Page 306 - Encyclopedia of Business and Finance

eobf_E 7/5/06 3:01 PM Page 283

European Union

Sirgy, M. Joseph, Lee, Dong-Jin, Kosenko, Rustan, and Lee, H. called the euro, which was to have been managed by the
(1998, Spring). “Does Television Viewership Play a Role in new European Central Bank.
the Perception of Quality of Life?” Journal of Advertising, In 2005 the members of the European Union
125-142.
included: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
United States Code, Title 15, Section 45. Retrieved October 18,
2005, from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/45.text.html. Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slove-
nia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The candi-
John A. Swope
date countries were Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and
Turkey. Macedonia, formerly a part of Yugoslavia, had a
pending application. A new constitution was being pro-
posed for 2006, but by 2005 France and Belgium had
EUROPEAN UNION turned it down. The United Kingdom delayed the vote in
The European Union is a rapidly changing economic and that country pending a hearing to determine what the
political union of mostly western European nations that possible ramifications of the failure could be.
arose out of the European Community in 1993. This
international organization is not meant to replace the sov- GOVERNMENT MAKEUP
ereignty of the individual countries but rather to unify
them under a common currency and economic structure, Three main institutions make up this union of nations.
as well as under some shared principles of law and human The first one is the Council of the European Union. This
rights. One of the cornerstones of the European Union body represents the individual member states. The second
has been the new currency, known as the euro, and the body is the European Parliament meant to represent the
creation of a new European Central Bank. This new group citizens of the European Union. The third body is the
European Commission, which is to represent the com-
of nations is to rival the United States and to increase
trade among its member nations. This is no easy feat mon interests of the continent of Europe. These three
because of the strong national identities of these nations, parts are to represent all parts of the constituency of
including language barriers and long-standing cultural Europe.
disputes. The Council of the European Union is the main deci-
sion-making body in which the control of the body
rotates every six months to another member nation.
HISTORY
Depending on what the agenda is for particular meetings
The beginnings of the European Union were cultivated
determines which minister from each nation attends. For
soon after the end of World War II (1939–1945), when it
instance, if there is a meeting on agriculture, the agricul-
appeared that Europe would once again be a battleground ture ministers from each nation would attend. There are
between the United States and the Union of Soviet Social-
nine different policy areas that the council considers. The
ist Republics. On May 9, 1950, the French foreign minis-
General Secretariat is the administrative part of the coun-
ter, Robert Schuman, proposed the first agreement to pool
cil, and it is based in Brussels. The ambassadors of the
coal and steel resources. In 1952 the European Coal and
Steel Community was established, and it included Bel- member nations determine the agenda for the council.
gium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and The council and the European Parliament share leg-
West Germany. It was hoped that this new spirit of coop- islative authority and responsibility for the budget. On
eration would not only prevent war from breaking out important events such as amending treaties, a unanimous
between member nations but also present a strong eco- decision must be met; on other votes, however, only a
nomic face to the United States. qualified majority of 232 votes is required. Voting rights
With this newfound success, the European Coal and are based on the size of the population of the member
Steel Community evolved in 1958 to become the Euro- state.
pean Economic Community. This was an attempt to inte- The European Parliament is the representative arm of
grate further other parts of these varied economies in the European Union. Every five years the people of
order to remove other trade barriers. The Treaty of Maas- Europe elect the membership in a direct election. In 2005
tricht in 1992 continued the evolution by introducing the European Parliament had 732 members, which was
new areas of cooperation including defense, justice, and expected to be increased to 786 in 2007. The European
home affairs. These combined areas created the “commu- Parliament is also the body responsible for open debate. It
nity” relationship that exists today. Also in 1992, twelve of has become the area where the people’s opinion meets the
the fifteen nations agreed to a single European currency, democratic process, creating some of the most innovative

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION 283