Curriculum
In education, a curriculum is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term refers to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experiences in terms of the educator's or school's instructional goals. In a 2003 study, Reys, Lapan and Wasman refer to curriculum as a set of learning goals articulated across grades that outline the intended mathematics content and process goals at particular points in time throughout the K–12 school program. Curriculum may incorporate the planned interaction of pupils with instructional content, materials and processes for evaluating the attainment of educational objectives. Curriculum is split into several categories: the explicit, the implicit, the excluded, the extracurricular. Curricula may be standardized, or may include a high level of instructor or learner autonomy. Many countries have national curricula in primary and secondary education, such as the United Kingdom's National Curriculum.
UNESCO's International Bureau of Education has the primary mission of studying curricula and their implementation worldwide. The word "curriculum" began as a Latin word which means "a race" or "the course of a race"; the first known use in an educational context is in the Professio Regia, a work by University of Paris professor Petrus Ramus published posthumously in 1576. The term subsequently appears in University of Leiden records in 1582; the word's origins appear linked to the Calvinist desire to bring greater order to education. By the seventeenth century, the University of Glasgow referred to its "course" of study as a "curriculum", producing the first known use of the term in English in 1633. By the nineteenth century, European universities referred to their curriculum to describe both the complete course of study and particular courses and their content. There is no agreed upon definition of curriculum; some influential definitions combine various elements to describe curriculum as follows: Through the readings of Smith and Kelly, four types of curricula could be defined as: Explicit curriculum: subjects that will be taught, the identified "mission" of the school, the knowledge and skills that the school expects successful students to acquire.
Implicit curriculum: lessons that arise from the culture of the school and the behaviors and expectations that characterize that culture, the unintended curriculum. Hidden curriculum: things which students learn, ‘because of the way in which the work of the school is planned and organized but which are not in themselves overtly included in the planning or in the consciousness of those responsible for the school arrangements; the term itself is not always meant to be a negative. Hidden curriculum, if its potential is realized, could benefit students and learners in all educational systems, it does not just include the physical environment of the school, but the relationships formed or not formed between students and other students or students and teachers. Excluded curriculum: topics or perspectives that are excluded from the curriculum, it may come in the form of extracurricular activities. This may include school-sponsored programs, which are intended to supplement the academic aspect of the school experience or community-based programs and activities.
Examples of school-sponsored extracurricular programs include sports, academic clubs, performing arts. Community-based programs and activities may take place at a school after hours but are not linked directly to the school. Community-based programs expand on the curriculum, introduced in the classroom. For instance, students may be introduced to environmental conservation in the classroom; this knowledge is further developed through a community-based program. Participants act on what they know with a conservation project. Community-based extracurricular activities may include “environmental clubs, 4-H, boy/girl scouts, religious groups”. Kerr defines curriculum as "ll the learning, planned and guided by the school, whether it is carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside of school." Braslavsky states that curriculum is an agreement among communities, educational professionals, the State on what learners should take on during specific periods of their lives. Furthermore, the curriculum defines "why, when, where and with whom to learn."
Smith says that, " syllabus will not indicate the relative importance of its topics or the order in which they are to be studied. Where people still equate curriculum with a syllabus they are to limit their planning to a consideration of the content or the body of knowledge that they wish to transmit."According to Smith, a curriculum can be ordered into a procedure: Step 1: Diagnosis of needs. Step 2: Formulation of objectives. Step 3: Selection of content. Step 4: Organization of content. Step 5: Selection of learning experiences. Step 6: Organization of learning experiences. Step 7: Determination of what to evaluate and of the ways and means of doing it. Under some definitions, curriculum is prescriptive, is based on a more general syllabus which specifies what topics must be understood and to what level to achieve a particular grade or standard. A curriculum may refer to a defined and prescribed course of studies, which students must fulfill in order to pass a certain level of education. For example, an elementary school might
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a cabinet-level department of the U. S. federal government responsible for occupational safety and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, reemployment services, some economic statistics. S. states have such departments. The department is headed by the U. S. Secretary of Labor; the purpose of the Department of Labor is to foster and develop the wellbeing of the wage earners, job seekers, retirees of the United States. In carrying out this mission, the Department of Labor administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws and thousands of federal regulations; these mandates and the regulations that implement them cover many workplace activities for about 10 million employers and 125 million workers. The department's headquarters is housed in the Frances Perkins Building, named in honor of Frances Perkins, the Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945. In 1884 the U. S. Congress first established a Bureau of Labor Statistics with the Bureau of Labor Act, to collect information about labor and employment.
