Contents

The European Union: An Uncritical Guide to the

Abbreviations and Acronyms viii

Preface xiii

  1 Introduction 1
  2 The Treaties 4
The Treaty of Rome – The Single European Act –
Maastricht – Amsterdam – Nice

  3 The Institutions 14
The European Council – The Council of Ministers
– The Council Presidency – COREPER (The Committee
of Permanent Representatives) – The Convention and
Intergovernmental Conferences (IGCs) – The Commission
– The European Parliament – The European Court of
Justice (ECJ) – The European Court of Auditors –
The Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC) –
The Committee of the Regions

  4 How the European Union Makes Law 32

Different sorts of law – Unanimity v. Qualified Majority
Voting (QMV) – The legislative procedures: consultation,
cooperation, co-decision and assent – The budget and
budgetary procedure – Monitoring expenditure

  5 Enlargement 43
Background and history – Problems – The mass
accession of May 2004 – Possible further accessions

  6 The Common Foreign and Security Policy 51

Background and history – The Second Pillar –
From Yugoslavia to Amsterdam – Common defence
or militarisation? – How the CFSP works –The Nice
Treaty’s reforms and developments since – Common
(market) values?
vi  The European Union

  7 Citizenship, Justice and Security 57

A controversial policy area – What is EU citizenship? –
The Amsterdam Treaty – The Third Pillar – The Charter
of Fundamental Rights – Citizenship, Justice and Home
Affairs – Europol – Refugees and asylum – After 9/11

  8 Monetary Policy 68
Arguments for and against a single currency – The
Convergence Criteria and Growth and Stability Pact –
The Euro

  9 The Internal Market 76

The long arm of the Internal Market – Vital regulation
or barrier to trade? – Competition policy – The Single
European Act – Widows, orphans and jobs (Does the
internal market mean a ‘race to the bottom’ in social
and environmental policy?) – The four freedoms (Goods,
services, capital and labour), some freer than others –
Capital – Private Good, Public Bad (How the EU
undermines public ownership) – Mixed blessings of a
big market – Services – Plans – Consumer protection

10 External Economic Relations 92

Imports – Exports – Globalisation – Development

11 Employment and Social Policy 99

Background and history – The question of competence
– Competing theories of what causes unemployment –
Recent developments in employment policy – The
European Employment Strategy – The Lisbon Strategy
– Health and safety at work – Informing and Consulting
Workers – Gender equality – Disability and ageing –
Education and training – Socrates, Leonardo, and
Youth for Europe – The European Social Fund (ESF)

12 The Environment and Public Health 119

Background and History – Programmes, policies and
problems – Kyoto – GMOs – REACH (A new framework
for control of chemicals) – Public Health – Food Safety

13 The Common Agricultural Policy and Common  

Fisheries Policy 132
The CAP: background, history and aims – How it works –
The reform of 2003 – Criticisms
 Contents  vii

The CFP: background, history and aims – The reform of

2002 – Regional Advisory Councils – Criticisms

14 Transport 141
The Common Transport Policy and its limitations –
The 2001 White Paper – Trans-European Networks (TENs)
– Marco Polo and Galileo

15 Regional Policy 149

Background and history – Agenda 2000 – Impact of
enlargement – The European Regional Development Fund
and other Structural Funds – The Cohesion Fund – The
Community Instruments – The future

16 Industrial Policy and Energy 155

Background, history and aims – Recent developments
in industrial and related policies – Energy policy
– Technology, Research and Development – The Sixth
Framework Programme

17 The Rejection of the Constitutional Treaty: What next  

for the European Union? 162
The Giscard text: Institutional reform – Foreign and
defence policy (The militarisation of the EU) – Citizenship
and citizens’ rights – Federalism and subsidiarity – Fiscal,
financial and economic policy – Why was no agreement
initially reached? – The immediate future – The revised text:
The Commission – The Council – The Parliament – The
Euro – Economic and employment policies – Stability and
Growth Pact – Multiannual Financial Framework – Charter
of Fundamental Rights – Eurojust – Enhanced Cooperation
– Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion – Energy
– Declarations and Protocols relating to individual member
States – The Future

