European Union History, Publications, and Web Applications 2015

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EU  The European Union has gone through many incarnations since its origins sixty-plus years ago.

EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY * 1952: THE BASIS OF THE EU BEGAN WITH THE SIGNING OF THE TREATY OF PARIS, ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY (ECSC). * THE SIX FOUNDING STATES WERE BELGIUM, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, LUXEMBOURG, AND THE NETHERLANDS. *1957: THE TREATIES OF ROME WERE SIGNED BY THE SIX MEMBER STATES, FORMING: -THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (EEC) -THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY (EUROATOM) * THESE UNITS WORKED CONCURRENTLY WITH THE ECSC.

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY  1967: ECSC, EEC, and EuroAtom merged to form the basis of the EC.  1973: the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Ireland joined.  1981: Greece joined.  1986: Spain and Portugal joined.  1995: Finland, Sweden, and Austria joined.

INITIAL EU GOALS:  To form a single market for Europe's economic resources.  Environmental movements  Regulatory acts  Human rights concerns.

THE EUROPEAN UNION *1992: THE MAASTRICHT TREATY WAS RATIFIED, WHICH RECHARTERED THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AS THE EUROPEAN UNION. * THE EU PRESENTLY HAS 28 MEMBER STATES AND HAS BROADENED ITS SCOPE EVEN FURTHER TO PROMOTE UNITY BOTH ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY AMONG PEOPLE OF EUROPE, TO INTRODUCE A COMMON EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP TO ALL CITIZENS FROM ITS MEMBER COUNTRIES, AND TO ASSERT A EUROPEAN IDENTITY ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE.

CURRENT EU COUNTRIES  Austria (1995)  Belgium (1958)  Bulgaria (2007)  Cyprus (2004)  Croatia (2013)  Czech Republic (2004)  Denmark (1973)  Estonia (2004)  Finland (1995)  France (1958)  Germany (1958)  Greece (1981)  Hungary (2004)  Ireland (1973)  Italy (1958)  Latvia (2004)  Lithuania (2004)  Luxembourg (1958)  Malta (2004)  The Netherlands (1958)  Poland (2004)  Portugal (1986)  Slovakia (2004)  Slovenia (2004)  Spain (1986)  Sweden (1995)  United Kingdom (1973)

CURRENT EU ISSUES 1. European Financial Crisis *Will Greece leave the EU? 2. Immigration Issues *Ten countries set to join the EU in 2004.

THE EURO  The euro – Europe's new single currency - represents the consolidation and culmination of European economic integration.  Its introduction on January 1, 1999, marked the final phase of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), a three-stage process that was launched in 1990 as EU member states prepared for the 1992 single market.

THE EURO  1990: Aimed at boosting cross- border business activity, the first stage of EMU lifted restrictions on movements of capital across internal EU borders.  1994: The European Monetary Institute was established in Frankfurt to pave the way for the European Central Bank.  1999: the Euro was introduced as the single currency for eleven EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.

THE EURO  : The Euro and the previous national currencies were both used in the participating states.  2002: These countries had their previous national currencies withdrawn permanently as legal tender.  EU member states not yet using the Euro as currency: Denmark, Greece, Sweden, United Kingdom

ENLARGEMENT POSSIBILITIES:  Albania  Macedonia  Montenegro  Serbia  Turkey

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO QUALIFY FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU: 1. THE CANDIDATE COUNTRY HAS ACHIEVED STABILITY OF INSTITUTIONS GUARANTEEING DEMOCRACY, THE RULE OF LAW, HUMAN RIGHTS AND RESPECT FOR AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES. 2. THE CANDIDATE COUNTRY HAS THE EXISTENCE OF A FUNCTIONING MARKET ECONOMY, AS WELL AS THE CAPACITY TO COPE WITH COMPETITIVE PRESSURE AND MARKET FORCES WITHIN THE UNION. 3. THE CANDIDATE COUNTRY HAS THE ABILITY TO TAKE ON THE OBLIGATIONS OF MEMBERSHIP, INCLUDING ADHERENCE TO THE AIMS OF POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION.

EU PUBLICATIONS * THE EU PUBLISHES ON A MULTITUDE OF TOPICS IN A VARIETY OF FORMATS. STATISTICS, PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS, CURRENT EVENTS, DEBATE,REGULATIONS, AND NEWS ITEMS ALL FALL WITHIN THE RANGE OF EU PUBLICATION TOPICS. *THE TYPE OF PUBLICATIONS INCLUDE PERIODICALS, MONOGRAPHS, AND ANNUALS. *THE FORMAT OF PUBLICATIONS IS EITHER PAPER, FICHE OR ELECTRONIC, WITH INTERNET BEING HEAVILY UTILIZED SINCE 2000.

TYPES OF PUBLICATIONS  EU publications fall into a number of EU-specific categories: Green Papers, White Papers, Bulletins, Communications, Reports, Memorandum, and Press Releases.  The main division of these items is between general Information and Official Documents.

EUROPA: THE SERVER FOR THE EU  “One-stop Shopping”  Available in 24 official EU languages  Fully searchable  Divided into easily searchable areas

EUROPEAN UNION DEPOSITORIES  The European Union has a long standing tradition of maintaining European Documentation Centers (EDCs) throughout the EU member countries, with a total of 275 EDCs world-wide.  The EU presently supports over fifty depositories in the United States.  The earliest of these depositories were established with the creation of the ECSC.

EU DEPOSITORIES HOLDINGS *DEPOSITORIES AND EDCS AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE ONE COPY OF A MAJORITY OF EU PRODUCED ITEMS, FREE OF CHARGE, IN THE DESIGNATED LANGUAGE. * THE ONLY ITEMS WHICH ARE NOT PART OF THIS AGREEMENT ARE THETECHNICAL REPORTS AND THE PRESS MATERIALS ISSUED BY THE COMMISSION'S OFFICES LOCATED OUTSIDE OF BRUSSELS. *THE PUBLIC CAN PURCHASE OFFICIAL EU DOCUMENTS FROM THE OFFICE FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS (EU-OP). PURCHASE REQUESTS CAN BE MADE VIA THE INTERNET. *THERE IS A LARGE CACHE OF CURRENT INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET, AVAILABLE THROUGH THE EU WEBSITE.

OU HAS BEEN AN EU DEPOSITORY SINCE 1973  The EC/EU items were originally housed in the closed stacks of the Government Documents Collection, under the EU call number. It was useful to have them located in one collection, but difficult to access because of the difficult call numbering system.  In 1993, the EU Documents were moved to the Main Library and cataloged under the LC call number. The resources are now accessible from the main computer, but are scattered through-out the building.

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS WEB PAGE

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA EU CENTER  In 2001, OU received a grant from the European Commission, to support a European Union Center for the school.  The Center seeks to advance knowledge of the European Union at the University of Oklahoma, as well as throughout the local community, the state of Oklahoma, and the southwestern United States. The European Union Center at the University of Oklahoma has established a network of affiliates at universities throughout the southwest providing the program opportunities for reaching a broad regional audience  OU’s EU Center is one of fifteen in the nation.