I. Opening Address to the Peace Congress (Paris, August 21, 1849)

• A DAY WILL COME when your arms will fall even from your hands! A day will come when war will

seem as absurd and impossible between Paris and London, between Petersburg and Berlin,

between Vienna and Turin, as it would be impossible and would seem absurd today between Rouen

and Amiens, between Boston and Philadelphia. A day will come when you France, you Russia, you

Italy, you England, you Germany, you all, nations of the continent, without losing your distinct qualities

and your glorious individuality, will be merged closely within a superior unit and you will form the

European brotherhood, just as Normandy, Brittany, Burgundy, Lorraine, Alsace, all our provinces are

merged together in France. A day will come when the only fields of battle will be markets opening up

to trade and minds opening up to ideas. A day will come when the bullets and the bombs will be

replaced by votes, by the universal suffrage of the peoples, by the venerable arbitration of a great

sovereign senate which will be to Europe what this parliament is to England, what this diet is to

Germany, what this legislative assembly is to France. A day will come when we will display cannon in

museums just as we display instruments of torture today, and are amazed that such things could ever

have been possible. (…) 

victor hugo (1882-1885)

EUROPEAN UNION

Brief Introduction • 19 September 1946 in Zurich, Winston Churchill

calls for a United States of Europe. Head of States being present at this meeting were: Konrad Adenauer, Winston Churchill, Alcide de Gasperi y Robert Schuman.

• 1948 Marshall Plan ( USA-Actions- Aid for the reconstruction Europe’s supported and influenced the creation of the OEEC (Organization for European Economic Cooperation. 1961 changed to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) early OEEC.

• 1949 establishment of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

• Schuman Declaration envisaged the scheme as "the first concrete step towards a European federation". It is considered to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union, and led to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community by West Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries. This was accomplished by the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1951.

• 25 March 1957In Rome the Six sign Treaties setting up European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom European Atomic Energy Community (Treaty of Rome).

• 1 January 1958 Treaty of Rome comes into effect.

• 22 January 1963 France and Federal Republic of Germany sign Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in Paris (Elysée Treaty).

• 1-2 December 1969 Heads of State or Government meet in The Hague to discuss completion of single market, greater integration and enlargement of the EC. They agree to phase in economic and monetary union (EMU) by 1980, to speed up integration and cooperation on political matters. They also agree to open negotiations with Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom.

• 21 April 1970 Council decides that from 1975 EC will receive its own resources.• 1973 entered Dinamarca, Irlanda y Reino Unido

• 1978 Bremen European Council approves plan to set up European Monetary System (EMS) and European monetary unit (Ecu).

• 7-10 June 1979First elections to European Parliament by direct universal suffrage held in the nine Member States: Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

• 1 January 1981Greece becomes 10th Member State.

• 1986 Portugal and Spain bring the members to 12.

• The Maastricht Treaty (formally, the Treaty of European Union, TEU) was signed on February 7, 1992 in Maastricht, Netherlands It led to the creation of the European Union and was the result of separate negotiations on monetary union and on political union. The Maastricht Treaty has been amended to a degree by later treaties.

• 2 May 1992In Porto EC and EFTA Foreign Ministers sign agreement establishing European economic area (EEA).

• 1993 At special summit in Brussels European Union Heads of State or Government agree location of new EU institutions. European Monetary Institute to be in Frankfurt, Europol in the Netherlands and European Environment Agency in Denmark.

• 1 November 1993Treaty on European Union enters into force.

• 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden join EU.

• 1995 Schengen Agreement enters into force. No more passport controls between Benelux countries, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain.

• 1995New transatlantic agenda signed in Madrid. European Union and USA declare willingness to develop trade and work together closely to resolve international problems.

• 1996The European Council in Dublin agrees a stability and growth pact for the economic and monetary union and the future euro notes are presented to the public. The European leaders commit themselves to fighting international crime.

• 2001 The Treaty of Nice is a treaty adopted in Nice by the European Council to amend the two founding treaties of the European Union:

• the Treaty on European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, which introduced the euro and the three-pillar structure of the EU;

• the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community.

• 1 February 2003 Treaty of Nice enters into force.

• 29 October 2004European Union leaders sign Constitutional Treaty in Rome.

