外研版高一英语必修3_Module1_背景知识:European_Union英文简介

背景知识：European Union英文简介

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member

states, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht in

1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community. With

almost 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates an estimated 30% share of

the world's nominal gross domestic product (US$16.8 trillion in 2007).

The EU has developed a single market through a standardized system of laws

which apply in all member states, guaranteeing the freedom of movement of people,

goods, services and capital. It maintains a common trade policy, agricultural and

fisheries policies, and a regional development policy. Fifteen member states have

adopted a common currency, the euro. It has developed a role in foreign policy,

representing its members in the World Trade Organization, at G8 summits and at the

United Nations. Twenty-one EU countries are members of NATO. It has developed a

role in justice and home affairs, including the abolition of passport control between

many member states under the Schengen Agreement.

The EU operates through a hybrid system of intergovernmentalism and

supranationalism. In certain areas it depends upon agreement between the member

states. However, it also has supranational bodies, able to make decisions without

unanimity between all national governments. Important institutions and bodies of the

EU include the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the

European Union, the European Council, the European Court of Justice and the

European Central Bank. EU citizens elect the Parliament every five years.

The EU traces its origins to the European Coal and Steel Community formed

among six countries in 1951 and the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Since then the union

has grown in size through the accession of new countries, and new policy areas have

been added to the remit of the EU institutions.

History

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Robert Schuman proposing the Coal and Steel Community in 1950

After the end of the Second World War, moves towards European integration

were seen by many as an escape from the extreme forms of nationalism which had

devastated the continent. One such attempt to unite Europeans was the European Coal

and Steel Community which, while having the modest aim of centralized control of

the previously national coal and steel industries of its member states, was declared to

be "a first step in the federation of Europe". The founding members of the

Community were Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West

Germany.

Two additional communities were created in 1957: the European Economic

Community (EEC) establishing a customs union and the European Atomic Energy

Community (Euratom) for cooperation in developing nuclear energy. In 1967 the

Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which

were collectively referred to as the European Communities, although more commonly

just as the European Community (EC).

The 1957 Rome Treaty created the European Economic Community.

In 1973 the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland and the United

Kingdom. Norway had negotiated to join at the same time but a referendum rejected

membership and so it remained outside. In 1979 the first direct, democratic elections

to the European Parliament were held.

Greece, Spain and Portugal joined in the 1980s. In 1985 the Schengen

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Agreement created largely open borders without passport controls between most

member states. In 1986 the European flag began to be used by the EC and leaders

signed the Single European Act.

The Iron Curtain's fall enabled eastward enlargement. (Berlin Wall)

In 1990, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the former East Germany became part

of the Community as part of a newly united Germany. With enlargement toward

East-Central Europe on the agenda, the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to

join the European Union were agreed.

The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty came

into force on 1 November 1993. And in 1995 Austria, Sweden and Finland joined the

newly established EU. In 2002, euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in

12 of the member states. Since then, the Eurozone has increased to encompassing

fifteen countries. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when Malta,

Cyprus, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,

and Hungary joined the Union.

On 1 January 2007, Romania and Bulgaria became the EU's newest members

and Slovenia adopted the euro.[21] In December of that year European leaders signed

the Lisbon Treaty which was intended to replace the earlier, failed European

Constitution, which never came into force after being rejected by French and Dutch

voters. However, uncertainty clouds the prospects of the Lisbon Treaty's coming into

force as result of its rejection by Irish voters in June 2008.

Religion

The EU is a secular body with no formal connections to any religion and no

mention of religion in any current or proposed treaty. Discussion over the draft texts

of the European Constitution and later the Treaty of Lisbon included proposals to

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mention Christianity and/or God in the preamble of the text, but the idea faced

opposition and was dropped.

Percentage of Europeans in each Member State who believe in some deity

Emphasis on Christianity stems from this being the dominant religion in Europe,

and thus of the EU. It divides between Roman Catholicism, a wide range of Protestant

churches (especially in northern Europe) and Eastern Orthodox (in south eastern

Europe). Other religions such as Islam and Judaism are also represented in the EU

population. The EU had an estimated Muslim population of 16 million in 2006, and

an estimated Jewish population of over a million.

Eurobarometer opinion polls organized by Eurostat show that the majority of EU

citizens have some form of belief system but that only 21% see it as important. There

is increasing atheism or agnosticism among the general population in Europe, with

falling church attendance and membership in many countries.[174] The 2005

Eurobarometer showed that of the European citizens (of the 25 members at that time),

52% believed in a god, 27% in some sort of spirit or life force and 18% had no form

of belief. The countries where the fewest people reported a religious belief were the

Czech Republic (19%) and Estonia (16%),[175] The most religious countries are Malta

(95%; predominantly Roman Catholic), and Cyprus and Romania both with about

90% of citizens believing in God. Across the EU, belief was higher among women,

increased with age, those with religious upbringing, those with the lowest levels of

formal education, those leaning towards right-wing politics, and those reflecting more

upon philosophical and ethical issues.

Other significant religions present in the EU territories are Buddhism and

Hinduism with the latter having a strong presence in the United Kingdom.

Culture

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Liverpool is one of the two European Capitals of Culture for 2008.

Policies affecting cultural matters are mainly set by individual member states.

Cultural co-operation between member states has been a concern of the EU since its

inclusion as a community competency in the Maastricht Treaty. Actions taken in the

cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 7-year programmer, the European

Cultural Month event, the Media Plus programmer, orchestras such as the European

Union Youth Orchestra and the European Capital of Culture programmer – where one

or more cities in the EU are selected for one year to assist the cultural development of

that city. In addition, the EU gives grants to cultural projects (totaling 233 in 2004)

and has launched a Web portal dedicated to Europe and culture, responding to the

European Council's expressed desire to see the Commission and the member states

"promote the networking of cultural information to enable all citizens to access

European cultural content by the most advanced technological means".

Within the EU, politicians, such as the President of the European Parliament,

appeal to a shared European historical/cultural heritage, including Greek philosophy,

Roman law, the Judeo-Christian heritage, and a tradition of freedom and democracy,

but also negative elements such as the World wars.

Sport

Spectator sports are popular in much of the EU (Camp Nou, Barcelona)

Sport is mainly the responsibility of individual member states or other

international organizations rather than that of the EU. However, some EU policies

have had an impact on sport, such as the free movement of workers which was at the

core of the Bosman ruling, which prohibited national football leagues from imposing

quotas on foreign players with European citizenship.

Under the proposed Treaty of Lisbon sports would be given a special status

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which would exempt this sector from much of the EU's economic rules. This followed

lobbying by governing organisations such as the International Olympic Committee

and FIFA, due to objections over the applications of free market principles to sport

which led to an increasing gap between rich and poor clubs.

Several European sports associations are consulted in the formulation of the EU's

sports policy, including FIBA, UEFA, EHF, IIHF, FIRA and CEV. All EU member

states and their respective national sport associations participate in European sport

organizations such as UEFA.

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