18 Conclusion 179
A summary of the criticisms 180

Notes 188
Recommended Reading 201
Index 211
 1
Introduction

In 1957 six countries of western Europe signed a treaty designed to

further the transformation of the economic and political life of the
region. The act of signing itself demonstrated that much had changed
in the twelve years since the end of World War Two. In 1945, most
of western Europe had been in ruins.
Though the aims of the Treaty of Rome were always as much political
as economic, it originally limited the Community’s powers to matters
concerned with production and consumption. The Six jealously
guarded their control of taxation, of the criminal law, of moral and
cultural matters, of education. Their co-operation was, ostensibly at
least, designed to pool economic resources and resourcefulness, not
to dissolve western Europe into a single amorphous entity.
Whether the European Union descended from this original
Community should be an economic tool or a fully-fledged federation
is now the tension at the heart of the continent’s politics. Important
decisions are involved, and the future of every country in Europe
will depend on their outcome. They are inherently difficult, but
are made even more so for British people by the bizarre terms in
which the debate is almost invariably conducted in UK political life
and in the country’s media. Commonly used expressions such as
‘pro-European’, ‘anti-European’ and ‘Eurosceptic’ are deliberately
misleading, and the equation of ‘Europe’ with the European Union
both geographically and politically inaccurate. The rise of a right-
wing party, containing some extremely unsavoury elements, and
calling itself the United Kingdom Independence Party, has further
muddied the already murky waters. Although ‘Europe’ occupies far
more column inches in newspapers than it did even a few years ago,
much comment on all sides of the debate is ill-informed about the
basics of the system.
Accusations levelled against the BBC in January 2005 by an
independent panel commissioned by the corporation’s governors,
of ignorance, stereotyping and unintentional bias, and ‘a tendency
to polarise and over-simplify issues, ... ignorance of the European
Union on the part of some journalists and a failure to report issues


  The European Union

that ought to be reported’ might have referred to almost any section

of the British media. Only the clear public responsibilities of the
state-funded institution made the allegations more telling than they
might have been if levelled against the Guardian or the Daily Express.
In response, BBC governors acknowledged that a recent opinion
poll had shown that ‘the BBC is not succeeding in providing basic
accessible information on the topic of Europe and (that) urgent action
is needed’.1
Newspapers, unlike the BBC, are entitled to their opinions. Only
the way that they express them might be criticised, especially when
this takes the form of the deliberate spreading of confusion. To the
pro-EU press, all critics of the Union are xenophobes, mired in a
nostalgic past of warm beer and village cricket. To their opponents,
foreigners are generally the subject of mirth or contempt, strange
people with funny accents and loose morals.
It was gratifying to see both supporters and opponents of deeper
European integration welcoming the group’s outspoken criticisms,2
for the truth is that neither side should believe that it is well-served
by the current standard of coverage and debate. As an opponent
of the Constitutional Treaty, I could only throw up my hands in
despair when I read that whilst nine out of ten residents of the EU of
voting age admitted to knowing nothing at all about the proposal’s
contents, half would vote in its favour if they had the chance. Yet
surely a supporter, if honest, would have the same reaction. Do the
Europhiles really want a Union based on ignorant acquiescence, or
can they too see how dangerous such a development would be?
The European Union is a political and economic project which a
number of governments have decided to pursue. It is not an inevitable
outcome of some mysterious March of History, nor is it a boat or
train which must under no circumstances be missed. Politicians who
abandon reasoned argument in favour of muddy metaphors (which,
for some reason, almost always involve modes of transport) generally
do so because they are lying. To be for or against the European Union,
to favour its deepening into a full political union, its complete
disbanding or something between the two, should have nothing at
all to do with patriotism, nationalism or internationalism.
The EU is a proposed answer to the problems of Britain, Ireland
and their neighbours on the European mainland. It is not the only
available answer and it may not be the best, but it is quite possible
to support or oppose it with the best of intentions. To fly the twelve-
star flag is not an act of treason, to refuse to do so no retreat into
 Introduction  

