1.
European Commission
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Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate. The Commission operates as a government, with 28 members of the Commission. There is one member per state, but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. One of the 28 is the Commission President proposed by the European Council, the current Commission is the Juncker Commission, which took office in late 2014. The procedural languages of the Commission are English, French and German, the Members of the Commission and their cabinets are based in the Berlaymont building in Brussels. The first Commission originated in 1951 as the nine-member High Authority under President Jean Monnet, the High Authority was the supranational administrative executive of the new European Coal and Steel Community. It took office first on 10 August 1952 in Luxembourg, in 1958 the Treaties of Rome had established two new communities alongside the ECSC, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. However their executives were called Commissions rather than High Authorities, the reason for the change in name was the new relationship between the executives and the Council. Some states such as France expressed reservations over the power of the High Authority, louis Armand led the first Commission of Euratom. Walter Hallstein led the first Commission of the EEC, holding the first formal meeting on 16 January 1958 at the Château of Val-Duchesse, Hallstein notably began the consolidation of European law and started to have a notable impact on national legislation. The three bodies, collectively named the European Executives, co-existed until 1 July 1967 when, under the Merger Treaty, the Rey Commission completed the Communitys customs union in 1968 and campaigned for a more powerful, elected, European Parliament. Despite Rey being the first President of the communities, Hallstein is seen as the first President of the modern Commission. The Malfatti and Mansholt Commissions followed with work on monetary co-operation, with that enlargement the Commissions membership increased to thirteen under the Ortoli Commission, which dealt with the enlarged community during economic and international instability at that time. Following the Jenkins Commission, Gaston Thorns Commission oversaw the Communitys enlargement to the south, the Commission headed by Jacques Delors was seen as giving the Community a sense of direction and dynamism. Delors and his team are considered as the founding fathers of the euro. The International Herald Tribune noted the work of Delors at the end of his term in 1992. He arrived when Europessimism was at its worst, although he was a little-known former French finance minister, he breathed life and hope into the EC and into the dispirited Brussels Commission. The successor to Delors was Jacques Santer, the entire Santer Commission was forced to resign in 1999 by the Parliament as result of a fraud and corruption scandal, with a central role played by Édith Cresson
2.
President of the European Commission
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The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission. The President of the Commission is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and they determine the Commissions policy agenda and all the legislative proposals it produces. The President of the Commission also represents the EU abroad, together with the President of the European Council, the post was established in 1958. Each new President is nominated by the European Council and formally elected by the European Parliament, once appointed, he or she, along with the Commission, is responsible to Parliament. As of 2017, the current President is Jean-Claude Juncker, who took office on 1 November 2014 and he is a member of the European Peoples Party and is the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg. Juncker is the twelfth President and his First Vice-President is Frans Timmermans, in 1957 the present Commission was established by the Treaty of Rome, and it also replaced the High Authority and the Commission of Euratom in 1967. The Commissions first president was Walter Hallstein who started consolidating European law, national governments took little heed of his administration at first with the President having to stamp the Commissions authority early on. With the aid of the European Court of Justice the Commission began to be more seriously. These proposals led to a backlash from France. Hallstein knew the proposals would be contentious, and took charge of drafting them. However he did gain the support of Parliament through his proposals to increase its powers and he aimed to demonstrate how he thought the Community ought to be run, in the hopes of generating a wave of pro-Europeanism big enough to get past the objections of member states. However, in this it proved that, despite its past successes, France eventually withdrew its representative from the Council, triggering the notorious empty chair crisis. Although this was resolved under the Luxembourg compromise, Hallstein became the scapegoat for the crisis, the Council refused to renew his term, despite being the most dynamic leader until Jacques Delors. Hallsteins work did enable the Commission to be a real player, during the 1970s the presidents were involved in the major political projects of the day, such as the European Monetary Union. In 1970, President Jean Rey secured the Communitys own financial resources and in 1977, President Roy Jenkins became the first Commission President to attend a G7 summit on behalf of the Community. However, due to such as the 1973 oil crisis. However the Commission began to recover under President Jacques Delors Commission and he is seen as the most successful President, being credited with having given the Community a sense of direction and dynamism. The International Herald Tribune noted the work of Delors at the end of his term in 1992
3.