This bureau was under the Department of the Interior. The Bureau started collecting economic data in 1884, published their first report in 1886. In 1888, the Bureau of Labor became an independent Department of Labor, but lacked executive rank. In February 1903, it became a bureau again when the Department of Commerce and Labor was established. United States President William Howard Taft signed the March 4, 1913 bill, establishing the Department of Labor as a cabinet-level department. William B. Wilson was appointed as the first Secretary of Labor on March 5, 1913, by President Wilson. In October 1919, Secretary Wilson chaired the first meeting of the International Labour Organization though the U. S. was not yet a member. In September 1916, the Federal Employees' Compensation Act introduced benefits to workers who are injured or contract illnesses in the workplace; the act established an agency responsible for federal workers’ compensation, transferred to the Labor Department in the 1940s and has become known as the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.
Frances Perkins, the first female cabinet member, was appointed to be Secretary of Labor by President Roosevelt on March 4, 1933. Perkins served for 12 years, became the longest-serving Secretary of Labor. During the John F. Kennedy Administration, planning was undertaken to consolidate most of the department's offices scattered around more than 20 locations. In the mid‑1960s construction on the "New Labor Building" began and finished in 1975. In 1980 it was named in honor of Frances Perkins. President Lyndon Johnson asked Congress to consider the idea of reuniting Labor, he argued that the two departments had similar goals and that they would have more efficient channels of communication in a single department. However, Congress never acted on it. In the 1970s, following the civil rights movement, the Labor Department under Secretary George P. Shultz made a concerted effort to promote racial diversity in unions. In 1978, the Department of Labor created the Philip Arnow Award, intended to recognize outstanding career employees such as the eponymous Philip Arnow.
During 2010 a local of the American Federation of Government Employees stated their unhappiness that a longstanding flextime program reduced under the George W. Bush administration had not been restored under the Obama administration. Department officials said the program was modern and fair and that it was part of ongoing contract negotiations with the local. In August 2010, the Partnership for Public Service ranked the Department of Labor 23rd out of 31 large agencies in its annual "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government" list. In December 2010, then-Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was named the Chair of the U. S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, of which Labor has been a member since its beginnings in 1987. In July 2011, the department was rocked by the resignation of Ray Jefferson, Assistant Secretary for VETS, in a contracting scandal. In March 2013, the department began commemorating its centennial. In July 2013, Tom Perez was confirmed as Secretary of Labor. According to remarks by Perez at his swearing-in ceremony, "Boiled down to its essence, the Department of Labor is the department of opportunity."
In the latest Center for Effective Government analysis of 15 federal agencies which receive the most Freedom of Information Act requests, published in 2015, the Labor Department earned a D by scoring 63 out of a possible 100 points, i.e. did not earn a satisfactory overall grade. Title 20 of the Code of Federal Regulations Equal Employment Opportunity Commission National Labor Relations Board Occupational Information Network Ticket to Work USA.gov USAFacts Lombardi, John. Labor's Voice in the Cabinet: A History of the Department of Labor from Its Origins to 1921. New York: Columbia University Press. Official website U. S. Department of Labor in the Federal Register
Secondary education
Secondary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education is considered the second and final phase of basic education, level 3 secondary education is the stage before tertiary education; every country aims to provide basic education, but the systems and terminology remain unique to them. Secondary education takes place after six years of primary education and is followed by higher education, vocational education or employment. Like primary education, in most countries secondary education is compulsory, at least until the age of 16. Children enter the lower secondary phase around age 11. Compulsory education sometimes extends to age 19. Since 1989, education has been seen as a basic human right for a child; the terminology has proved difficult, there was no universal definition before ISCED divided the period between primary education and university into junior secondary education and upper secondary education. In classical and mediaeval times secondary education was provided by the church for the sons of nobility and to boys preparing for universities and the priesthood.
