Member Nations
 

Austria Capital: Vienna Language: German Currency: Schilling*	Germany Berlin German Deutsch Mark*	Netherlands Amsterdam Dutch Guilder*
Belgium Brussels Flemish and French Belgian Franc*	Greece Athens Greek Drachma*	Portugal Lisbon Portuguese Escudo*
Denmark Copenhagen Danish Danish Krone	Ireland Dublin English Punt*	Spain Madrid Spanish Peseta*
Finland Helsinki Finnish Markka*	Italy Rome Italian Lira*	Sweden Stockholm Swedish Krona
France Paris French Franc*	Luxembourg Luxembourg French Luxembourg Franc*	United Kingdom London English Pound

* part of Euro zone

The Road to the European Union

• 1952: creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands

• 1957: treaty of Rome establishes the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)

• 1958: creation of the Parliamentary Assembly, the court of Justice, common to all three communities; creation of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Economic and Social Committee (ESC)
• 1967: The European Community (EC) is created by merging ECSC, EEC, and Euratom
• 1972: Bâle Agreement sets up the "snake" (2.25% fluctuation between currencies) monetary system
• 1973: Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom join the EC
• 1975: the Council adopts the European unit of account (EUA) based on a composite basket of the Community currencies
• 1979: European Monetary System comes into force. Creation of the European Currency Unit (ECU)
• 1981: Greece joins the EC
• 1986: Spain and Portugal join the EC; signature of the Single European Act (completion of the frontier-free market by the end of 1992)
• 1990: First phase of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
• 1992: Maastricht treaty (European Union, completion of economic and monetary union and introduction of the single European currency, the ECU, by 1999 at the latest)
• 1994: Second phase of the EMU and creation of the European Monetary Institute (EMI)
• 1995: Austria, Finland, and Sweden join the EU; transition to a single currency will be complete by January 1, 1999; the unit will be called the "Euro"
• 1997: draft treaty of Amsterdam
• 1998: The European Central Bank (ECB) is operational
• 1999: Euro is launched
• 2001: Greece joins the Euro zone

The European Union Objectives

• to promote economic and social progress
• to assert the identity of the European Union on the international scene
• to introduce European citizenship
• to develop an area of freedom, security and justice
• to maintain and build on established EU law

• European Parliament
• Council of the European Union
• European Commission
• Court of Justice
• Court of Auditors
• European Central Bank
• Economic and Social Committee
• Committee of the Regions
• European Investment Bank
• European Ombudsman

• population: 375.5 million (6.4 % world population)

• GNP: 8280.487 Billions of $ (28.7% world GNP)
• per capita GNP: 22056 $ (451% more than world per capita GNP)
• Total goods and services exports (1997): 2602023 millions of $ (37.8 % of world exports)
• Total goods and services imports (1997): 2415246 millions of dollars (35.7 % of world imports)

 Main objectives of the EU for the coming years

• launching of the Euro

Handout: "Don’t Expect Germans to Offer Up Any Euro Paeans" article

• implementation of the Treaty of Amsterdam (new rights for citizens, freedom of movement, employment, strengthening the institutions)

• enlargement of the EU to take in applicant countries from Eastern and Central Europe (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Turkey)
• Treaty of Nice
• WTO