|
Introduction - European Union
Preliminary statement:
The evolution of the European Union (EU) from a regional economic agreement
among six neighboring states in 1951 to today's supranational organization of 27
countries across the European continent stands as an unprecedented phenomenon in
the annals of history. Dynastic unions for territorial consolidation were long
the norm in Europe. On a few occasions even country-level unions were arranged -
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were examples
- but for such a large number of nation-states to cede some of their sovereignty
to an overarching entity is truly unique.
Although the EU is not a federation in the strict sense, it is far more than a
free-trade association such as ASEAN, NAFTA, or Mercosur, and it has many of the
attributes associated with independent nations: its own flag, anthem, founding
date, and currency, as well as an incipient common foreign and security policy
in its dealings with other nations.
In the future, many of these nation-like characteristics are likely to be
expanded.
Background:
Following the two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century,
a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only
way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations
- France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French
Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe, the
first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of
Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg,
and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris.
The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to
integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome
created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy
Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade
barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions
of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC),
creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the European
Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by
national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and
they have been held every five years since.
In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of
Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership
expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992
Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign
and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an
economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further
integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and
Sweden joined the EU, raising the membership total to 15.
A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999;
it became the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except the United
Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries
(the European Monetary Union or EMU) began using the euro banknotes and coins.
Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - and in 2007
Bulgaria and Romania joined, bringing the current membership to 27. In order to
ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded
membership, the Treaty of Nice (in force as of 1 February 2003) set forth rules
streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An effort to establish
an EU constitution, begun in October 2004, failed to attain unanimous
ratification. A new effort, undertaken in June 2007, created an
Intergovernmental Conference to formulate a political agreement - initially
known as the Reform Treaty but subsequently referred to as the Treaty of Lisbon
- which would serve as a constitution. Unlike the constitution, however, the
Treaty of Lisbon sought to amend existing treaties rather than replace them. In
October 2009, an Irish referendum approved the Treaty (overturning a previous
rejection) and cleared the way for an ultimate unanimous endorsement - the Czech
Republic signed on soon after. Treaty implementation began on 1 December 2009.
In 2010, the prospect of a Greek default on its euro-denominated debt created
severe strains within the EMU and raised the question of whether a member
country might be removed.
Geography - European Union
Location:
Europe between the North Atlantic Ocean in the west and Russia, Belarus, and
Ukraine to the east
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 4,324,782 sq km
Area - comparative:
less than one-half the size of the US
Land boundaries:
total: 12,440.8 km
border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Croatia
999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 394 km, Moldova 450
km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia
945 km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 446 km, Ukraine 1,257 km
note: data for European Continent only
Coastline:
65,992.9 km
Maritime claims:
NA
Climate:
Current Weather
cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet
winters; hot dry summers in the south
Terrain:
fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and
southern areas
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m
highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m; note - situated on the border between France
and Italy
Natural resources:
iron ore, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, uranium,
potash, salt, hydropower, arable land, timber, fish
Land use:
arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA
other: NA
Irrigated land:
168,050 sq km (2003 est.)
Natural hazards:
flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south;
volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Environment - current issues:
NA
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent
Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94
signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
People - European Union
Population:
492,387,344 (July 2010 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 15.44% (male 38,992,677/female 36,940,450)
15-64 years: 67.23% (male 166,412,403/female 164,295,636)
65 years and over: 17.33% (male 35,376,333/female 49,853,361) (2009 est.)
Median age:
note - see individual country entries of member states (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.098 % (2010 est.)