As trade required navigational and scientific skills the church reluctantly expanded the curriculum and widened the intake. With the Reformation the state wrestled the control of learning from the church, with Comenius and John Locke education changed from being repetition of Latin text to building up knowledge in the child. Education was for the few. Up to the middle of the 19th century, secondary schools were organised to satisfy the needs of different social classes with the labouring classes getting 4 years, the merchant class 5 years and the elite getting 7 years; the rights to a secondary education were codified after 1945, countries are still working to achieve the goal of mandatory and free secondary education for all youth under 19. Secondary education is in most countries the phase in the education continuum responsible for the development of the young during their adolescence, the most rapid phase of their physical and emotional growth, it is at this education level in its first cycle, where values and attitudes formed at primary school are more ingrained alongside the acquisition of knowledge and skills.
The 1997 International Standard Classification of Education describes seven levels that can be used to compare education internationally. Within a country these can be implemented in different ways, with different age levels and local denominations; the seven levels are: Level 0 – Pre-primary education Level 1 – Primary education or first stage of basic education Level 2 – Lower secondary or second stage of basic education Level 3 – secondary education Level 4 – Post-secondary non-tertiary education Level 5 – First stage of tertiary education Level 6 – Second stage of tertiary educationWithin this system, Levels 1 and 2 – that is, primary education and lower secondary – together form basic education. Beyond that, national governments may attach the label of secondary education to Levels 2 through 4 together, Levels 2 and 3 together, or Level 2 alone; these level definition were put together for statistical purposes, to allow the gathering of comparative data nationally and internationally.
They were approved by the UNESCO General Conference at its 29th session in November 1997. Though they may be dated, they do provide a universal set of definitions and remain unchanged in the 2011 update; the start of lower secondary education is characterised by the transition from the single-class-teacher, who delivers all content to a cohort of pupils, to one where content is delivered by a series of subject specialists. Its educational aim is to complete provision of basic education and to lay the foundations for lifelong learning. Lower secondary education is to show these criteria: entry after some 6 years of primary education the requirement for more qualified teachers teaching only within their specialism exit to Level 3 courses, or vocational education, or employment after 9 or more total years of education; the end of lower secondary education coincides with the end of compulsory education in countries where that exists. Secondary education starts on the completion of basic education, defined as completion of lower secondary education.
The educational focus is varied according to the student's interests and future direction. Education at this level is voluntary. Secondary education is to show these criteria: entry after some 9 years of basic education typical age at entry is between 14 and 16 years all teachers have level 5 qualifications in the subject they are teaching exit to Level 4 or 5 courses or to direct employment. More subjects may be dropped, increased specialism occurs. Completion of secondary education provides the entry requirements to Level 5 tertiary education, the entry requirements to technical or vocational education, or direct entry into the workplace. In 2012 the ISCED published a further work on education levels where it codified particular paths and redefined the tertiary levels. Lower secondary education and secondary education could last between 2 and 5 years, the transition between two would be when students were allowed some subject choice. Terminology for secondary schools varies by country, the exact meaning of any of these varies.
Secondary s
United Democratic Party (Belize)
The United Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in Belize. It is the ruling party, having won 2012 and 2015 general elections. A centre-right conservative party, the UDP is led by Prime Minister of Belize Dean Barrow. In 1973 political opposition in Belize was weak and the ruling People's United Party had never lost a legislative election since its foundation; the main opposition parties, the National Independence Party and the People's Development Movement met together with a new Liberal Party to consider forming an alliance to fight the PUP. The resulting merger formed the United Democratic Party on 27 September 1973. Controversially, a significant portion of the United Black Association for Development voted to join the UDP upon foundation; the UDP's first electoral test was the 1974 general election in which it fielded candidates nationwide except in Corozal District, where it supported candidates from the Corozal United Front. It won six seats, was within 18 votes of winning three more.
