THE EUROPEAN UNION

Almudena, David, Pablo, Ander e Irene

What is the European Union?

• The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 28 member states.

MEMBER STATES

•The European Union comprises the following 28 sovereign member states.

How does the European Union work?

• The distinctive feature of the EU is that, although they are all sovereign and independent countries, they have shared part of its "sovereignty" in order to gain strength and enjoy the advantages of size. The European Union have institutions.

INSTITUTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

• European Parliament : Lower house of the legislature.

• European Council : Provides impetus and direction.

• Council of the European Union : Upper house of the legislature.

• European Commission : Executive.

• Court of Justice of the European Union : Judiciary.

• European Court of Auditors : Financial auditor.

• European Central Banck : Monetary executive.

The Euro

•The euro (€) is the currency used by the institutions of the European Union as well as the official currency of the euro zone, formed by 18 of the 28 states.

•The name of euro was officially adopted the 16 December 1995. The euro was introduced in the world-wide financial markets as a currency the 1st January of 1999.

• Euro zone (18) • States of the UE that has the obligation to be

united to the euro zone (8) • States of the UE with an exclusion clause (2) • States and areas outside the UE that uses euro

without an agreement (2)

Characteristics

• The banknotes: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 Euros – are identical for all countries.

• The coins: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cents and 1 and 2 Euros have on one side the same drawing in all the others countries, but the other side is different in each country.

• The main reasons of banknotes are:

doors and windows, that symbolize the spirit of opening of the European Union

bridges, represent the elimination of borders and integration.

In addition, the general subject of the series is “Ages and styles”, appearing in each banknote a different architectonic style.

Architectonic style in banknotes

5 Euro 10 Euro 20 Euro 50 Euro 100 Euro 200 Euro 500 Euro

Clasic Romanic Gothic Renaissance Baroque Modernist Contemporaneous

History

• From the Treaty of the European Union, since 1993, the states members, have been adopting a European common currency, denominated euro, for the creation of an Economic and Monetary Union.

• The first passage in the introduction of the new currency officially happened the 1st of January 1999, when the currencies of the eleven countries of the European Union stopped existing like independent systems and joined the plan of the unique currency, denominated euro zone.

• Since then, several countries have been joining the EU who are still in a process of introduction to the currency or they have already surpassed it. Some cases like Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City and Andorra use the euro by an agreement with the EU.

Effects of an only currency• Optimal currency area• In economics, an optimum currency area is a

geographical region in which it would maximize economic efficiency to have the entire region share a single currency.

• Transaction costs and risks• The most obvious benefit of adopting a single

currency is to remove the cost of exchanging currency, theoretically allowing businesses and individuals to consummate previously unprofitable trades.

• Price parity• Another effect of the common European currency is that

differences in prices should decrease because of the law of one price. Therefore, prices on commonly traded goods are likely to converge, causing inflation in some regions and deflation in others during the transition.

• Macroeconomic stability• Low levels of inflation are the hallmark of stable and

modern economies.

¿Qué significa ser ciudadano europeo?

Es ciudadano de la Unión toda persona que ostente la nacionalidad de un Estado miembro. La ciudadanía de la Unión fue creada por el Tratado de Maastricht en 1992 y es complementaria o adicional, y no sustitutiva, de la ciudadanía nacional.

Y también tienen unos derechos:

-Derecho a circular y residir libremente en el territorio de los Estados miembros.

-Derecho de sufragio activo y pasivo en las elecciones al Parlamento Europeo y municipales del Estado miembro en el que resida.

-Derecho a la protección de las autoridades diplomáticas y consulares.

-Derecho de petición ante el Parlamento Europeo.

-Derecho a dirigirse al Defensor del Pueblo.

Con la entrada en vigor del Tratado de Lisboa, los ciudadanos europeos adquieren derecho de iniciativa, por lo que podrán pedir a la Comisión la presentación de un proyecto de ley siempre que cuenten con un millón de firmas procedentes de un número importante de Estados miembros.

The future of the European Union

The European Union can be a resultant superpower.

• The European Union has been classified as a resultant superpower by many scholars and political analysts worldwide . Many scholars , academics, and some politicians believe that the EU is , or soon will be, a superpower.

• In historical sight , we should remember the old European imperial powers , Italy, France , Germany , Netherlands, Spain , Portugal , UK, and in many respects also Greece.