European Union

From TinWiki.org

The European Union (EU) is a union of most of the European countries. Great Britain, France and Germany are generally considered the most powerful members. The EU organizes Europe into tax zones that are different from the existing countries and cross national borders, for example Southern England and Northern France are considered to be the same state. In some cases, they have taken this further, even proposing areas be renamed and redistributed in order to further strengthen social and economic ties.

Today the EU boasts over 500 million citizens and 30% of the worlds GDP. There are also proposed plans to create an EU army, even though within the EU all states are responsible for their own defence; it is not a military alliance, though many states are in Defensive Pacts through [NATO] membership.

1 Basic History
2 Organisation
3 Currency
4 In popular culture
5 See also
6 External links
7 Related Discussion Threads on AboveTopSecret.com

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Basic History

The EU was created in 1993, building upon the former EEC (European Economic Community). Originally it was designed to promote economic unity and co-operation between European nations. Membership gradually increased from just a handful to twenty seven states, with even more being considered for membership in the future. In recent times it was moved to a more interventionist role and is moving towards becoming a more solid government, causing concerns that the Union is becoming one nation rather than an alliance. This conflicts with the national sovereignty of nations and centralises power which can lead to inappropriate policy making.

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Organisation

The EU is made up of three institutions. These are, in order of importance: The Council, The Commission and The Parliament. Of these three, only the Parliament is elected, usually once every 5 years by EU citizens. Despite being the only elected body, it has very little power and isn't chiefly involved in the law making process, generally only doing low level budget administration. It does however have the power to disband the Commission if it feels this is necessary. This has only been done once in the EU's history. The Council makes most laws, and the Commission ensures they are upheld. Both are made up of one representative from each member state of a ministerial level or above. The Commission members are supposedly independent from their nationality, but this isn't always upheld.

The EU also has it's own court, the European Court of Justice, in which citizens can bring cases against their government, however in reality the majority of cases submitted are not held due to a huge demand and time restraints.

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Currency

Many EU states use the European currency, the Euro. This allows for easier international trade and in theory makes it more profitable, however critics point out that it links the nations economies together so strong economies are brought down by the weaker ones. This is the reason many nations such as Britain do not use the Euro; doing so would damage their economies since theirs are comparatively stronger than those of the other EU states.

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