from
CIA World Factbook 2006
European Union
Introduction
Preliminary The evolution of the European Union (EU) from a
statement: regional economic agreement among six neighboring
states in 1951 to today's supranational organization of
25 countries across the European continent stands as an
unprecedented phenomenon in the annals of history.
Dynastic unions for territorial consolidation were long
the norm in Europe. On a few occasions even
country-level unions were arranged - the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Austro-Hungarian
Empire were examples - but for such a large number of
nation-states to cede some of their sovereignty to an
overarching entity is truly unique. Although the EU is
not a federation in the strict sense, it is far more
than a free-trade association such as ASEAN, NAFTA, or
Mercosur, and it has many of the attributes associated
with independent nations: its own flag, anthem,
founding date, and currency, as well as an incipient
common foreign and security policy in its dealings with
other nations. In the future, many of these nation-like
characteristics are likely to be expanded. Thus,
inclusion of basic intelligence on the EU has been
deemed appropriate as a new, separate entity in The
World Factbook. However, because of the EU's special
status, this description is placed after the regular
country entries.
Background: Following the two devastating World Wars of the first
half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders
in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to
establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief
belligerent nations - France and Germany - both
economically and politically. In 1950, the French
Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual
union of all Europe, the first step of which would be
the integration of the coal and steel industries of
Western Europe. The following year the European Coal
and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members,
Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and
the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris. The ECSC
was so successful that within a few years the decision
was made to integrate other parts of the countries'
economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the
European Economic Community (EEC) and the European
Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member
states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among
themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the
institutions of all three communities were formally
merged into the European Community (EC), creating a
single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and
the European Parliament. Members of the European
Parliament were initially selected by national
parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections
were undertaken and they have been held every five
years since. In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC
took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and
the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership
expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and
Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid
the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign
and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs,
and in the creation of an economic and monetary union -
including a common currency. This further integration
created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria,
Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, raising the
membership total to 15. A new currency, the euro, was
launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it
became the unit of exchange for all of the EU states
except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In
2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began
using the euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries
joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Slovakia, and Slovenia - bringing the current
membership to 25. In order to ensure that the EU can
continue to function efficiently with an expanded
membership, the 2003 Treaty of Nice set forth rules
streamlining the size and procedures of EU
institutions. An EU Constitutional Treaty, signed in
Rome on 29 October 2004, gave member states two years
to ratify the document before it was scheduled to take
effect on 1 November 2006. Referenda held in France and
the Netherlands in May-June 2005 rejected the proposed
constitution. This development suspended the
ratification effort and left the longer-term political
integration of the EU in limbo.
Geography
Location: Europe between Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, southeastern
Europe, and the North Atlantic Ocean
Map Europe
references:
Area: total: 3,976,372 sq km
Area - less than one-half the size of the US
comparative:
Land total: 11,214.8 km
boundaries: border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km,
Belarus 1,050 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy
See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 246 km,
Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Romania 443 km, Russia
2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia 151 km, Switzerland
1,811 km, Turkey 206 km, Ukraine 726 km
note: data for European Continent only
Coastline: 65,413.9 km
Maritime NA
claims:
Climate: cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to
temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the
south
Terrain: fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast;
mountainous in the central and southern areas
Elevation lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder,
extremes: Netherlands -7 m
highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m; note - situated on
the border between France and Italy
Natural iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal,
resources: copper, lead, zinc, hydropower, uranium, potash, fish
Land use: arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA
other: NA
Irrigated 131,250 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area;
hazards: earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy;
periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Environment - NA
current
issues:
Environment - party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides,
international Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air
agreements: Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection,
Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94
signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds
People
Population: 456,953,258 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 16.03% (male 37,608,010/female 35,632,351)
15-64 years: 67.17% (male 154,439,536/female
152,479,619)
65 years and over: 16.81% (male 31,515,921/female
45,277,821) (2006 est.)
Median age: NA
Population 0.15% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 10 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 10.1 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration 1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: at birth: NA
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and older: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female
Infant total: 5.1 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 5.6 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 4.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 78.3 years
expectancy at male: 75.1 years
birth: female: 81.6 years (2006 est.)