xenophobia. The EU exists, and the people of its member states

must decide what they want to do about that fact. British voters,
specifically, may soon decide whether to approve the proposed
Constitution, as well as whether they wish to abandon their own
currency and adopt the euro. In this book I shall attempt to provide
the reader with the information he or she needs to be able to take
part in these historic decisions.
 Index
ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific)
group 93, 96
Action Plan for Skills and Mobility 70
Advocates-General 29
Afforestation programmes 121
Agenda 2000 39–40, 125, 151–2
Agreement on Social Policy (ASP)
110–11
agriculture see Common Agricultural
Policy
Algeria 97
Amnesty International 63
Amsterdam, demonstrations 58–9
Amsterdam Treaty 6, 9–12
and citizenship 58
and civil rights 10
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP) 52, 53, 54
and consumer protection 89
and disability 115
and discrimination 59, 115
and education and training 116
and environmental policy 120,
121–2
European Community Treaty 59
and European Parliament 26, 63
and fundamental rights and
freedoms 59
Intergovernmental Conference 17
and Justice and Home Affairs 62
and language rights 58
and national parliaments 63
animals, health and welfare of 135,
136
‘anti-European’ 1
Antilles 175
armaments industry 52–3, 184
assent procedure 34, 37
Association Agreements 97
Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) 97
asylum policy 66–7
Austria 19, 26, 27, 43, 52, 71, 73, 84,
151
Azores 151
Balkan wars 46–7, 51, 53, 95
211
Balkenende, Jan Peter 176
Bangemann, Martin 53
Barroso, Jose 24
Belgium 26, 27, 39, 64, 73, 85, 96,
160
Berlin Summit of 1999 46, 134
Berlusconi, Silvio 176
biofuels 136
biometrics 65
biotechnology 88, 126, 127, 160
Blair, Tony 169, 176
Bolkestein, Frits 86, 87
Bologna Declaration on the
European Dimension for Higher
Education (1999) 117
border controls 66, 175
Bosnia 51
Britain see United Kingdom
British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) 1–2
BSE crisis 80, 90, 120, 183
budget 38–42
budgetary authority 40–2
budgetary procedure 34, 40–2
and Common Agricultural Policy
135, 139
and Common Fisheries Policy 39
compulsory and non-compulsory
expenditure 39
and Constitutional Treaty 169
disputes between member states
over 169, 175
European Commission role in
establishing 21–2, 40–2
European Parliament role in
establishing 26, 40–2, 164
and structural funds 40, 150, 151,
154
United Kingdom annual rebate 38
Bulgaria 20, 26, 43, 49, 149
Bush, George W. 64, 169
Buttiglione, Rocco 24
Canary Islands 151
capital, free movement of 82–3
car industry 80, 90
Carson, Rachel 119
212  The European Union
Cartagena Convention on Biosafety
126
Cassis de Dijon case (1979) 77
catalytic converters 80
CEEP, (EU-wide small businesses’
group) 112
Charter of Fundamental Rights 60–1
and Constitutional Treaty 166, 172
chemicals, control of 127–8
child benefits and family allowances
81
children
and dependency ratio 116
offences against 11
Christianity 166, 170, 181
Citizenship 7, 57–65
and Amsterdam Treaty 57–9
and Constitutional Treaty 166
and Maastricht Treaty 9
civil rights 10
Clean Development Mechanism 124
climate change 119, 123–6
and energy policy 158
and transport 141
co-decision procedure 26, 33–7
in Amsterdam Treaty 12
in Constitutional Treaty 164
and environmental policy 120
Cohesion Fund 9, 150, 151, 152–3
and TENs 84
Cohesion policy 32, 152–3
and Agenda 2000 151
and Constitutional Treaty 174–5
European Commission ‘factsheet’
Cohesion Policy: the 2007
Watershed 157
and Lisbon Agenda 100, 103, 107
in Nice Treaty 13
in Single European Act 8
see also regional policy
Comenius (EU education
programme) 116
Committee of the Regions (CoR) 31
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
132–6, 139
and budget 39, 40, 134, 135
and environmental policy 119–20,
135, 136, 177
European Agricultural Guidance
and Guarantee Fund 133, 150,
153
and export subsidies 94, 133–4
and external trade 92, 93, 94, 95
and protectionism 95
Common Customs Tariff (CCT) 92,
94
Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
136–8, 139–40
Community Action Plans 138
Community Fisheries Control
Agency (CFCA) 138
and environmental policy 121
Financial Instrument for Fisheries
Guidance 150, 153
Joint Inspection Structure 138
Regional Advisory Councils 138
Common Foreign and Security Policy
(CFSP) 51–6
Battle Groups 55
Common Strategy 54
and Constitutional Treaty 163,
165–6, 170
Headline Goal 2000 54
High Representative for 51–2, 54,
163, 164
Petersburg tasks 53
Planning and Early Warning Unit
54
Political and Security Committee
(PSC) 54, 55
Western European Union (WEU)
52, 53, 54
Common Market Organisations
(CMOs) 133
Common Security and Defence
Policy see Common Foreign and
Security Policy
Common Transport Policy (CTP)
141, 142–5
see also transport
Community Charter of the
Fundamental Social Rights of
Workers 59
Community information and
consultation procedure 94
Community Instruments (CIs) 113,
115, 117, 152, 153
Community Preference 133
competition policy 35, 77–9, 90, 123
and industrial policy 155
and public ownership 84
and transport 141

