EUROPEAN UNION (EU)

European Union (EU)

European Union (EU)

Introduction

The European Union (EU) is a multinational democratic entity that consists of 27 Member States. There have been six periods of enlargement in the growth of the EU, and the largest occurred on May 1, 2004, when 10 states joined the existing 15. The most recent expansion was on January 1, 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania were accessioned. The current Member States of the EU are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

With such growth, there have been numerous issues of concern as well as the promise of an integrated Europe. One major area is that of language barriers and the need for the EU to spend much time and resources on translation in order to facilitate communication among its diverse membership. Presently, the EU has 23 official and working languages. These languages are Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish. German is the most widely spoken mother tongue, followed by English, French, and Italian. English is widely acknowledged as the de facto official common language of the EU. (Blumler 1983, 181-209)

Historically, the European Economic Community, or the Common Market, was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and was implemented January 1, 1958 (de Vreese 2001, 155-180). It then evolved into the European Community. The EU was officially formed when the Maastricht Treaty was signed on February 7, 1992. It was created as a supranational entity with the goal of creating a common market among its Member States. Therefore, the EU was responsible for the administration of the customs union, the Common Agricultural Policy, and the Common Fisheries Policy. Also, the EU has extended its original tasks to include a broader range of common policies, such as road safety, culture, transportation, and the environment.

The continuation of a developing EU has created what is called the Eurozone, and this major democratic entity is continuing to evolve and expand. Currently recognized member candidates are Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey. Potential member candidates are Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia. According to the EU Treaty, each Member State, and the EU Parliament, must agree to any enlargement.

For a nation-state to join the EU, it must fulfill economic and political conditions generally known as the Copenhagen criteria. These standards are set forth to maintain democratic government, standard rule of law, and corresponding freedoms. Despite these criteria, some critics are concerned about Europe losing not only its identity but also its common standards. For example, much concern arose over the accessioning of Cyprus in 2004, which divided Greek and Turkish parts of this nation. The Cyprus issue illustrated a ferment in EU growth that will undoubtably continue to prove problematic with the plans for the accession of ...