Total 1.47 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - NA
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - NA
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - NA
deaths:
Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
Languages: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish,
French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian,
Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak,
Slovene, Spanish, Swedish; note - only official
languages are listed; Irish (Gaelic) will become the
21st language on 1 January 2007
Government
Union name: conventional long form: European Union
abbreviation: EU
Political a hybrid intergovernmental and supranational
structure: organization
Capital: name: Brussels (Belgium)
geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 20 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC
during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in
March; ends last Sunday in October
note: the Council of the European Union meets in
Brussels, the European Parliament meets in Strasbourg,
France, and the Court of Justice of the European
Communities meets in Luxembourg
Member states: 25 countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK; note - Canary Islands
(Spain), Azores and Madeira (Portugal), French Guyana,
Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Reunion (France) are
sometimes listed separately even though they are
legally a part of Spain, Portugal, and France;
candidate countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia,
Romania, Turkey
Independence: 7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing
the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered
into force)
National Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday,
holiday: the day that Robert SCHUMAN proposed the creation of an
organized Europe
Constitution: based on 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; the Single
European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union
(Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997;
and the Treaty of Nice in 2001; note - a new draft
Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in
Rome, gave member states two years for ratification
either by parliamentary vote or national referendum
before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November
2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June
2005 caused a suspension of the ratification process
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive chief of union: President of the European Commission
branch: Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO (since 22 November 2004)
cabinet: European Commission (composed of 25 members,
one from each member country; each commissioner
responsible for one or more policy areas)
elections: the president of the European Commission is
designated by member governments; the
president-designate then chooses the other Commission
members; the European Parliament confirms the entire
Commission for a five-year term; election last held 18
November 2004 (next to be held 2009)
election results: European Parliament approved the
European Commission by an approval vote of 449 to 149
with 82 abstentions
note: the European Council brings together heads of
state and government and the president of the European
Commission and meets at least twice a year; its aim is
to provide the impetus for the major political issues
relating to European integration and to issue general
policy guidelines
Legislative Council of the European Union (25 member-state
branch: ministers having 321 votes; the number of votes is
roughly proportional to member-states' population);
note - the Council is the main decision-making body of
the EU; European Parliament (732 seats; seats allocated
among member states by proportion to population);
members elected by direct universal suffrage for a
five-year term
elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held
June 2009)
election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party
- EPP-ED 268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL
41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents 28
Judicial Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures
branch: that the treaties are interpreted and applied
correctly) - 25 justices (one from each member state)
appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of
efficiency, the court can sit with 11 justices known as
the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 25
justices appointed for a six-year term
Political Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic
parties and Green Left or EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European
leaders: People's Party-European Democrats or EPP-ED [Hans-Gert
POETTERING]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Group
of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica
FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Independence/
Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel
FARAGE]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or
PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Union for Europe of the Nations
Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI]
International European Union: ASEAN (dialogue member), ARF (dialogue
organization member), IDA, OAS (observer), UN (observer), WTO
participation: European Commission: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO,
EBRD, G-10, NSG (observer), OECD, UNRWA, ZC (observer)
European Central Bank: BIS
European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional
member)
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON
representation chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
in the US: telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500
FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador C. Boyden GRAY
representation embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels
from the US: mailing address: same as above
telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222
FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720
Flag on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in
description: a circle, representing the union of the peoples of
Europe; the number of stars is fixed
Economy
Economy - Domestically, the European Union attempts to lower
overview: trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move
toward convergence of living standards.
Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade
position and its political and economic power. Because
of the great differences in per capita income (from
$15,000 to $56,000) and historic national animosities,
the European Community faces difficulties in devising
and enforcing common policies. For example, since 2003
Germany and France have flouted the member states'
treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets
from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004, the EU
admitted 10 central and eastern European countries that
are, in general, less advanced technologically and
economically than the other 15. Twelve EU member states
introduced the euro as their common currency on 1
January 1999, but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark do not
participate. The 10 new member states may choose to
adopt the euro when they meet the EU's fiscal and
monetary criteria and the other euro states so agree.
GDP $12.18 trillion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $13.31 trillion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 1.7% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $28,100 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 2.2%
composition by industry: 27.3%
sector: services: 70.5% (2004 est.)
Labor force: 218.5 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - agriculture: 4.4%
by occupation: industry: 27.2%
services: 67.2%
note: the remainder is in miscellaneous public and
private sector industries and services (2005 est.)
Unemployment 9.4% (2005 est.)
rate:
Population see individual country listings
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 2.8%
income or highest 10%: 25.5% (1995 est.)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 32 (2003 est.)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 2.2% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Investment 19.6% of GDP (2005 est.)
(gross fixed):
Agriculture - wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes;
products: dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry; fish
Industries: among the world's largest and most technologically
advanced, the European Union industrial base includes:
ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and
processing, metal products, petroleum, coal, cement,
chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail
transportation equipment, passenger and commercial
vehicles, construction equipment, industrial equipment,
shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools
and automated manufacturing systems, electronics and
telecommunications equipment, fishing, food and
beverage processing, furniture, paper, textiles,
tourism
Industrial 1.3% (2005 est.)
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 2.925 trillion kWh (2002 est.)
production:
Electricity - 2.711 trillion kWh (2002 est.)
consumption:
Electricity - 282.6 billion kWh (2002)
exports:
Electricity - 281.2 billion kWh (2002 est.)
imports:
Oil - 3.424 million bbl/day (2001)
production:
Oil - 14.59 million bbl/day (2001)
consumption:
Oil - exports: 5.322 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 15.69 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved 7.294 billion bbl (1 January 2002)
reserves:
Natural gas - 239.2 billion cu m (2001)
production:
Natural gas - 465.6 billion cu m (2001)
consumption:
Natural gas - 78.1 billion cu m (2001)
exports:
Natural gas - 297.8 billion cu m (2001)
imports:
Natural gas - 3.256 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)
proved
reserves:
Current $NA
account
balance:
Exports: $1.318 trillion; note - external exports, excluding
intra-EU trade (2004)
Exports - machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics,
commodities: pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and
steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products,
textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic
beverages.
