How the European Parliament works

What is the EU?

The European Union is based on a series of empowering treaties that set broad policy goals and create legal institutions to implement those goals. It began as the European Coal and Steel Community formed among six countries in 1951 and the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The background to cooperation was to escape from the extreme forms of nationalism that lead to the devastation of the continent in the Second World War. The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force on 1 November 1993.

To join the EU, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, requiring a stable democracy that respects human rights and the rule of law, a functioning market economy capable of competition within the EU, and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. There is no way at present for a country to withdraw from the EU.

How does the EU legislate?

There are three equal types of legislation: Regulations, Directives and Decisions.

• Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force.
• Directives require member states to achieve a certain result, but give them discretion as to how to get there.
• Decisions are an alternative. They are legal acts that only apply to specified individuals or companies.

The Commission initiates all legislation, not the member states or the European Parliament. The Parliament can veto proposed legislation (called co-decision), or give an opinion that can be ignored by European leaders (called consultation).

All legislation has to be approved by the Council of the European Union.

The EU is the largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the second largest trade bloc economy in the world by PPP valuation of GDP. It is also the largest exporter of goods, the second largest importer, and the biggest trading partner to several large countries such as India, and China.

170 of the top 500 largest corporations measured by revenue (Fortune Global 500) have their headquarters in the EU.

Currently the Euro is used by only 16 member states.

Budget

The EU had an agreed budget of € 120.7 billion for the year 2007 and € 864.3 billion for the period 2007-2013. That is only around 1 % of the EU members´ Gross National Incomes. By comparison, the United Kingdom's expenditure for 2004 was estimated to be € 759 billion, and France was estimated to have spent € 801 billion.

In the 2006 budget, the largest single expenditure item was agriculture with around 47% of the total budget. Next came structural and cohesion funds with approximately 30%. Internal policies took up around 8.5%. Administration of all the EU institutions accounted for around 6.3%. Many charity organizations spend a greater percentage on administration.

Many think of the EU as a bloated bureaucracy. In fact, the total 40.000 staff is much the same as that of a single government ministry in many member states. Those states rarely have to work in more than one language. The EU has 23 official and working languages.

In reality, almost all the budget of the EU is spent in the member states, with the richer countries paying more to help the poorer countries or regions.

People

The EU's population is 7.3% of the world total, yet the EU covers just 3% of the earth's land, making the EU one of the most densely populated regions of the world. One third of EU citizens live in 16 cities of over a million people, rising to 80% living in urban areas generally.

The EU is a secular body with no formal connections to any religion and no mention of religion in any current or proposed treaty.

Member states are responsible for their own territorial defence. 21 member states are also members of NATO.

For further information visit the European Union On-Line.