| 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. Thus, inclusion of basic intelligence on the EU has been
deemed appropriate as a new, separate entity in The World Factbook.
However, because of the EU's special status, this description is placed
after the regular country entries. |
|
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 |
|
|
|
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
83
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)
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 - 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.)
$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.)
80
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.)
05
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.)
06
31.2
(1996 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
19.1% of GDP (2009 est.)
04 |
|
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)
00
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)
14
8.03%
(31 December 2007) |
|
Stock of money: |
$5.542 trillion (31
December 2008)
$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)
$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.)
$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.)
39 |
|
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: |
2.531 million bbl/day
(2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption: |
14.39 million bbl/day
(2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports: |
2.196 million bbl/day
(2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - imports: |
8.613 million bbl/day
(2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
5.504 billion bbl (1
January 2008)
3 |
|
Natural gas -
production: |
201.9 billion cu m (2007
est.)
country comparison to the world: 3 |
|
Natural gas -
consumption: |
516.2 billion cu m (2007
est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
NA cu m |
|
Natural gas - imports: |
NA cu m |
|
Natural
gas - proved reserves: |
2.259 trillion cu m (1
January 2008 est.)
|
|
Current account balance: |
$NA (2009)
$51.4
billion (2008 est.) |
|
Exports: |
$1.952 trillion (2007)
$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)
$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) |
|
|
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| 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 |
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