Former People's Development Movement head. The party had success in municipal elections during the 1970s, but failed to defeat the PUP in the 1979 general elections, its representation in the House of Representatives dropped to five seats and party leader Lindo lost his seat to Said Musa and was replaced as leader by Theodore Aranda. Despite internal divisions, the party retained control of three towns in the December 1981 municipal elections In late 1982 Aranda was removed as party leader and replaced by Curl Thompson, who in turn was replaced by former Liberal Party leader Manuel Esquivel following a convention. In December 1983 the UDP won Belize City Council elections and the following year they were victorious in the general elections, winning 21 of the 28 seats. However, they lost power in the 1989 elections, winning 13 seats to the PUP's 15. For the 1993 elections the party formed an alliance with the National Alliance for Belizean Rights; the alliance won 16 of the 29 seats, with the UDP taking fifteen.
However, they were soundly defeated in the 1998 elections as the PUP won 26 of the 29 seats, after which Esquivel was replaced by Barrow as party leader. The PUP remained in power following the 2003 elections. After ten years in opposition, the UDP won the 2008 general elections. Dean Lindo Theodore Aranda Curl Thompson Manuel Esquivel Dean Barrow Official website The Guardian Party newspaper
Belmopan
Belmopan is the capital city of Belize. Its population in 2010 was 16,451. Although the smallest capital city in the continental Americas by population, Belmopan is the third-largest settlement in Belize, behind Belize City and San Ignacio. Founded as a planned community in 1970, Belmopan is one of the newest national capital cities in the world. Since 2000 Belmopan has been one of two settlements in Belize to hold official city status, along with Belize City. Belmopan is located in Cayo District at an altitude of 76 metres above sea level. Belmopan was constructed just to the east of the Belize River, 80 km inland from the former capital, the port of Belize City, after that city's near destruction by Hurricane Hattie in 1961; the government was moved to Belmopan in 1970. Its National Assembly Building is designed to resemble a Pre-Columbian Maya temple. After Hurricane Hattie in 1961 destroyed 75% of the houses and business places in low-lying and coastal Belize City, the government proposed to encourage and promote the building of a new capital city.
This new capital would be on better terrain, would entail no costly reclamation of land, would provide for an industrial area. In 1962, a committee chose the site now known as Belmopan, 82 kilometres west of the old capital of Belize City. Since Belize was a British colony in 1964, Premier George Cadle Price led a delegation to London to seek funds to finance the new capital. Although they were not ready to commit to funding such a large project, the British government showed interest due to the logic of locating the capital on high ground safe from storm surges. To encourage financial commitment from the British government, Premier Price and the PUP government invited Anthony Greenwood, Secretary of State for the Commonwealth and Colonies, to visit Belize. One of the highlights of this visit was the unveiling of a monument at mile 49 on the Western Highway; the monument records that Lord Greenwood dedicated the site for the new capital on 9 October 1965. In a way, there was a commitment; the name chosen for the new capital, Belmopan, is derived from the union of two words: "Belize", the name of the longest river in the country, "Mopan", one of the rivers in this area, which empties into the Belize River.
The initial estimated cost for building this new city was 40 million Belize dollars. Only 20 million Belize dollars were available. In 1967, work began. From 1970 to 2000 the administration of Belmopan was managed by the Reconstruction and Development Corporation, known as "Recondev." Recondev was vested with the power and authority to provide, or cause to be provided, the municipal functions necessary for the smooth running of the city's business and infrastructure. There was a reluctance amongst foreign governments to relocate their embassies to Belmopan as there was some doubt as to whether this inland area would become the functioning capital; the British High Commission opened in 1981 when Belize achieved independence, moving to its current location in 1984. In February 2005, the United States government broke ground and started building a new embassy in Belmopan, 43 years after it was chosen as the new capital city; the U. S. embassy was opened on 11 December 2006. Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Venezuela have embassies in Belmopan, while Ecuador and the Dominican Republic are represented by consulates.