conciliation procedure 35–6
Conservatives, British 27, 111
Constitution/Constitutional Treaty
2, 3, 8, 17–19, 61, 162–78, 180
Declarations and Protocols
relating to individual member
states 175
and enlargement 44
and European Commission 170
and European Parliament 26, 170
and ‘European President’ 170
initial rejection by member state
governments 169
rejection of in French and Dutch
referenda 8, 162, 175–7
Spanish referendum on 175
consultation procedure 33, 34, 37
consumer protection 7, 30, 32,
89–91, 106
and air transport 144
in Amsterdam Treaty 12
in Charter of Fundamental Social
Rights 60
and Common Agricultural Policy
132
and Common Fisheries Policy 137,
138, 140
Consumer Action Programme
(1975) 89
Consumer Protection in the European
Union: Ten Basic Principles 91
Economic and Social Committee
(ECOSOC), representation in 31
and energy policy 84, 158, 159
and food safety 130
and genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) 127, 128
and internal market 76, 77, 85
and lobbying 80
‘Priorities for Consumer Policy
1996–98’ (Action Plan) 90
and public health 128
Convention 18–19, 162, 171
Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms
(commonly known as the
European Convention on
Human Rights) see Council of
Europe
co-operation procedure 33, 36
Copenhagen Criteria 47
Index  213
COREPER (Committee of Member
States’ Permanent
Representatives) 17
Council of Europe
European Convention on Human
Rights 59, 60
European Social Charter 59
Council of Ministers 15–17, 182
Agriculture Council 133
in Amsterdam Treaty 10, 52
and ‘area of freedom, security and
justice’ 62, 65
and budgetary procedure 40–1,
174
and chemicals policy (REACH) 128
and Committee of the Regions 31
and Common Fisheries Policy 137,
138
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy 52, 54, 55
Common Position 34
and Constitutional Treaty 164,
167, 172–3
Declarations of 33
and disability 115
Economic and Financial Affairs
Council (ECOFIN) 75
and Economic and Monetary
Union 22, 74, 75, 173
and Economic and Social
Committee (ECOSOC) 31
and energy policy 158
and environmental policy 119,
128
and European Central Bank 75
and European Commission 20, 21,
22
Euro Council 75, 173
and European Court of Justice 30
and European Parliament 21, 25,
26
and external trade 22, 92, 94
Fisheries Council 138
Foreign Affairs Council 163
General Affairs Council 16, 55
and genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) 126
and health and safety at work 108
and legislative procedure 33, 34–8
and Lisbon Agenda 100
in Maastricht Treaty 9
in Nice Treaty 11, 55
214  The European Union
Council of Ministers continued
and Port Services, proposed
Directive on 144
Presidency 16
Qualified Majority Voting in 33–4,
35
Recommendations of 33
Requirement for unanimity in
33–4
and Services in the Internal
Market, proposed Directive on
129
in Single European Act 8
and state aids 78
and TENs 145
and workers’ rights to information
and consultation 111
Country of Origin Principle, see
Services in the Internal Market,
proposed Directive on (2005)
Countryside Alliance 136
crime 6, 11, 62, 63, 66, 99, 103, 165
Croatia 43, 47, 49, 51, 93
customs
co-operation 10, 62
and crime 11
duties and tariffs 39, 76, 92
customs union 5, 92
Cyprus 26, 27, 44, 45
Czech Republic 26, 27, 44
dangerous products 90, 128
data protection 65, 66
‘Decisions’ 32
‘Declarations’ 32
defence see Common Foreign and
Security Policy
delocalisation of production 86, 95,
107
democracy 25, 28, 177, 183, 187
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy 56
and Economic and Monetary
Union 185–6
and enlargement 47
and Qualified Majority Voting
(QMV) 165
Denmark 11, 26, 27, 39, 43, 68, 70,
98, 153
deregulation 95
and Constitutional Treaty 176
of labour markets 88, 102, 103, 104
of transport 143, 144
development 39, 56, 96–8, 134, 155,
160, 186
dioxins 90, 120
diplomatic representation, right of
EU citizens to 57
‘Directives’ 32, 34
disability 10, 59, 114–15, 143
discrimination 7, 10, 12, 59, 101,
107, 112, 114, 115, 153
drugs, illegal 6, 11, 62, 109
Dublin Convention of 1988 64
e-coli 90
Economic and Financial Committee
75
Economic and Monetary Union
(EMU) 65–75
and European Commission 22
origins in Maastricht Treaty 5, 9
and regional policy 150
and social spending 102
see also Euro
Economic and Social Committee
(ECOSOC or ESC) 31, 179
ECU (European Currency Unit) 72
education 116–17
Egypt 97
elderly people 115–16
emissions trading see Kyoto Protocol
employment 7, 99–118, 177, 186
and Amsterdam Treaty 9, 10
and Constitutional Treaty 173,
175
and disability 114–15
and enlargement 47
and euro 68
and European Social Fund 117–18
and freedom of movement 81
and internal market 77, 88
and Lisbon Agenda 100, 101,
102–9, 115, 156
of older people 105, 115–16
and Structural Funds 150–2, 154
of women 105, 109, 112–13
Employment Guidelines 99, 100,
101, 113
energy policy 157–9
and TENs 84
and Constitutional Treaty 175