Birth rate:
9.83 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)
Death rate:
10.33 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)
Net migration rate:
1.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 5.61 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 183
male: 6.26 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.82 years
country comparison to the world: 40
male: 75.7 years
female: 82.13 years (2010 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.51 children born/woman (2010 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
note - see individual country entries of member states
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
note - see individual country entries of member states
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
note - see individual country entries of member states
Religions:
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
Languages:
Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic,
German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish,
Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish
note: only official languages are listed; German, the major language of Germany,
Austria, and Switzerland, is the most widely spoken mother tongue - over 19% of
the EU population; English is the most widely spoken language - about 49% of the
EU population is conversant with it (2007)
Government - European Union
Union name:
conventional long form: European Union
abbreviation: EU
Political structure:
a hybrid intergovernmental and supranational organization
Capital:
name: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Luxembourg
geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 20 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in
October
note: the Council of the European Union meets in Brussels, Belgium; the European
Parliament meets in Brussels and Strasbourg, France; the Court of Justice of the
European Communities meets in Luxembourg
Member states:
27 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK; note - candidate countries: Croatia, Macedonia,
Turkey
Independence:
7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993
(Maastricht Treaty entered into force)
National holiday:
Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert
SCHUMAN proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community to
achieve an organized Europe
Constitution:
none
note: based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome, which
set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy
Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on
European Union (Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the
Treaty of Nice in 2003; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29
October 2004 in Rome, gave member states two years for ratification either by
parliamentary vote or national referendum before it was scheduled to take effect
on 1 November 2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June 2005 dealt
a severe setback to the ratification process; in June 2007, the European Council
agreed on a clear and concise mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference to
form a political agreement and put it into legal form; this agreement, known as
the Reform Treaty, would have served as a constitution and was presented to the
European Council in October 2007 for individual country ratification; it was
rejected by Irish voters in June 2008, again stalling the ratification process;
the Reform Treaty, more recently known as the Treaty of Lisbon, was again
circulated for ratification, and by November 2009 was approved by all 27
countries; it came into effect on 1 December 2009
Legal system:
comparable to the legal systems of member states; first supranational law system
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose Manuel BARROSO (since
2004)
cabinet: European Commission (composed of 27 members, one from each member
country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas)
(For more information visit the World Leaders website )
elections: the president of the European Commission designated by member
governments and confirmed by the European Parliament; working from member state
recommendations, the Commission president then assembles a "college" of
Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a
five-year term; the next confirmation process will likely be held in January
2015
note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the
president of the European Commission and meets at least four times a year; its
aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to
European integration and to issue general policy guidelines; leaders of the EU
member states appointed then Belgian Prime Minister Herman VAN ROMPUY to be the
first full-time president of the European Council in November 2009; he took
office on 1 December 2009 and will serve a two-and-one-half year term, renewable
once; his core responsibilities include chairing the four summits each year and
providing continuity beyond the rotating, six-month presidencies of the Council
of the EU
Legislative branch:
two legislative bodies consisting of the Council of the European Union (27
member-state ministers having 345 votes; the number of votes is roughly
proportional to member-states' population) and the European Parliament (736
seats; seats allocated among member states in proportion to population; members
elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term); note - the Council
is the main decision-making body of the EU; leaders of the EU member states
appointed UK Baroness Catherine Ashton to be the first High Representative of
the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Ashton took office on 1
December 2009; her concurrent appointment as Vice President of the European
Commission - both of which are subject to confirmation by the European
Parliament - endows her position with the policymaking influence of the Council
of the EU and the budgetary influence of the European Commission
elections: last held on 4-7 June 2009 (next to be held in June 2014)
election results: percent of vote - EPP 36%, S&D 25%, ALDE 11.4%, Greens/EFA
7.5%, ECR 7.3%, GUE/NGL 4.8%, EFD 4.3%, independents 3.7%; seats by party - EPP
265, S&D 184, ALDE 84, Greens/EFA 55, ECR 54, GUE/NGL 35, EFD 32, independents
27
Judicial branch:
Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are
interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the EU; resolve constitutional
issues among the EU institutions) - 27 justices (one from each member state)
appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can
sit with 13 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 27
justices appointed for a six-year term
Political parties and leaders:
Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or GUE/NGL [Lothar
BISKY]; Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group or EFD [Nigel FARAGE and Francesco
SPERONI]; European Conservatives and Reformists Group or ECR [Michael KAMINSKI];
Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Rebecca HARMS and Daniel
COHN-BENDIT]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE
[Guy VERHOFSTADT]; Group of the European People's Party or EPP [Joseph DAUL];
Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European
Parliament or S&D [Martin SCHULZ]
International organization participation:
