all nationals of member states of the European Union (EU). It was formally created with the adoption of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty , at the same time as the creation of the EU. EU citizenship is additional to, as it does not replace, national citizenship. It affords EU citizens with rights, freedoms and legal protections available under EU law . EU citizens have freedom of movement , and

13625-626: The right to vote in European Parliament elections. In contrast, British citizens in the Crown Dependencies of Jersey , Guernsey and the Isle of Man had always been considered to be EU citizens but, unlike residents of the British overseas territories , were prohibited from exercising EU free movement rights under the terms of the British Accession Treaty if they had no other connection with

13750-593: The right to work anywhere within the territory of the Member States—can be traced back to the free movement provisions contained in the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, which entered into force in 1952." The Treaty of Paris introduced freedom of movement for the professionals in the coal and steel industry which may be considered the nascent form of free movement that developed into EU citizenship four decades later. The citizenship of

13875-519: The rights of free movement of workers applies regardless of the worker's purpose in taking up employment abroad, to both part-time and full-time work, and whether or not the worker required additional financial assistance from the member state into which he moves. Before the institution of the European citizenship the ECJ interpreted the status of "worker" it beyond its purely literal meaning, progressively extending it to subjects such as non-economically active family members, students, tourists. This led

14000-408: The same category of competence, and even with the same policy area. The distribution of competences in various policy areas between member states and the union is divided into the following three categories: The European Union has seven principal decision-making bodies, its institutions : the European Parliament , the European Council , the Council of the European Union , the European Commission ,

14125-540: The same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein ( Hallstein Commission ) and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand ( Armand Commission ) and then Étienne Hirsch ( Hirsch Commission ). The OEEC was in turn reformed in 1961 into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its membership was extended to states outside of Europe, the United States and Canada. During

14250-449: The several peoples of the separate member states, rather than from a single undifferentiated whole. This is reflected in the fact that the member states remain the 'masters of the Treaties', retaining control over the allocation of competences to the union through constitutional change (thus retaining so-called Kompetenz-kompetenz ); in that they retain control of the use of armed force; they retain control of taxation; and in that they retain

14375-498: The tension between the formal law part and the non-/beyond-law surrounding; such as the enlargement of freedom and rights to every kind of explicitly or implicitly economically active persons. Homeless and poor people do not enjoy these freedoms, because of a lack of economic action. The situation is the same when the home state says someone might no longer enjoy these rights. Economically inactive EU citizens who want to stay longer than three months in another Member State have to fulfill

14500-516: The terms of the Danish Accession Treaty. This is in contrast to residents of the Danish territory of Greenland who, whilst also outside the EU as a result of the 1984 Greenland Treaty , do receive EU citizenship as this was not specifically excluded by the terms of that treaty (see Faroe Islands and the European Union ; Greenland and the European Union ). Although Greenland withdrew from

14625-472: The transitional period established by article 49 of the Rome Treaty, not only this created the conditions for a full exercise of free movement rights, but a number of important new rights were subsequently recognized by the ECJ, such as: the right to a minimum wage in the host state, the reduction of fares on public transport for large families, the right to a check for disabled adults, interest-free loans for

14750-405: The treaties to allow the creation of those extra citizenship rights for the individual. European citizenship is also generally granted at the same time as national citizenship is granted). Article 20 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states that: "Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of

14875-499: The treaty. With further enlargement planned to include the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Cyprus and Malta , the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the EU were agreed upon in June 1993. The expansion of the EU introduced a new level of complexity and discord. In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU. In 2002, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of

15000-447: The two landmark decisions in the cases Van Gend en Loos and Costa/ENEL , which established (a) the principle of direct effect of EEC law, and (b) the supremacy of European law over national law, including the constitutional one. In particular, the 1957 Rome Treaty provisions were interpreted by the European Court of Justice not as having a narrow economic purpose, but rather a wider social and economic one. The rights associated with

15125-485: The union for foreign affairs and security policy (presently Kaja Kallas ) also takes part in its meetings. Described by some as the union's "supreme political leadership", it is actively involved in the negotiation of treaty changes and defines the EU's policy agenda and strategies. Its leadership role involves solving disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolving any political crises or disagreements over controversial issues and policies. It acts as

15250-471: Was established, along with its citizenship , when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993, and was incorporated as an international legal juridical person upon entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 . Its beginnings can be traced to the Inner Six states (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany ) at the start of modern European integration in 1948, and to

15375-470: Was only a few years after the entry into force of the Treaty of Maastricht that the Court finally decided to abandon this approach and to recognize the status of European citizen in order to decide the controversies. Two landmark decisions in this sense are Martinez Sala , and Grelczyk . On the one hand, citizenship has an inclusive character, as it allows its holders freedoms and encourages and enables active participation and active use of these rights. On

15500-469: Was spent on transport , building and the environment, €16bn on education and research , €13bn on welfare, €20bn on foreign and defence policy, €2bn in finance , €2bn in energy , €1.5bn in communications, and €13bn in administration. In November 2020, two members of the union, Hungary and Poland, blocked approval to the EU's budget at a meeting in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), citing

15625-469: Was the signing of the Treaty of Dunkirk between France and the United Kingdom . The treaty assured mutual assistance in the event of future military aggression against either nation. Though it officially named Germany as a threat, in reality the actual concern was for the Soviet Union. A few days later came the announcement of the Truman Doctrine which pledged American support for democracies to counter

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