However, with four embassies and 29 consulates the former capital of Belize City still has most of the country's foreign diplomatic community. The city layout centers around the Ring Road, just under 4 km in circumference; the majority of government buildings are situated either within or around the Ring Road, a large area within the Ring Road is given to parkland. The National Assembly Building is the focal point of the city's design, with the grey stone architecture and broad steps designed to resemble a Mayan temple, reflecting the nation's cultural heritage. Surrounding buildings mirror this design, with the East Wing and West Wing buildings contributing to the overall impression of an ancient Mayan plaza; the original buildings were designed with extensive ventilation to accommodate the tropical climate leading to a pock-marked effect on the buildings' walls. Extensive internal renovations and the widespread introduction of air-conditioners has caused this design to become ineffective and inefficient.
Belmopan is 50 miles inland from the Caribbean Sea and 76 meters above sea level, located near the Belize River Valley with a view of the Mountain Pine Ridge foothills. The city is off the Hummingbird Highway. Two and a half hours south of Belmopan, by road, is the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, it is served by the Hector Silva Airstrip. Belmopan features a tropical monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification; the city has a lengthy wet season that runs from May through February and a short dry season covering the remaining two months. As is the characteristic of several cities with a tropical monsoon climate, Belmopan sees some precipitation during its dry season. March and April are Belmopan's driest months with 45 mm of rainfall observed on average during those months. Like Belize City, these are somewhat unusual months for a city with a tropical monsoon climate to have its driest months of the year; the driest month for a city with this climate type is the month after the winter solstice, which in Belmopan would be January.
Average monthly temperatures are somewhat constant throughout the course of the year, ranging f
Public domain
The public domain consists of all the creative works to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable; the works of William Shakespeare and Beethoven, most early silent films, are in the public domain either by virtue of their having been created before copyright existed, or by their copyright term having expired. Some works are not covered by copyright, are therefore in the public domain—among them the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes, all computer software created prior to 1974. Other works are dedicated by their authors to the public domain; the term public domain is not applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, in which case use of the work is referred to as "under license" or "with permission". As rights vary by country and jurisdiction, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another; some rights depend on registrations on a country-by-country basis, the absence of registration in a particular country, if required, gives rise to public-domain status for a work in that country.
The term public domain may be interchangeably used with other imprecise or undefined terms such as the "public sphere" or "commons", including concepts such as the "commons of the mind", the "intellectual commons", the "information commons". Although the term "domain" did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the concept "can be traced back to the ancient Roman Law, as a preset system included in the property right system." The Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined "many things that cannot be owned" as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as things not yet appropriated; the term res communes was defined as "things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air and ocean." The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, the term res universitatis meant things that were owned by the municipalities of Rome. When looking at it from a historical perspective, one could say the construction of the idea of "public domain" sprouted from the concepts of res communes, res publicae, res universitatis in early Roman law.
When the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by French jurists in the 18th century. Instead of "public domain", they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law; the phrase "fall in the public domain" can be traced to mid-19th century France to describe the end of copyright term. The French poet Alfred de Vigny equated the expiration of copyright with a work falling "into the sink hole of public domain" and if the public domain receives any attention from intellectual property lawyers it is still treated as little more than that, left when intellectual property rights, such as copyright and trademarks, expire or are abandoned. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a, "little coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain." Copyright law differs by country, the American legal scholar Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being "different sizes at different times in different countries".
Definitions of the boundaries of the public domain in relation to copyright, or intellectual property more regard the public domain as a negative space. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the term public domain and equates the public domain to public property and works in copyright to private property. However, the usage of the term public domain can be more granular, including for example uses of works in copyright permitted by copyright exceptions; such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair-use rights and limitation on ownership. A conceptual definition comes from Lange, who focused on what the public domain should be: "it should be a place of sanctuary for individual creative expression, a sanctuary conferring affirmative protection against the forces of private appropriation that threatened such expression". Patterson and Lindberg described the public domain not as a "territory", but rather as a concept: "here are certain materials – the air we breathe, rain, life, thoughts, ideas, numbers – not subject to private ownership.
The materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival." The term public domain may be interchangeably used with other imprecise or undefined terms such as the "public sphere" or "commons", including concepts such as the "commons of the mind", the "intellectual commons", the "information commons". A public-domain book is a book with no copyright, a book, created without a license, or a book where its copyrights expired or have been forfeited. In most countries the term of protection of copyright lasts until January first, 70 years after the death of the latest living author; the longest copyright term is in Mexico, which has life plus 100 years for all deaths since July 1928. A notable exception is the United States, where every book and tale published prior to 1924 is in the public domain.