European Union: ARF (dialogue member), ASEAN (dialogue member), G-20, IDA, OAS
(observer), PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), UN (observer)
European Council: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, EBRD, G-10, IEA, LAIA, NSG
(observer), OECD, UNRWA (observer), WCO, WTO, ZC (observer)
European Central Bank: BIS
European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Angelos PANGRATIS
chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500
FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Christopher MURRAY
embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels
mailing address: same as above
telephone: [32] (2) 508-2111
FAX: [32] (2) 508-2063
Flag description:
a blue field with 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle in the center;
blue represents the sky of the Western world, the stars are the peoples of
Europe in a circle, a symbol of unity; the number of stars is fixed
Economy - European Union
Economy - overview:
Internally, the EU has abolished trade barriers, adopted a common currency, and
is striving toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims
to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because
of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from $7,000
to $78,000) and historic national animosities, the EU faces difficulties in
devising and enforcing common policies. In the wake of the global economic
crisis, the European Commission projected that the EU's economy will shrink by
4% in 2009. In September 2009, the Commission reported that the EU was
recovering from the crisis faster than it had projected, however, significant
risks to sustainable growth remain, including, deteriorating fiscal positions,
rising unemployment, tight bank lending, and a strong euro. Even prior to the
global economic crisis Germany and France flouted EMU member states' treaty
obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3%
deficit, and now many more member states are running substantial deficits.
Eleven established EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency
on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later), but the UK, Sweden, and
Denmark chose not to participate. Between 2004 and 2007, the EU admitted 12
countries that are, in general, less advanced economically than the other 15. Of
the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia (1 January 2007), Cyprus and
Malta (1 January 2008), and Slovakia (1 January 2009) have adopted the euro; the
remaining eight are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's
fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$14.51 trillion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 1
$15.12 trillion (2008 est.)
$14.99 trillion (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
$16.18 trillion (2009 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
-4% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 180
0.8% (2008 est.)
3% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$32,600 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 42
$34,100 (2008 est.)
$33,900 (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.9%
industry: 25.2%
services: 72.8% (2009 est.)
Labor force:
225 million (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 5.6%
industry: 27.7%
services: 66.7% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate:
8.9% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 105
7% (2008 est.)
Population below poverty line:
note - see individual country entries of member states
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 25.7% (2002 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
31 (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 106
31.2 (1996 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
19.1% of GDP (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 104
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
0.7% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 40
1.8% (2008 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
3% (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 100
5% (31 December 2007)
note: this is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility,
which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
8.6% (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 114
8.03% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$5.542 trillion (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 1
$5.649 trillion (31 December 2007)
note: this is the quantity of money, M1, for the euro area, converted into US
dollars at the exchange rate for the date indicated; it excludes the stock of
money carried by non-euro-area members of the European Union
Stock of quasi money:
$5.631 trillion (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 3
$5.18 trillion (31 December 2007)
note: this is the quantity of quasi money, M2-M1, for the euro area, converted
into US dollars at the exchange rate for the date indicated; it excludes the
stock of quasi money carried by non-euro-area members of the European Union
Stock of domestic credit:
$21.17 trillion (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 1
$20.94 trillion (31 December 2007)
note: this figure refers to the euro area only; it excludes credit data for
non-euro-area members of the EU
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA (31 December 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
$7.564 trillion (31 December 2008)
$15.57 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)
Agriculture - products:
wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes; dairy products, cattle,
sheep, pigs, poultry; fish
Industries:
among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the EU industrial
base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and processing, metal
products, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail
transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, construction
equipment, industrial equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment,
machine tools and automated manufacturing systems, electronics and
telecommunications equipment, fishing, food and beverage processing, furniture,
paper, textiles, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
-9.5% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 139
Electricity - production:
3.08 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
Electricity - consumption:
2.906 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
Electricity - exports:
NA kWh
Electricity - imports:
NA kWh
Oil - production:
2.383 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 13
Oil - consumption:
13.68 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
Oil - exports:
2.196 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 9
Oil - imports:
8.613 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
Oil - proved reserves:
5.718 billion bbl (1 January 2008)
country comparison to the world: 22
Natural gas - production:
181.6 billion cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
Natural gas - consumption:
489.4 billion cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
Natural gas - exports:
NA cu m
Natural gas - imports:
NA cu m
Natural gas - proved reserves:
2.318 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 15
Current account balance:
$NA (2009)
$51.4 billion (2008 est.)
