| Published on February 9, 2010 |
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Country Report
European Union
Introduction
Preliminary statement: The evolution of the European Union (EU) from a regional economic agreement among six neighboring states in 1951 to today's supranational organization of 27 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.
Background: Following the two devastating World Wars in 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.
Geography
Location: Europe between the North Atlantic Ocean in the west and Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the east
Area:
total: 4,324,782 sq km
Area - comparative: less than one-half the size of the US
Land boundaries:
total: 12,440.8 km
border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 394 km, Moldova 450 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia 945 km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 446 km, Ukraine 1,257 km
note: data for European Continent only
Coastline: 65,992.9 km
Maritime claims: NA
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 extremes:
lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m
highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m; note - situated on the border between France and Italy
Natural resources: iron ore, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, uranium, potash, salt, hydropower, arable land, timber, fish
Land use:
arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA
other: NA
Irrigated land: 168,050 sq km (2003 est.)
Natural hazards: flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Environment - current issues: NA
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air 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 83, Tropical Timber 94
signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
People
Population: 491,582,852 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 15.44% (male 38,975,981/female 36,925,704)
15-64 years: 67.22% (male 166,277,341/female 164,183,829)
65 years and over: 17.34% (male 35,372,684/female 49,847,313) (2009 est.)
Median age: note - see individual country entries of member states (2009 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.108 % (2009 est.)
Birth rate: 9.9 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate: 10.28 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 5.72 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.38 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.67 years
male: 75.54 years
female: 81.97 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.51 children born/woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: note - see individual country entries of member states
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: note - see individual country entries of member states
HIV/AIDS - deaths: note - see individual country entries of member states
Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
Languages:
Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish
note: only official languages are listed; German, the major language of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, is the most widely spoken mother tongue - over 19% of the EU population; English is the most widely spoken language - about 49% of the EU population is conversant with it (2007)
Government
Union name:
conventional long form: European Union
abbreviation: EU
Political structure: a hybrid intergovernmental and supranational organization
Capital:
name: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Luxembourg
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, Belgium; the European Parliament meets in Brussels and Strasbourg, France; the Court of Justice of the European Communities meets in Luxembourg
Member states: 27 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK; note - candidate countries: Croatia, Macedonia, Turkey
Independence: 7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)
National holiday: Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert SCHUMAN proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community to achieve an organized Europe
Constitution:
none
note: 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 2003; 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 dealt a severe setback to the ratification process; in June 2007, the European Council agreed on a clear and concise mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement and put it into legal form; this agreement, known as the Reform Treaty, would have served as a constitution and was presented to the European Council in October 2007 for individual country ratification; it was rejected by Irish voters in June 2008, again stalling the ratification process; the Reform Treaty, more recently known as the Treaty of Lisbon, was again circulated for ratification, and by November 2009 was approved by all 27 countries; it came into effect on 1 December 2009
Legal system: comparable to the legal systems of member states; first supranational law system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose Manuel BARROSO (since 2004)
cabinet: European Commission (composed of 27 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 and is confirmed by the European Parliament; working from member state recommendations, the Commission president then assembles a "college" of Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; the next confirmation process will likely be held in January 2010
note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the president of the European Commission and meets at least four times a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines; leaders of the EU member states appointed then Belgian Prime Minister Herman VAN ROMPUY to be the first full-time president of the European Council in November 2009; he took office on 1 December 2009 and will serve a two-and-one-half year term, renewable once; his core responsibilities include chairing the four summits each year and providing continuity beyond the rotating, six-month presidencies of the Council of the EU
Legislative branch:
two legislative bodies consisting of the Council of the European Union (27 member-state ministers having 345 votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population) and the European Parliament (736 seats; seats allocated among member states in proportion to population; members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term); note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU; leaders of the EU member states appointed UK Baroness Catherine Ashton to be the first High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Ashton took office on 1 December 2009; her concurrent appointment as Vice President of the European Commission - both of which are subject to confirmation by the European Parliament - endows her position with the policymaking influence of the Council of the EU and the budgetary influence of the European Commission
elections: last held 4-7 June 2009 (next to be held in June 2014)
election results: percent of vote - EPP 35.9%, PES 21.9%, ALDE 10.9%, Greens/EFA 7.2%, UEN 4.8%, GUE/NGL 4.3%, IND/DEM 2.4%, others 12.6%; seats by party - EPP 266, PES 161, ALDE 80, Greens/EFA 53, UEN 35, GUE/NGL 32, IND/DEM 18, others 93
Judicial branch: Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the EU; resolve constitutional issues among the EU institutions) - 27 justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 13 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 27 justices appointed for a six-year term
Political parties and leaders: Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or GUE/NGL [Lothar BISKY]; Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group or EFD [Nigel FARAGE and Francesco SPERONI]; European Conservatives and Reformists Group or ECR [Michael KAMINSKI]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Guy VERHOFSTADT]; Group of the European People's Party or EPP [Joseph DAUL]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Rebecca HARMS and Daniel COHN-BENDIT]; Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament or S&D [Martin SCHULZ]
International organization participation:
European Union: ARF (dialogue member), ASEAN (dialogue member), G-20, IDA, OAS (observer), PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), UN (observer)
European Council: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, EBRD, G-10, IEA, LAIA, NSG (observer), OECD, UNRWA (observer), WCO, WTO, ZC (observer)
European Central Bank: BIS
European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Angelos PANGRATIS
chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500
FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Christopher MURRAY
embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels
mailing address: same as above
telephone: [32] (2) 508-2111
FAX: [32] (2) 508-2063
Flag description: blue field with 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle in the center, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed
Economy
Economy - overview: Internally, the EU has abolished trade barriers, adopted a common currency, and is striving 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 among member states (from $7,000 to $78,000) and historic national animosities, the EU faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. In the wake of the global economic crisis, the European Commission projected that the EU's economy will shrink by 4% in 2009. In September 2009, the Commission reported that the EU was recovering from the crisis faster than it had projected, however, significant risks to sustainable growth remain, including, deteriorating fiscal positions, rising unemployment, tight bank lending, and a strong euro. Even prior to the global economic crisis Germany and France flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit, and now many more member states are running substantial deficits. Between 2004 and 2007, the EU admitted 12 countries that are, in general, less advanced economically than the other 15. Eleven established EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later), but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark chose not to participate. Of the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia (1 January 2007), Cyprus and Malta (1 January 2008), and Slovakia (1 January 2009) have adopted the euro; the remaining eight are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$14.52 trillion (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate): $15.99 trillion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -4% (2009 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$32,700 (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 2.1%
industry: 25.8%
services: 72.1% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 224.8 million (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 5.6%
industry: 27.7%
services: 66.7% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9.4% (2009 est.)
