English project Kyriaki Gaitanidou 2014-2015 European Union (EU) English project Kyriaki Gaitanidou 2014-2015

Origin of the name "Europe" In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus in bull form and taken to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to Minos. For Homer, Europa (Greek: Ευρώπη) was a mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for mainland Greece and by 500 BC its meaning was extended to lands to the north. The term Europe is generally derived from Greek words meaning broad (ευρύς) and face (ώπς).

The beginning of the EU In 1951, six countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) decided to go down the path of economic cooperation by setting up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the first instance of European integration. In 1957, the six founding Member States went even further, signing the Treaty of Rome that established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). As cooperation between the Member States became ever tighter and the list of countries wishing to join the EU grew ever longer, several treaties adapting the Treaty of Rome were signed.

Where did the EU get its start? The idea for forming the European Union was originally proposed on September 19, 1946, by Winston Churchill in a speech at Zurich University during which he called for a "kind of United States of Europe." December 17 of that year, the European Federalists Union was set into place in Paris, France. The early United Europe Movement was created in 1947, and was in favor of intergovernmental cooperation as opposed to supranational control.

What is the European Union? A unique economic and political partnership between 27 democratic European countries.

What are its aims? Peace, prosperity and freedom for its 498 million citizens — in a fairer, safer world.

What results so far? Frontier-free travel and trade, the euro (the single European currency), safer food and a greener environment, better living standards in poorer regions, joint action on crime and terror, cheaper phone calls, millions of opportunities to study abroad … 

How does it work? To make these things happen, EU countries set up bodies to run the EU and adopt its legislation. The main ones are: the European Parliament (representing the people of Europe); the Council of the European Union (representing national governments); the European Commission (representing the common EU interest).

The European Union, EU. Members. 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 United Kingdom

The EU treaties 1952- Treaty establishing the European Coal and Community 1958 - Treaty of Rome 1967 - Merger Treaty 1987 - Single European Act (SEA) 1993- Treaty on European Union 1999 - Treaty of Amsterdam 2003 - Treaty of Nice 2009 – Treaty of Lisbon

The European Union, EU. The Founding Fathers Konrad Adenauer Alcide De Gasperi Winston Churchill Robert Schuman Jean Monnet

The founding fathers of the European Union Konrad Adenauer – The first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany lays one of the most important stones in the foundation of Europe. A cornerstone of Adenauer's foreign policy is reconciliation with France. Together with French President Charles de Gaulle a historic turning point was achieved: in 1963 the one-time arch-enemies Germany and France sign a treaty of friendship, which will become one of the milestones on the road to European integration.

The founding fathers of the European Union Alcide De Gasperi – He was the last prime minister of the Kingdom of Italy and the first one of the Italian Republic. Time and time again he promoted initiatives aimed at the fusion of Europe, working on the realisation of the Marshall Plan, creating close economic ties with other European countries and backing Schuman Plan for the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. He contributed to the development of the idea of a common defence policy in Europe.

The founding fathers of the European Union Winston Churchill – The British Prime Minister during the Second World War is one of the first to call for the creation of a “United States of Europe”. Following the Second World War, he was convinced that only a united Europe could avert the nightmare of future wars. Churchill, a partisan of the anti-nazi coalition and a winner of the Nobel prize for literature, is one of the main champions of the European cause in the collective memory.  

The founding fathers of the European Union Jean Monnet – The French political and economic adviser Jean Monnet was the inspiration behind the 'Schuman Plan', published on 9 May 1950, which led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. ECSC was the first embryo of the European Union and Monnet, between 1952 and 1955, was its first president. ECSC was the first of a series of supranational European institutions which led to what we now call “European Union”.  

The founding fathers of the European Union Robert Schuman – He was the French foreign minister between 1948 and 1952 and President of the European Parliament from 1958 until 1960. He went down to history for the so-called “Schuman Plan” with which he proposed joint control of coal and steel production, the most important materials for the armaments industry. The basic idea was that whoever did not have control over coal and steel production would not be able to fight a war. This idea brought Schuman to draw up, in cooperation with Jean Monnet, the Schuman Plan, which he published on 9 May 1950, the date now regarded as the birth of the European Union. One year later, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands sign the agreement establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.  

The EU flag The European Union Flag symbolizes the unity and integrity of the countries of European Union.The European Union Flag has a blue background with twelve golden stars arranged at the center in a circular pattern. Each star has five points. Contrary to popular beliefs, the twelve stars on the European Union Flag do not represent the members of the union. The number twelve was adopted because twelve is considered a symbol of perfection. The circle of stars represents the harmony among the people of the Union.

Creation of the flag The search for a symbol began in 1950 when a committee was set up in order to look into the question of a European flag. There were numerous proposals but a clear theme for stars and circles emerged.[7] Count Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi proposed that they adopt the flag of his International Paneuropean Union, which was a blue field, with a red cross inside an orange circle at the centre, which he had himself recently adopted for the European Parliamentary Union.[8] Due to the cross symbolism, this was rejected by Turkey (a member of the Council of Europe since 1949).[9] Kalergi then suggested adding a crescent to the cross design, to overcome the Muslim objections.[10] Another organisation's flag was the European Movement, which had a large green E on a white background.[11][12] A further design was one based on the Olympic rings: eight silver rings on a blue background. It was rejected due to the rings' similarity with "dial", "chain" and "zeros". One proposal had a large yellow star on a blue background, but it was rejected due to its similarity with the so-called Burnet flagand the flag of the Belgian Congo.[9]

Unsuccessful entries

video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCUF5t1kRlI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O37yJBFRrfg

The EUROPEAN ANTHEM (ODE TO JOY) The European anthem is based on the prelude to "The Ode to Joy", 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Due to the large number of languages in Europe, it is an instrumental version only with the original German lyrics having no official status. The anthem was announced on 19 January 1972 by the Council of Europe after being arranged by conductor Herbert von Karajan. The anthem was launched via a major information campaign on Europe Day, 5 May 1972. It was adopted by European Community leaders in 1985. It does not replace national anthems, but is intended to celebrate their shared values. It is played on official occasions by both the Council of Europe and the European Union.

THE EURO The euro is the official currency of 16 out of 27 member states of the European Union (EU) The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU)

Human rights and equality One of the EU’s main goals is to promote human rights both internally and around the world. Human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights: these are the core values of the EU. Since the 2009 signing of the Treaty of Lisbon , the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights brings all these rights together in a single document. The EU's institutions are legally bound to uphold them, as are EU governments whenever they apply EU law.

EU in the last few years In 2012, the Nobel Peace Price 2012 has been awarded to the European Union. The EU received the Nobel Peace Price for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

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