European Union Lecture Notes

Flashcards reviewing key concepts about the European Union.

What is Europe?

One of six continents with over 700 million people and 44 countries, 27 of which are in the EU.

European culture and diversity are shaped by:

Ancient Greece and Rome, the Reformation and Enlightenment, and Parliamentarism and social rights.

List the European Values:

Human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, and human rights.

Examples of Slavic languages:

Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Polish, Slovak and Slovene

Examples of Germanic languages:

Danish, German, English, Dutch and Swedish

Examples of Romance languages:

Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian

Examples of other EU languages:

Estonian and Finnish, Greek, Irish, Lithuanian and Latvian, Hungarian, Maltese

One of the main aims that led to the creation of the EU was:

Peace

The European Coal and Steel Community was established in:

1951

The EU received the Nobel Peace Prize in:

2012

In the Schengen area…

You can travel freely between the 27 countries without showing your passport.

Currently, _ EU countries use the Euro as their official currency.

20

The voice of European citizens:

The European Parliament

Members of the European Parliament are directly elected by citizens

Every five years

The European Parliament holds sessions in:

Brussels (Belgium) and Strasbourg (France)

The European Council does:

Sets the EU’s main priorities and policy directions.

The Council of the EU:

Represents the governments of the EU countries

The Council of the EU:

Takes decisions and passes laws together with the European Parliament.

The European Commission:

Represents the EU common interests

The European Commission:

Proposes new laws and programmes.

The European Court of Justice:

Keeps track of EU laws and makes sure that EU countries respect them.

The European Court of Auditors:

Checks whether the EU’s budget has been correctly spent.

The European Central Bank:

Leads EU economic and monetary policy and manages the euro.

What did the Treaty of Rome establish?

Established the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957, aiming to create a common market among its members.

The Treaty of Maastricht

Signed in 1992, it established the European Union and introduced the concept of European citizenship.

Lisbon Treaty

The Lisbon Treaty, signed in 2007 and entered into force in 2009, amended the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty Establishing the European Community (TEC). It aimed to make the EU more democratic, efficient, and better able to address global challenges.