Enhanced Co-operation 174
enlargement 43–50
of 2004 19, 43–50, 162
of 2007 (projected) 20
and Cohesion Fund 153
and Common Agricultural Policy
45, 135, 171
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP) 56
and Constitutional Treaty 170,
171
and environmental policy 146
and European Parliament 24, 26
and industrial policy 156
and regional policy 45, 149, 154
and research and development
157
and restriction of right to freedom
of movement 46, 48–9, 82, 171
and TENs 146
and transport 142
Environmental Action Programmes
(EAPs) 119, 123
Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) 121
environmental policy 119–28
in Amsterdam Treaty 6, 12, 89
and Common Agricultural Policy
135, 136, 139, 177
and Common Fisheries Policy 138
and Constitutional Treaty 164,
176
and consumer policy 89, 90
and Council of Ministers 16
and Economic and Social
Committee 31
and energy policy 158
and enlargement 43, 150
environmental economic
strategies as source of growth
106
and European Court of Justice 30
and internal market 76, 77, 80, 85,
86, 93, 156
and liberalisation 158
and Lisbon Agenda 103, 106
and lobbying 80
in Maastricht Treaty 9
mainstreaming of 143
in Nice Treaty 7
and regional policy 150
Index  215
and research and development
159
and Services in the Internal
Market, proposed Directive on
87
in Single European Act 4, 8
and Structural Funds 150, 152
and TENs 83, 84
and transport 83, 121, 141, 142,
143, 146
Equal (Community Instrument to
combat discrimination) 153
equal opportunities 59, 101, 109,
112–14
and Amsterdam Treaty 10
Community Framework Strategy
on gender equality 113
and Structural Funds 113, 118, 150
Erasmus, (EU university education
programme) 116
Estonia 26, 27, 44
Euro see Economic and Monetary
Union
Eurojust 172
‘Europe’ as short-hand for European
Union 1
European Agricultural Guidance and
Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) see
Common Agricultural Policy
European Atomic Energy
Community (Eurotom) 157
European Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) 144
European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) 46
European Central Bank (ECB) 74–5,
168
European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC) 17, 157, 159
European Commission 19–25
and Amsterdam Treaty 10
and budgetary procedure 40, 41
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP) 54
Communications of 33
and competition policy 22, 78–9
and Constitutional Treaty 19, 163,
164, 168, 172
and consumer policy 91
and Convention 18
and discrimination 59
216  The European Union
European Commission continued
and European Central Bank 75
and European Council 14, 15
and European Court of Justice 29,
30, 32
and external trade 22, 92, 93, 94,
96, 97
Green Papers 34
and legislative procedure 33–8
and Maastricht Treaty 9
and Nice Treaty 7, 12, 13
Recommendations of 33
Social Agenda for 2005–10 100
and state aids 77
Tobin Tax, view of 83
and transport policy 83
White Papers 34
European Community (EC) 1
European Community Treaty, see
Amsterdam Treaty
European Convention on Human
Rights (ECHR), see Council of
Europe
European Council 14–15
and Amsterdam Treaty 10
Cologne Summit 1999 60
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP) 53, 54
and Constitutional Treaty 8, 163,
164, 167, 170, 172, 173
Copenhagen Summit of 1993 45,
46
Declarations of 33
and European Monetary Union
73, 74
Lisbon Agenda 100
Lisbon Summit 2000 100
Luxembourg Summit 1998 100
and Maastricht Treaty 9
and Nice Treaty 13, 55
and Single European Act 8
Stockholm Summit 2001 100
Thessalonika Summit 2003 162
European Court of Auditors 30–1, 42
European Court of First Instance 29
European Court of Human Rights 30
European Court of Justice (ECJ) 15,
22, 29–30, 33, 182
and civil liberties 62
and Constitutional Treaty 166
and discrimination 59, 113
and internal market 77, 86
and Maastricht Treaty 9
European Data Protection Supervisor
66
European Defence Agency 55
European Disability Forum 115
European Economic Area (EEA)
49–50, 85
European Economic Community
(EEC) 157, 180
European Employment Strategy 99,
100, 113
Joint Employment Report of
Commission and Council 99,
100
National Action Plans 99, 100
European Environmental Bureau 120
European Food Safety Authority
130–1
European Foreign Minister 163, 164,
172
European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions 48
European Free Trade Area (EFTA) 49,
85
European Investment Bank (EIB) 46,
84, 107
European Investment Fund 84
European Monetary Union see
Economic and Monetary Union
European nationalism 179–80
European Parliament (EP) 15, 16,
25–9
and budget 38
Committee on Budgetary Control
42
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP) 54
and Constitutional Treaty 163,
164, 172
corporate lobbying of 29
election of 24, 26, 49
and enlargement 44
and environmental policy 120
and human rights 33, 38
informal consultations 36–7
and legislative procedure 33–8
monitoring expenditure 42
and nomination of European
Commission 23–5

