European Union

According to Europa (the European Union Online), the official web site of the European Union, the EU is "a family of democratic European countries, committed to working together for peace and prosperity. It is not a State intended to replace existing states, but it is more than any other international organisation. The EU is, in fact, unique. Its Member States have set up common institutions to which they delegate some of their sovereignty so that decisions on specific matters of joint interest can be made democratically at European level." 

About the EU
See: About the EU and Europe Direct.

"The rule of law is fundamental to the European Union. All EU decisions and procedures are based on the Treaties, which are agreed by all the EU countries.

Early countries
"Initially, the EU consisted of just six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined in 1973, Greece in 1981, Spain and Portugal in 1986, Austria, Finland and Sweden in 1995.

In 2004, ten new countries
"In 2004 the biggest ever enlargement takes place with 10 new countries joining."


 * Cyprus
 * Czech Republic
 * Estonia
 * Hungary
 * Latvia
 * Lithuania
 * Malta
 * Poland
 * Slovakia
 * Slovenia

Since 2004

 * Bulgaria
 * Romania

Applicant states

 * Croatia
 * Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
 * Turkey

Non-Member/Other European States

 * Albania
 * Andorra
 * Armenia
 * Azerbaijan
 * Belarus
 * Bosnia-Herzegovina
 * Georgia
 * Iceland
 * Liechtenstein
 * Moldova
 * Monaco
 * Montenegro
 * Norway
 * Russia
 * San Marino
 * Serbia and Montenegro
 * Switzerland
 * Ukraine
 * Vatican City

History
"The historical roots of the European Union lie in the Second World War. The idea of European integration was conceived to prevent such killing and destruction from ever happening again. It was first proposed by the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in a speech on 9 May 1950. This date, the 'birthday' of what is now the EU, is celebrated annually as Europe Day."

EU Institutions
Also see: EU Institutions.


 * European Parliament (elected by the peoples of the Member States)
 * Council of the European Union (representing the governments of the Member States); Javier Solana, Secretary-General
 * European Commission (driving force and executive body)
 * European Court of Justice
 * Court of Auditors (controlling sound and lawful management of the EU budget)
 * European Economic and Social Committee (expresses the opinions of organised civil society on economic and social issues)
 * Committee of the Regions (expresses the opinions of regional and local authorities)
 * European Central Bank (responsible for monetary policy and managing the euro)
 * European Ombudsman (deals with citizens' complaints about maladministration by any EU institution or body)
 * European Investment Bank (helps achieve EU objectives by financing investment projects)
 * European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO)

Ban on hormone treated farm animals & U.S./Canadian imports
Since 1995, the European Union has prohibited the treatment of any farm animals with sex hormones, which includes a ban on hormone treated meat from the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. asserts that that hormone-treated meat is safe because "sex hormones only promote human cancers in hormone-sensitive tissues, such as the female breast and uterus". According to the U.S. there is a "threshold" for acceptable levels of hormones and that U.S. agriculture is well regulated so as not to exceed acceptable levels. However, according to a 136 page report compiled by an EU scientific committee, hormones are carcenogenic due to interference with DNA. Therefore, there is no safe threshold (except zero).

EU also tested 258 meat sample from the "Hormone Free Cattle program" run by the U.S. beef industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); whose purpose it is to produce beef which meets European requirements. The test revealed that 12% of hormone free cattle had been treated with sex hormones. EU cites this as evidence that growth hormones are poorly regulated the U.S. According to the E.U.:


 * "Where scientific evidence is not black and white, policy should err on the side of caution so that there is zero risk to the consumer.", , . See also meat & dairy industry, section 4.

SourceWatch articles

 * Animal testing
 * Anti-Common Market League
 * Campaign against Euro Federalism
 * Council of Europe
 * European Community and Post-Kyoto Protocol negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions
 * European Parliament
 * EU Reporter
 * globalization
 * Meat & Dairy industry
 * U.S. Department of Agriculture
 * Food and Drug Administration

General information

 * United States Mission to the European Union web site.
 * European Union in the United States web site.
 * European Union at the United Nations web site.
 * EU Business web site.
 * European Union Publications Office web site.
 * European Voice, independent online newsletter on the European Union.
 * European Banking Federation: "the united voice of the banks of the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries. The FBE represents over 4000 banks, large and small, with almost 20 000 billion euros assets."
 * The European Union Banking & Finance News Network.
 * European Union Institute for Security Studies web site.
 * Western European Union web site.
 * European Union Studies Association web site.
 * European University Institute (EUI) web site.
 * European Police Office (EUROPOL) web site.
 * European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC) web site.
 * European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) web site.
 * European Environment Agency (EEA) web site.
 * The European Union (diplomatic web site from France).
 * The European Union Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
 * European Union Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
 * Center for West European Studies/European Union Center, University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh.
 * European Union Center of UNC-CH & Duke University.
 * European Union Center of California.
 * European Union Center, University System of Georgia.
 * The European Union: A Bibliography.
 * European Union Index.
 * Other Links for the European Union on the World Wide Web (WWW).
 * European Union web ring.

Articles & Commentary

 * "European Union Stands Up to American Corporations," Pravda, May 10, 2003.
 * "EU Expansion Could Fan Drugs Problem, Report Says," Reuters, October 22, 2003: "The European Union's drug monitoring agency said in a report that the accession of the 10 mainly east European and former-Communist countries raised the prospect of increased drug trafficking and spread of infectious diseases."
 * "Four countries set to breach EU deficit limit", AFP, October 29, 2003: "France, Germany and Portugal are set next year to breach a euro-zone deficit limit, the European Commission warned in its autumn economic report. ... Italy could join the trio in the budgetary doghouse in 2005 unless it changes course, the European Union's executive arm warned in the six-monthly report."
 * Richard Bernstein, "Europe's Vision of Unity Meets Headwinds," New York Times, December 4, 2003: "...the recent reality of the union has been a series of crises and disagreements that have led some analysts to wonder if it can work at all with so many members of such different sizes and interests."
 * Stephen Castle, "EU plans charter flights to speed up deportations," Independent/UK, January 24, 2004: "Charter flights are to be used to repatriate failed asylum-seekers and other illegal immigrants under a new â?¬30m (Â£20m) initiative announced by EU ministers. ... A new European agency for border control will co-ordinate returns by EU member states in an effort to help stem the rising numbers of economic migrants crossing borders. ... While control of the repatriation policy will remain with national governments, the agency will arrange charter flights if groups of countries have sufficient numbers of people to return to make economic sense."
 * Sara Mesa Despite Initial Resistance, the EU Searches for a Way to Ban Dog and Cat Fur, Humane Society International, July 2005