Exports - US 24.2%, Switzerland 7.7%, China 5%, Russia 4.7%
partners: (2004)
Imports: $1.402 trillion; note - external imports, excluding
intra-EU trade (2004)
Imports - machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil,
commodities: chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - US 15.3%, China 12.4%, Russia 7.8%, Japan 7.2% (2004)
partners:
Reserves of $NA
foreign
exchange and
gold:
Currency euro, British pound, Cypriot pound, Czech koruna,
(code): Danish krone, Estonian kroon, Hungarian forint, Latvian
lat, Lithuanian litas, Maltese lira, Polish zloty,
Slovak koruna, Slovenian tolar, Swedish krona
Currency code: EUR
Exchange euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004),
rates: 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001)
Fiscal year: NA
Communications
Telephones - 238,763,162 (2002)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 314,644,700 (2002)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone note - see individual country entries of member states
system:
Radio AM 866, FM 13,396, shortwave 73 (1998); note - sum of
broadcast individual country radio broadcast stations; there is
stations: also a European-wide station (Euroradio)
Television 2,791 (1995); note - does not include repeaters; sum of
broadcast individual country television broadcast stations; there
stations: is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)
Internet .eu (effective 2005); note - see country entries of
country code: member states for individual country codes
Internet 22,000,414 (2004); note - sum of individual country
hosts: Internet hosts
Internet 239,881,917 (2006)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 3,115 (2006)
Airports - 1,863 (2006)
with paved
runways:
Airports - 1,252 (2006)
with unpaved
runways:
Heliports: 93 (2006)
Railways: total: 222,293 km
broad gauge: 28,438 km
standard gauge: 186,405 km
narrow gauge: 7,427 km
other: 23 km (2003)
Roadways: total: 4,634,810 km (including 56,704 km of
expressways)
paved: 4,161,318 km
unpaved: 473,492 km (1999-2000)
Waterways: 53,512 km
Ports and Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Bremen (Germany),
terminals: Copenhagen (Denmark), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg
(Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary
Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal),
London (UK), Marseille (France), Naples (Italy),
Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Riga (Latvia), Rotterdam
(Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), Talinn (Estonia)
Military
Military - In November 2004, the European Union heads of
note: government signed a "Treaty Establishing a Constitution
for Europe" that offers possibilities - with some
limits - for increased defense and security
cooperation. If ratified, in a process that may take
some two years, this treaty will in effect make
operational the European Security and Defense Policy
(ESDP) approved in the 2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits
of cooperation for some EU members, development of a
European military planning unit is likely to continue.
So is creation of a rapid-reaction military force and a
humanitarian aid system, which the planning unit will
support. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands,
Luxembourg, and Italy continue to press for wider
coordination. The five-nation Eurocorps - created in
1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg
- has already deployed troops and police on
peacekeeping missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo and
assumed command of the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in August 2004.
Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German
Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and
EUFOR, which took over from SFOR in Bosnia in December
2004. Other troop contributions are under national
command - commitments to provide 67,100 troops were
made at the Helsinki EU session in 2000. Some 56,000 EU
troops were actually deployed in 2003. In August 2004,
the new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting
cooperative European defense capabilities, began
operations. In November 2004, the EU Council of
Ministers formally committed to creating thirteen
1,500-man "battle groups" by the end of 2007, to
respond to international crises on a rotating basis.
Twenty-two of the EU's 25 nations have agreed to supply
troops. France, Italy, and the UK are to form the first
three battle groups in 2005, with Spain to follow. In
May 2005, Norway, Sweden, and Finland agreed to
establish one of the battle groups, possibly to include
Estonian forces. The remaining groups are to be formed
by 2007. (2005)
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - as a political union, the EU has no border disputes
international: with neighboring countries, but Estonia and Latvia have
no land boundary agreements with Russia, Slovenia
disputes its land and maritime boundaries with Croatia,
and Spain has territorial and maritime disputes with
Morocco; the EU has set up a Schengen area - consisting
of 13 EU member states that have signed the convention
implementing the Schengen agreements (1985 and 1990) on
the free movement of persons and the harmonization of
border controls in Europe; the Schengen agreements
("acquis") became incorporated into EU law with the
implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May
1999; member states are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden; in addition,
non-EU states Iceland and Norway (as part of the Nordic
Union) have been included in the Schengen area since
1996 (full members in 2001), bringing the total current
membership to 15; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland
(since 2002) take part in some aspects of the Schengen
area, especially with respect to police and criminal
matters; the 10 new member states that joined the EU in
2004 eventually are expected to participate in
Schengen, following a transition period to upgrade
their border controls and procedures