Zusammenfassung der Ressource
SUPERPOWER COUNTRY? EU
- FORMS OF POWER
- Geographical
- 27 countries
- Covers 4million square km and has 495million inhabitants -
third largest population after China and India
- Economic
- 7 institutions within the EU eg European Central Bank responsible
for the monetary fund of the Euro - therefore on of most important
central banks
- Political
- European Parliament is elected
every 5 years by EU citizens.
Composed of 754 MEPs
- Seen as most powerful legislature in the world
due to number of member states
- Evidence of Power
- Increasing want of other
countries to join EU
- When EU first established in 1952, only 6 countries were
involved (Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands)
- Currently has 27 members with more eastern european
countries and ex USSR states now being considered
- Croatia now appealed to join
(2013)
- Free movement of people, labour, goods,
capital and services
- UK residents free to live and work
anywhere in the EU
- Businesses can sell their goods
anywhere in the EU
- Increasingly setting standards that American firms must
meet to remain competetive in global market
- Impacts businesses and consumers as they must
meet EU standards
- Implications of Power
- With number of members increasing, it will become
more difficult for European Parliament to control the
states
- "Any citizen within any EU country may travel and live within any other EU
state" influx of E. Europ. workers in Western Europe - positive or negative
- Is their power
increasing?
- Arguably, more members more power. But only if all countries can
work together.Many new members do not hold much power eg Eastern
European
- More power with every new treaty. Lisbon Treaty
2007 gave them more power than ever before
- with latest Euro currency problems the
power of EU has come into question
- Foreign aid put on hold
- Libya and Syria missed out on EU aid during recent civil
wars