The European Union

The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political union between 27
European countries.

The predecessor of the EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World
War. The first steps were to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that
countries that trade with one another become economically interdependent and
so more likely to avoid conflict. The result was the European Economic
Community, created in 1958 with the initial aim of increasing economic
cooperation between six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy,
Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Since then, 22 more countries joined (and the United Kingdom left the EU in
2020) and a huge single market (also known as the ‘internal’ market) has been
created and continues to develop towards its full potential.

What began as a purely economic union has evolved into an organisation

spanning many different policy areas, from climate, environment and health to
external relations and security, justice and migration. A name change from the
European Economic Community to the European Union in 1993 reflected this.

The EU has delivered more than half a century of peace, stability and
prosperity, helped raise living standards and launched a single European
currency: the euro. More than 340 million EU citizens in 19 countries now use it
as their currency and enjoy its benefits.

Thanks to the abolition of border controls between EU countries, people can

travel freely throughout most of the continent. And it has become much easier
to live and work in another country in Europe. All EU citizens have the right and
freedom to choose in which EU country they want to study, work or retire. Every
EU country must treat EU citizens in exactly the same way as its own citizens
when it comes to matters of employment, social security and tax.

The EU’s main economic engine is the single market. It enables most goods,
services, money and people to move freely. The EU aims to develop this huge
resource to other areas like energy, knowledge and capital markets to ensure
that Europeans can draw the maximum benefit from it.

The EU remains focused on making its governing institutions more transparent

and democratic. Decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as
possible to the citizen. More powers have been given to the directly elected
European Parliament, while national parliaments play a greater role, working
alongside the European institutions.

The EU is governed by the principle of representative democracy, with citizens

directly represented at EU level in the European Parliament and Member States
represented in the European Council and the Council of the EU.

European citizens are encouraged to contribute to the democratic life of the EU

by giving their views on EU policies during their development or by suggesting
improvements to existing laws and policies. The European Citizens’ Initiative
empowers citizens to have a greater say on EU policies that affect their lives.
Citizens can also submit complaints and enquiries concerning the application of
EU law.

As enshrined in the Treaty on European Union, ‘the Union is founded on the

values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of
law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to
minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society which
pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between
women and men prevail’. These values are an integral part of the European way
of life.

Human dignity must be respected, protected and constitutes the real basis of
fundamental rights.

Being a European citizen also means enjoying political rights. Every adult EU
citizen has the right to stand as a candidate and to vote in elections to the
European Parliament, whether in their country of residence or country of origin.

Equality is about equal rights for all citizens before the law. The principle of
equality between women and men underpins all European policies and is the
basis for European integration. It applies in all areas.

The EU is based on the rule of law. Everything the EU does is founded on

treaties, which are voluntarily and democratically agreed by its member
countries. Law and justice are upheld by an independent judiciary. The EU
countries have given final jurisdiction in matters of EU law to the European
Court of Justice, whose judgments have to be respected by all.

Human rights are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. These

cover the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, racial or
ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, the right to
the protection of your personal data, and the right to get access to justice.

In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of
peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

EU Member States and institutions

At the core of the EU are the 27 Member States that belong to the EU, and their
citizens. The unique feature of the EU is that, although the Member States all
remain sovereign and independent states, they have decided to pool some of
their ‘sovereignty’ in areas where it makes sense to work together.

In practice, this means that the Member States delegate some of their decision-
making powers to the shared institutions they have created, so that decisions
on specific matters of common interest can be made democratically at EU level.

Member States of the European Union in 2020

Several institutions are involved in making decisions at EU level, in particular:

● the European Parliament, which represents the EU’s citizens and is

directly elected by them;
● the European Council, which consists of the Heads of State or
Government of the EU Member States;
● The Council, (also called the Council of the European Union) which
represents the governments of the EU Member States; and
● the European Commission, which represents the interests of the EU as a
whole.

The national parliaments of the Member States also play a role in taking
decisions and making laws, as do two advisory bodies. These are the European
Committee of the Regions, which consists of representatives of regional and
local government, and the European Economic and Social Committee,
comprising representatives of employees’ and employers’ organisations and
stakeholders’ groups.

Generally it is the European Commission that proposes new laws and the
European Parliament and the Council that adopt them.

The advisory bodies (the European Economic and Social Committee and the
European Committee of the Regions) as well as the national parliaments are
involved in the process by providing their opinions on the proposals, mainly
from the perspective of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
Subsidiarity means that, except in the areas where it has exclusive powers, the
EU only acts where action will be more effective at EU level than at national
level. Under the principle of proportionality, the EU’s action must be limited to
what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the EU treaties.

The Member States and the EU institution or institutions concerned then

implement adopted EU laws. The third section of this publication contains more
information on how the EU makes decisions, and how it implements them.
The EU treaties
Every action taken by the EU is founded on treaties that have been approved
voluntarily and democratically by all EU countries. The treaties lay down the
objectives of the European Union, and set out the rules for how the EU
institutions operate, on how decisions are made and on the relationship
between the EU and its Member States.

In certain specific cases, not all Member States participate in all areas of EU
policy. For example, while the euro is the single currency of the EU as a whole,
the euro area currently comprises only 19 Member States, while Denmark has
an opt-out and the remaining countries do not yet meet the criteria for joining.
22 Member States are members of the Schengen area, which enables passport-
free movement, with five maintaining their own border controls.

Looking ahead
To keep the European project on course, the 2016 State of the Union address by
Jean-Claude Juncker, then President of the European Commission, presented a
positive agenda for a Europe that protects, empowers and defends. This
message was welcomed by the European Parliament as well as by the 27 EU
leaders at the Bratislava Summit on 16 September 2016.

The work on the positive agenda continued with the Commission’s White Paper
on the Future of Europe in March 2017, offering five scenarios for what the EU
could look like by 2025. Following the White Paper, the Commission contributed
to the debate with a series of thematic reflection papers offering different
options for the EU in certain policy areas: the social dimension of Europe;
harnessing globalisation; the deepening of economic and monetary union; the
future of European defence; and the future of EU finances.

The years ahead offer both opportunities and challenges for the European
Union. The European Parliament elections in 2019 and the extraordinary summit
to discuss the future of Europe in Sibiu, Romania on 9 May 2019, provided the
EU with the chance to renew its commitment to delivering on the issues that
really matter to people.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a Conference on

the Future of Europe to give Europeans their say on how their Union is run, and
what it delivers on. It will start in 2020 and run for two years, bringing together
citizens of all ages from across the EU, as well as civil society and European
institutions.