• 25 April  2005 Accession treaties signed with Bulgaria and Romania.

• 16-17 June 2005 at a European Council in Brussels, leaders opt to invoke a period of reflection and discussion on the  Constitutional Treaty.

Organizational Chart

European Union

• The European Union is the largest political and economic entity in Europe– 25 member states:

• Founding Members (1952 – 1958): Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, West Germany,

• Second phase (1958 – 1986): Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom, Greece, Portugal and Spain

• Third phase (1995): Austria, Finland, Sweden• Fourth phase (2004): Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,

Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, • January 2007: Bulgaria and Romania• In Negotiations: Turkey and Croatia

EUROPEAN UNION

• The ground rules of the European Union are set out in a series of treaties:

– the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; – the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the

European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957.

• These founding treaties were subsequently amended and developed by:– the Single European Act (1986); – the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht, 1992); – the Treaty of Amsterdam; May 1, 1999 marked the entry into force of the Amsterdam

Treaty, a new "constitution" for the 15-nation European Union (EU).

– the Treaty of Nice (2000) and entered into force (2003). Acts as an amendment of the Maastricht Treaty, which sets up the rules and first policy drafts about a European Constitution.

EURO

• The euro (currency sign: €) is the official currency of the Eurozone (also known as the Euro Area), which consists of the European states of:

Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.

• It is the single currency for more than 317 million Europeans. Including areas using currencies pegged to the euro, the euro affects more than 480 million people worldwide.

• Maastricht obligated current members to join the euro; but the United Kingdom and Denmark negotiated exemptions from that requirements for themselves. Several small European states (The Vatican, Monaco and San Marino), although not EU members, have adopted the euro due to currency unions with member states. Andorra, Montenegro and Kosovo have adopted the euro unilaterally.

EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION• 50-year process culminating in the elaboration of a Constitution for the European

Union. The Treaties and Stages: • The Treaty of Paris (1951) created the European Steel and Coal Community

(ESCC). • The Treaties of Rome (1957) established the European Economic Community (EEC)

and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) • The Single European Act (1986) introduced measures aimed at achieving an

internal market and greater political cooperation. • The Maastricht Treaty (1992) established EU citizenship and the European

Monetary Union (EMU). • The Amsterdam Treaty (1997) introduced measures to reinforce political union and

prepare for enlargement towards the East. • The Nice Treaty (2001) defined the institutional changes necessary for enlargement. • And finally, the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe seeks to simplify and

synthesize previous treaties within a single, clear, foundational document for the European Union.

• Each of the main treaties leading to the current constitutional document has undergone a three stage process of preparation , negotiation and ratification.

Procedure…• EU Re-foundation and renovation.

• Incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights Italian and Irish Presidencies had led the negotiation and final approval of this document.

• On 29 October 2004, the Heads of State or Government of the 25 Member States and the 3 candidate countries signed the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe which will then need to be ratified by all 25 member states of the enlarged Union.

• The Treaty’s Constitution was approved at the European Council in Brussels on the 18th of June 2004 and signed in Rome on the 29th of October 2004 by the 25 Member States of the European Union. The candidate countries Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania only signed the Final Act. Croatia participated as an observer nation because it had not participated in the works of the Convention.

• Member States will now have to ratify the Constitution in accordance with the modalities of their national legislations.

• In the ratification of the European Constitution by open referenda, citizen's opinion will have a greater importance than ever before.

• The constitutional treaty open a period of ratification to be finished by October 2006. To date, 13 member states have already ratified the Treaty, either by parliamentary procedures or by referendum, 2 countries have expressed their rejection and the remaining member states either have their process on hold or they still have not decide the ratification procedure.

• After the rejection of the text by French and Dutch citizens, member states agreed on convoking a Reflection Period.

Bibliography

• http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/czechslovaklands/

• The library of Congress. Country Studies http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cstoc.html

• CIA – The World factbook https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/appendix/appendix-a.html

• http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/index_en.html

• http://europa.eu/abc/12lessons/index1_en.htm

• Die Europäische Gemeinschaft, Bayerische Landeszentrale für politische Bindungsarbeit, München 2004.

• Sicherheit und Frieden zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts. Bayerische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildungsarbeit, München, 2004.