Political Groups 35, 36, 37, 144
powers of 22–3
Rapporteurs 36
‘readings’ 35–8
rejects proposed Directive on
Market Access to Port Services
144–5
representation in 26, 27–8
resolutions of 33
Shadow Rapporteurs 36
and TENs 146
European Political Parties 28–9
European Prosecutor 165
European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF) 150, 152
European Research Area 160
European Research Council, proposal
for 106
European Social Action Investment
Plan, proposal for 107
European Social Charter (1961) 59
European Social Fund (ESF) 117–18,
150
European System of Central Banks
(ESCB) 75
European Trade Union
Confederation (ETUC) 107
European Union (EU) 1, 2–3, 14
citizenship of 57
and democracy 182–6
extradition and judicial co-
operation, agreement with US
on 65
history and development of 180–1
and legal personality 167
militarisation, see Common
Foreign and Security Policy
right of member states to secede
from 167
European Works’ Councils 112
Europol (EU police force) 62, 63
agreement with US 65
‘euro-sceptics’ 1, 26
Farage, Nigel 28
federalism 166–7
Financial Instrument for Fisheries
Guidance (FIFG) 150
Finland 19, 26, 27, 43, 52, 70, 73, 151
fiscal policy 167–8
food safety 130–1, 135
Index  217
foreign policy, see Common Foreign
and Security Policy (CFSP)
‘Four Freedoms’ 80
France 8, 18, 19, 26, 27, 51, 64, 70, 73,
74, 162, 166, 168, 169, 170, 175
freedom of movement 57, 80, 81,
170–1
Friends of the Earth 136
Galileo (satellite-based radio
navigation system) 146
General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT) 94, 135
General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS) 97
Generalised System of Preferences
(GSP) 134
General Product Safety Directive
(1992) 90
genetically-modified organisms
(GMOs) 120, 126–7, 131
Geneva Convention on Refugees 63,
67
Germany 19, 26, 27, 44, 47, 51, 64,
70, 71, 73, 74, 77, 98, 160, 168,
169, 170
Giscard d’Estaing, Valery 18–19, 162,
166
globalisation 95–6, 107
Great Britain see United Kingdom
Greece 26, 27, 43, 64, 149, 150, 152
greenhouse gases 124, 125
Green Papers, see European
Commission
Green parties 119
Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
limitations of as measure of real
economic success 99
Growth and Stability Pact 70, 71, 95,
103, 104, 107, 169
Grundtvig (EU adult education
programme) 117
health and safety at work 86, 107–10
Action Programmes 108–9
Commission Communication
Adapting to change in work and
society: A New Community
Strategy on Health and Safety at
Work, 2002–2006 109–10
Framework Directive (1989) 108
and women 109, 112
218  The European Union
health policy, see public health
Helios (EU network for disabled
people) 115
Helsinki Final Act 56
holidays, paid 99
Horizon (unemployment initiative)
115
humanitarian aid 97
human rights
and Amsterdam Treaty 10, 59
and Charter of Fundamental
Rights 60, 166
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy 56
and enlargement 47
and European Parliament 33, 38
and Maastricht Treaty 97
and terrorism 64
of women 114
Hungary 26, 27, 44, 49
Iceland 49, 50, 83
IMF (International Monetary Fund)
182, 187
immigration 63
industrial policy 155–7
information and communications
technology (ICT) 105
Intergovernmental Conferences
(IGCs) 17–19, 162, 165
internal market see Single European
Market (SEM)
International Criminal Court 47
International Labour Organisation
(ILO) 60
Inter-reg III (Community
Instrument) 153
Iraq 64, 168
Ireland 26, 27, 43, 45, 48, 52, 64, 65,
73, 149, 150, 165, 170, 175, 186
Israel 38
Italy 19, 24, 26, 27, 64, 73, 90
Joint Employment Report 100
Joint Research Center (JRC) 160
Jordan 97
judicial co-operation 62
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) 62–7
and Maastricht Treaty 5, 9
Kohl, Helmut 69
Kok, Wim 103, 104
Kosovo 51, 53
Kyoto Protocol 123–6
labour costs 102
labour markets
direct intervention 99, 100
labour mobility 70, 81–2
participation rate of older workers
in 99, 105
participation rate of women in
105
reform of 99, 100, 101, 102, 106
see also employment; European
Employment Strategy, Lisbon
Agenda
Latvia 26, 27, 44, 45
Leader + (Community Instrument for
poorer rural regions) 153
Lebanon 97
Leonardo da Vinci (EU training and
education programme) 117
liberalisation
of capital movements 83
and Constitutional Treaty 176
of energy supply 158–9
and Lisbon Strategy 103
of transport 141, 143
of world trade 95
Lichtenstein 49, 85
Lingua (EU language education
programme) 117
Lisbon Agenda/Programme/Strategy
88, 99, 102–7, 156
and ‘competitiveness’ 99, 102, 103
and ‘convergence’ 100
and education 105
and enlargement 105
and ‘European social model’ 103,
104, 105
European Trade Union
Confederation (ETUC),
criticisms of by 107
and health and safety at work 109
and ‘knowledge-based society’ 103
and regional policy 154
Report of the High-Level Group of
Independent Experts, Facing the
Challenge 103–7
and Research and Development
105, 106