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community was a regional organisation which aimed to bring about economic integration among its member states. It was created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957. Upon the formation of the European Union in 1993, the EEC was incorporated and renamed as the European Community. In 2009 the EC's institutions were absorbed into the EU's wider framework and the community ceased to exist; the Community's initial aim was to bring about economic integration, including a common market and customs union, among its six founding members: Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and West Germany. It gained a common set of institutions along with the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community as one of the European Communities under the 1965 Merger Treaty. In 1993, a complete single market was achieved, known as the internal market, which allowed for the free movement of goods, capital and people within the EEC. In 1994, the internal market was formalised by the EEA agreement.
This agreement extended the internal market to include most of the member states of the European Free Trade Association, forming the European Economic Area covering 15 countries. Upon the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, the EEC was renamed the European Community to reflect that it covered a wider range than economic policy; this was when the three European Communities, including the EC, were collectively made to constitute the first of the three pillars of the European Union, which the treaty founded. The EC existed in this form until it was abolished by the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon, which incorporated the EC's institutions into the EU's wider framework and provided that the EU would "replace and succeed the European Community"; the EEC was known as the Common Market in the English-speaking countries and sometimes referred to as the European Community before it was renamed as such in 1993. In 1951, the Treaty of Paris was signed, creating Steel Community; this was an international community based on supranationalism and international law, designed to help the economy of Europe and prevent future war by integrating its members.
In the aim of creating a federal Europe two further communities were proposed: a European Defence Community and a European Political Community. While the treaty for the latter was being drawn up by the Common Assembly, the ECSC parliamentary chamber, the proposed defense community was rejected by the French Parliament. ECSC President Jean Monnet, a leading figure behind the communities, resigned from the High Authority in protest and began work on alternative communities, based on economic integration rather than political integration. After the Messina Conference in 1955, Paul Henri Spaak was given the task to prepare a report on the idea of a customs union; the so-called Spaak Report of the Spaak Committee formed the cornerstone of the intergovernmental negotiations at Val Duchesse conference centre in 1956. Together with the Ohlin Report the Spaak Report would provide the basis for the Treaty of Rome. In 1956, Paul Henri Spaak led the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom at the Val Duchesse conference centre, which prepared for the Treaty of Rome in 1957.
The conference led to the signature, on 25 March 1957, of the Treaty of Rome establishing a European Economic Community. The resulting communities were the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community; these were markedly less supranational than the previous communities, due to protests from some countries that their sovereignty was being infringed. The first formal meeting of the Hallstein Commission was held on 16 January 1958 at the Chateau de Val-Duchesse; the EEC was to create a customs union while Euratom would promote co-operation in the nuclear power sphere. The EEC became the most important of these and expanded its activities. One of the first important accomplishments of the EEC was the establishment of common price levels for agricultural products. In 1968, internal tariffs were removed on certain products. Another crisis was triggered in regard to proposals for the financing of the Common Agricultural Policy, which came into force in 1962; the transitional period whereby decisions were made by unanimity had come to an end, majority-voting in the Council had taken effect.
Then-French President Charles de Gaulle's opposition to supranationalism and fear of the other members challenging the CAP led to an "empty chair policy" whereby French representatives were withdrawn from the European institutions until the French veto was reinstated. A compromise was reached with the Luxembourg compromise on 29 January 1966 whereby a gentlemen's agreement permitted members to use a veto on areas of national interest. On 1 July 1967 when the Merger Treaty came into operation, combining the institutions of the ECSC and Euratom into that of the EEC, they shared a Parliamentary Assembly and Courts. Collectively they were known as the European Communities; the Communities still had independent personalities although were integrated. Future treaties granted the community new powers beyond simple economic matters which had achieved a high level of integration; as it got closer to the goal of political integration and a peaceful and united Europe, what Mikhail Gorbachev described as a Common European Home.
The 1960s saw the first attempts at enlargement. In 1961, Ireland and the United Kingdom applied to join the three Communities. However, Presi