Exports:
$1.952 trillion (2007)
country comparison to the world: 1
$1.33 trillion (2005)
note: external exports, excluding intra-EU trade
Exports - commodities:
machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other
chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper
products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Imports:
$1.69 trillion (2007)
country comparison to the world: 1
$1.466 trillion (2005)
note: external imports, excluding intra-EU trade
Imports - commodities:
machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals,
foodstuffs, clothing
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$NA
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$NA
Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.7338 (2009), 0.6827 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964
(2006), 0.8041 (2005)
Communications - European Union
Telephones - main lines in use:
238 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
466 million (2005)
Telephone system:
note - see individual country entries of member states
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 930, FM 13,655, shortwave 71 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio
broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)
Television broadcast stations:
2,700 (1995); note - sum of individual country television broadcast stations
excluding repeaters; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)
Internet country code:
.eu; note - see country entries of member states for individual country codes
Internet hosts:
118,760; note - this sum reflects the number of internet hosts assigned the .eu
internet country code (2009)
Internet users:
247 million (2006)
Transportation - European Union
Airports:
3,391 (2009)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1,995
over 3,047 m: 115
2,438 to 3,047 m: 341
1,524 to 2,437 m: 543
914 to 1,523 m: 421
under 914 m: 575 (2009)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 1,396
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 257
under 914 m: 1,110 (2009)
Heliports:
100 (2007)
Railways:
total: 229,450 km (2008)
Roadways:
total: 5,454,446 km (2008)
Waterways:
52,332 km (2006)
Ports and terminals:
Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Braila (Romania), Bremen (Germany), Burgas
(Bulgaria), Constanta (Romania), Copenhagen (Denmark), Galati (Romania), Gdansk
(Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands,
Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France),
Naples (Italy), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Riga (Latvia), Rotterdam
(Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), Talinn (Estonia), Tulcea (Romania), Varna
(Bulgaria)
Military - European Union
Military - note:
the five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain,
and Luxembourg - has deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
assumed command of the ISAF in Afghanistan in August 2004; Eurocorps directly
commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support
Brigade, and EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina; in November 2004, the EU Council
of Ministers formally committed to creating 13 1,500-man battle groups by the
end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis; 22 of the
EU's 27 nations have agreed to supply troops; France, Italy, and the UK formed
the first of three battle groups in 2005; Norway, Sweden, Estonia, and Finland
established the Nordic Battle Group effective 1 January 2008; nine other groups
are to be formed; a rapid-reaction naval EU Maritime Task Group was stood up in
March 2007 (2007)
Transnational Issues - European Union
Disputes - international:
as a political union, the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries,
but Estonia has no land boundary agreements with Russia, Slovenia disputes its
land and maritime boundaries with Croatia, and Spain has territorial and
maritime disputes with Morocco and with the UK over Gibraltar; the EU has set up
a Schengen area - consisting of 22 EU member states that have signed the
convention implementing the Schengen agreements or "acquis" (1985 and 1990) on
the free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in Europe;
these agreements became incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the
1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; in addition, non-EU states Iceland and
Norway (as part of the Nordic Union) have been included in the Schengen area
since 1996 (full members in 2001), and Switzerland since 2008 bringing the total
current membership to 25; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part
in only some aspects of the Schengen area, especially with respect to police and
criminal matters; nine of the 12 new member states that joined the EU since 2004
joined Schengen on 21 December 2007; of the three remaining EU states, Cyprus is
expected to join by 2009, while Romania and Bulgaria continue to enhance their
border security systems
|