Lithuania 26, 27, 44
lobbying 29, 79, 80, 120, 126, 128,
155, 179, 183
Lomé Convention 96, 97, 134
London bombings of 2005 146
Luxembourg 26, 27, 73, 98
Luxembourg Process, see European
Employment Strategy
Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on
European Union) 4–6, 8–9
and citizenship 57
and co-decision 26
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy 51–2, 54
and development policy 96–7
and education and training 116
and environmental policy 120,
123
and health 128
and Justice and Home Affairs 62
and regional policy 150
and research and development
160
three pillar structure 5, 54, 62
McCreevy, Charlie 87
McKenna, Patricia 6
Madariaga, Javier Solana 52
Madeira 151
Madrid bombing of 2004 64
‘mainstreaming’ 121,143, 155, 157
Malta 26, 27, 73, 98
Marco Polo (transport programme)
146
media, British 1–2
Mercosur (Latin American economic
community) 97
Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) 97
Miners’ Strike (1984–85) 111
Minerva (EU open and distance
learning programme) 117
Morocco 97
Multi-annual Financial Framework
174
multinational corporations (MNCs)
political power of 182–3
NAFTA (North American Free Trade
Agreement) 182
nationalism 179–80
Index  219
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation) 52, 53, 54, 170,
187
nature conservation 97
Netherlands 8, 26, 27, 70, 73, 86, 96,
98, 103, 160, 162, 175
Nice, Treaty of 6–8, 12–13, 162
and Committee of the Regions 31
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP) 55–6
and Economic and Social
Committee 31
European Council meetings 14
and European Political Parties
28–9
Intergovernmental conference 17
and Qualified Majority Voting
(QMV) 6, 7, 168–9
Northern Ireland Peace Initiative 153
Norway 49, 85, 180
NOW, New Opportunities for
Women 113
nuclear energy 46, 125, 157, 158,
159
oil 85, 158
Ombudsman 26, 58
open method of co-ordination
99–100
‘Opinions’
of the Economic and Social
Committee 31
of the European Parliament 33
patents
Community Patent 88, 106–7
on software 106
Palestine 64
parental leave 112
Paris Charter 56
part-time work 112
peacekeeping 10, 53
pensions
aggregation 81
competence 115
Petersberg tasks 10, 53
petition, right of 58
PHARE (Poland–Hungary Assistance
in Restructuring their
Economies) 46
Poland 26, 27, 44, 166, 168, 169, 170
220  The European Union
police 9, 10, 11, 58, 59, 62, 63, 65,
66, 67
Political Cooperation 51
Political Parties at European Level,
see European Political Parties
Political and Security Committee
(PSC), see Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP)
pollution 80, 119, 120, 125, 126,
141, 142, 145, 147, 158
Portugal 26, 27, 43, 45, 71, 73, 74,
149, 150, 169
postal services 85
poverty 39, 45, 97, 98, 101, 103, 114,
149, 156
privacy 65
privatisation 95, 176, 181
productivity 100, 104
agricultural 132
in EU compared to US and Japan
157
and Lisbon Agenda 106
in new member states 105
‘pro-European’ 1
professional qualifications,
recognition of 88–9
proportionality 6, 167
protectionism 30, 95, 186
‘provisional twelfths’ 41
public health 128–30
and the Common Agricultural
Policy 136
DG Sanco 128
public ownership 84, 96
public–private partnerships 106
public procurement 106, 107
pure beer law (German) 77
Quakers 63
Qualified Majority Voting (QMV)
33–4
and Amsterdam Treaty 10
and Common Foreign and
Security Policy 54, 170
and Constitutional Treaty 163,
164–5, 166, 170, 172–3
and democracy 33–4
‘double qualified majority’ 165,
168
and environmental policy 122–3
and health and safety at work 108
and Maastricht Treaty 9
and Nice Treaty 6, 7, 12, 55
and Single European Act 8
weighting of votes per member
state 168
racism 11, 63, 67
REACH 127–8
Readmission agreements 67
‘Recommendations’ 33
Redundancy 111
refugees 66–7
refunds, to member states 39
regional policy 149–54
and Constitutional Treaty 174–5
and poverty and social exclusion
149
see also European Regional
Development Fund; Cohesion
Fund; Structural Funds
‘Regulations’ 32, 34
Renault, factory closure 111
renewable energy 158–9
Research and Development (R&D)
104, 156, 157, 159–61
Sixth Framework Programme for
(2003–06) 160
spending on 161
residence, right of 11, 57
resident non-EU nationals, rights of
63
right to demonstrate, restriction of
by EU measure 66
risk capital, availability of 106
Romania 20, 26, 27, 43, 49, 149
rural development 135
SAFE (Safety Actions for Europe)
Safety Actions for Europe 108
salmonella 90
Santer, Jacques 23
Schengen system 11, 62, 65
self-employed, rights of 49, 57, 82,
112
services
essential, proposed Directive on
129
financial 105, 106, 107
freedom to provide 86
free movement of 86, 104, 107