Population below poverty line: note - see individual country entries of member states
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 25.2% (2001 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 31 (2006)
Investment (gross fixed): 19.7% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.6% (2009 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
3% (31 December 2008)
note: this is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility, which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area
Commercial bank prime lending rate: 8.6% (31 December 2008)
Stock of money:
$5.542 trillion (31 December 2008)
note: this is the quantity of money, M1, for the euro area, converted into US dollars at the exchange rate for the date indicated; it excludes the stock of money carried by non-euro-area members of the European Union
Stock of quasi money:
$5.631 trillion (31 December 2008)
note: this is the quantity of quasi money, M2-M1, for the euro area, converted into US dollars at the exchange rate for the date indicated; it excludes the stock of quasi money carried by non-euro-area members of the European Union
Stock of domestic credit:
$21.17 trillion (31 December 2008)
note: this figure refers to the euro area only; it excludes credit data for non-euro-area members of the EU
Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA (31 December 2009)
Agriculture - products: wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes; dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry; fish
Industries: among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the EU 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 production growth rate: -9% (2008 est.)
Electricity - production: 3.044 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption: 2.884 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports: NA kWh
Electricity - imports: NA kWh
Oil - production: 2.538 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption: 14.44 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - exports: 2.196 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports: 8.613 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves: 5.718 billion bbl (1 January 2008)
Natural gas - production: 201.9 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 516.9 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports: NA cu m
Natural gas - imports: NA cu m
Natural gas - proved reserves: 2.318 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance: $51.4 billion (2009 est.)
Exports:
$1.952 trillion (2007 est.)
note: external exports, excluding intra-EU trade
Exports - commodities: machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Imports:
$1.69 trillion (2007 est.)
note: external imports, excluding intra-EU trade
Imports - commodities: machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $NA
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.7338 (2009), 0.6827 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005)
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 238 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 466 million (2005)
Telephone system: note - see individual country entries of member states
Radio broadcast stations: AM 930, FM 13,655, shortwave 71 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)
Television broadcast stations: 2,700 (1995); note - sum of individual country television broadcast stations excluding repeaters; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)
Internet country code: .eu; note - see country entries of member states for individual country codes
Internet hosts: 118,760; note - this sum reflects the number of internet hosts assigned the .eu internet country code (2009)
Internet users: 247 million (2006)
Transportation
Airports: 3,391 (2009)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1,995
over 3,047 m: 115
2,438 to 3,047 m: 341
1,524 to 2,437 m: 543
914 to 1,523 m: 421
under 914 m: 575 (2009)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 1,396
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 257
under 914 m: 1,110 (2009)
Heliports: 100 (2007)
Railways:
total: 229,450 km (2008)
Roadways:
total: 5,454,446 km (2008)
Waterways: 52,332 km (2006)
Ports and terminals: Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Braila (Romania), Bremen (Germany), Burgas (Bulgaria), Constanta (Romania), Copenhagen (Denmark), Galati (Romania), 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), Tulcea (Romania), Varna (Bulgaria)
Military
Military - note: the five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and assumed command of the ISAF in Afghanistan in August 2004; Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina; in November 2004, the EU Council of Ministers formally committed to creating 13 1,500-man battle groups by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis; 22 of the EU's 27 nations have agreed to supply troops; France, Italy, and the UK formed the first of three battle groups in 2005; Norway, Sweden, Estonia, and Finland established the Nordic Battle Group effective 1 January 2008; nine other groups are to be formed; a rapid-reaction naval EU Maritime Task Group was stood up in March 2007 (2007)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: as a political union, the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries, but Estonia has no land boundary agreements with Russia, Slovenia disputes its land and maritime boundaries with Croatia, and Spain has territorial and maritime disputes with Morocco and with the UK over Gibraltar; the EU has set up a Schengen area - consisting of 22 EU member states that have signed the convention implementing the Schengen agreements or "acquis" (1985 and 1990) on the free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in Europe; these agreements became incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; 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), and Switzerland since 2008 bringing the total current membership to 25; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part in only some aspects of the Schengen area, especially with respect to police and criminal matters; nine of the 12 new member states that joined the EU since 2004 joined Schengen on 21 December 2007; of the three remaining EU states, Cyprus is expected to join by 2009, while Romania and Bulgaria continue to enhance their border security systems
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