promotion of competition among
106
shift from manufacturing towards
156–7
Services in the Internal Market,
proposed Directive on (2005)
86, 89, 96
and health care 129–30
single currency see Euro
Single European Act (SEA) 4, 8, 79
and barriers to trade 4, 79
and co-decision 26
and common foreign and defence
policy 4
and environmental policy 4
and frontier controls 57
and internal market 4
and regional policy 149
and research and development 4,
159
and social policy 4
Single European Market (SEM)
76–91, 104
Action Plan for (1997) 88
and employment 80, 105
and environment 80, 150
and industrial policy 156
and regional disparities 149
and restructuring of industry 150
and transport policy 141–6
transposition of internal market
measures by member states 105
White Paper on completing the
internal market, 1985 76
see also services
‘Single European Sky’ 144
single programming document 150
Sjöstedt, Jonas 83
Slovakia 26, 27, 44, 49
Slovenia 26, 27, 44, 45
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
(SMEs) 106
social dumping 87, 107, 108
social exclusion 100
Solana, Javier 52, 163
sovereignty 5, 44, 49, 174
Spain 19, 26, 27, 43, 45, 64, 73, 149,
150, 160, 168, 169, 170, 175
state aids 77–8, 88, 93, 94, 100, 107
and transport 141
Index  221
Structural Adjustment Programme
(SAP) 95
Structural Funds 150–4
and environment 120–1
and equal opportunities 113, 150
see also Agenda 2000; Cohesion
Fund; European Regional
Development Fund; European
Social Fund
subsidiarity 6, 9, 166–7
subsidies 22, 93, 169
agricultural 96, 121, 133, 134, 135,
136, 171
fisheries 137, 138
Sweden 19, 26, 27, 43, 48, 52, 68, 98,
151, 153, 177
Swedish Left Party 83
Switzerland 49, 50
Syria 97
technology 159–61
telecommunications 83–4
data protection and privacy 10
TENs see Trans European Networks
(TENs)
terrorism 64, 65, 66
textiles 92
Thatcher, Margaret 111, 143
Tobin Tax 83
trade, external 92–8, 22, 32, 67, 77,
126, 134, 155, 184, 186
see also World Trade Organisation
(WTO)
trade unions 31, 59, 111, 114, 144
training 45, 104, 112, 114, 115,
116–17, 117–18, 156
Trans European Networks (TENs)
83–5, 145–6
and industrial policy 153
transport 141–8
cost of 85–6, 142
and environmental damage 85,
126
Treaty on European Union (TEU)
see Maastricht Treaty
Treaty of Rome 32
aims of 1
and agricultural policy 132
amendments to 4
competition policy 78
and development policy 96
and energy policy 157
222  The European Union
Treaty of Rome continued
and environmental policy 119
and equal pay 112
and free movement of goods 76
and free movement of labour 81
and public ownership 84
and state aids 77–8
and transport policy 141
Tunisia 97
Turkey 38, 43, 49, 149
Unemployment see employment
UNICE (EU-wide employers’ group)
112
Union Minister for Foreign Affairs,
see European Foreign Minister
United Kingdom 2, 19, 26, 27, 38,
43, 51, 61, 68, 71, 111, 165,
166, 169, 170
United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP) 1, 28
United Nations Charter 56
United Nations Conference for Trade
and Development (UNCTAD)
134
United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
See Kyoto Protocol
United Nations High Commission
for Refugees (UNHCR) 63–4
United States 51, 52, 53, 54, 82, 99,
102, 124
universities, relationship with
industry 106
Van Buitenen, Paul 23
VAT (Value Added Tax) 38, 39, 89
Villepin, Dominique de 177
Visa Information System 65–6
Volkswagen 90
voting rights of EU citizens 58
‘War on Terrorism’ 64
Washington Consensus 181–2
waste management policy 84, 123,
158
water supply 84, 123
pollution of 120, 121, 123
privatisation of 96
Western European Union (WEU) see
Common Foreign and Security
Policy (CFSP)
White Papers, see European
Commission
women
access to labour market 112–14, 118
and Convergence Criteria 112
and Stability and Growth Pact 112
see also equal opportunities,
gender discrimination, gender
equality
workers’ rights
Directive on the Approximation of
the Laws of the Member States
on the Safeguarding of Workers’
Rights in Conjunction with the
Transfer of Undertakings (1977)
111
and Directive on Mergers of
Limited Companies 111
European Works’ Councils 112
right to information and
consultation 110–12
working conditions 99, 102
working hours 99
World Bank 182
World Customs Organisation 65
World Trade Organisation (WTO)
76–7, 93, 94–5, 97
and the Common Agricultural
Policy 134, 135, 136
and Common Customs Tariff 92
Doha ministerial conference 134
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
138
Youth for Europe Programme 117
Yugoslavia, see Balkan Wars