Jean-Claude Juncker
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Jean-Claude Juncker is a Luxembourgish politician. Since 2014, Juncker has been President of the European Commission, from 1995 to 2013, he was the 23rd Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and from 1989 to 2009, he was the Minister for Finances. From 2005 to 2013, Juncker served as the first permanent President of the Eurogroup, in 2014, the European Peoples Party had Juncker as its lead candidate, or Spitzenkandidat, for the Presidency of the Commission in the 2014 elections. This marked the first time that the Spitzenkandidat process was employed, the EPP won 220 out of 751 seats in the Parliament. On 27 June 2014, the European Council officially nominated Juncker for the position, and on 15 July 2014 and he succeeded Jose Manuel Barroso as President on 1 November 2014. During his leadership, Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, Juncker is the first President that prior to the election has campaigned as a candidate for the position, a process introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon. Juncker was born in Redange, Luxembourg, and spent the majority of his childhood in Belvaux and he studied at the Roman Catholic école apostolique at Clairefontaine on the edge of Arlon in Belgium, before returning to Luxembourg to study for his Baccalaureate at the Lycée Michel Rodange. He joined the Christian Social Peoples Party in 1974 and he studied Law at the University of Strasbourg, graduating with a Masters in Law in 1979, and although he was sworn into the Luxembourg Bar Council in 1980, he never practised as a lawyer. Juncker is fluent in his language of Luxembourgish, along with French, German. Following Junckers graduation from the University of Strasbourg, he was appointed as a Parliamentary Secretary and he later won election to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 1984 and was immediately appointed to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Jacques Santer as Minister of Labour. This led to his given a chairmans role at a number of meetings of the Council of the European Communities. Shortly before the 1989 election Juncker was seriously injured in a road accident. His eventual promotion to Prime Minister seemed at this time inevitable, Juncker at this time also accepted the position of Luxembourgs representative on the 188-member board of Governors of the World Bank. Juncker was re-elected to the Chamber in 1994, maintaining his ministerial role, Juncker relinquished his post at the World Bank at this time, but maintained his position as Minister for Finance. Junckers first term as Prime Minister was focused on a platform of international bilateral ties to improve Luxembourgs profile abroad. The press dubbed Juncker the Hero of Dublin for achieving a consensus between the two. He also instigated the Euro 11, an group of European finance ministers for matters regarding his Economic. For all of these initiatives, he was honoured with the Vision for Europe Award in 1998, after the 2004 election, the Luxembourg Socialist Workers Party became the second largest party again, and Juncker again formed a coalition with them
4.
Member state of the European Union
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The European Union comprises 28 member states. Each member state is party to the treaties of the union and thereby subject to the privileges. Unlike members of most international organisations, the states of the EU are subjected to binding laws in exchange for representation within the common legislative. Member states must agree unanimously for the EU to adopt policies concerning defence, subsidiarity is a founding principle of the EU. In 1957, six core states founded the EUs predecessor, the European Economic Community, the remaining states have acceded in subsequent enlargements. On 1 July 2013, Croatia became the newest member state of the EU, Enlargement of the Union is also contingent upon the consent of all existing members and the candidates adoption of the existing body of EU law, known as the acquis communautaire. There is disparity in the size, wealth and political system of member states, while in some areas majority voting takes place where larger states have more votes than smaller ones, smaller states have disproportional representation compared to their population. No member state has withdrawn or been suspended from the EU, in June 2016, the UK held a referendum on membership of the EU, resulting in 51. 89% of votes cast in favour to leaving. Prime Minister Theresa May invoked Article 50 on 29 March 2017 to formally initiate the withdrawal process, notes Enlargement is, and has been, a principal feature of the Unions political landscape. The EUs predecessors were founded by the Inner Six, those willing to forge ahead with the Community while others remained skeptical. It was only a decade before the first countries changed their policy and attempted to join the Union, French President Charles de Gaulle feared British membership would be an American Trojan horse and vetoed its application. Applying in 1969 were the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, however, declined to accept the invitation to become a member when the electorate voted against it, leaving just the UK, Ireland and Denmark to join. But despite the setbacks, and the withdrawal of Greenland from Denmarks membership in 1985, in 1987, the geographical extent of the project was tested when Morocco applied, and was rejected as it was not considered a European country. The year 1990 saw the Cold War drawing to a close, meanwhile, the members of the former Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia were all starting to move towards EU membership. Ten of these joined in an enlargement on 1 May 2004 symbolising the unification of East. Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007, the year 2013 saw the latest member, Croatia, accede to the Union, and the EU has prioritised membership for the rest of the Balkans – namely Western Balkans. Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey are all formal, turkish membership, pending since the 1980s, is a more contentious issue but it entered negotiations in 2005. According to the Copenhagen criteria, membership of the European Union is open to any European country that is a stable, free market liberal democracy that respects the rule of law and human rights
5.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
6.
Luxembourg
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Luxembourg /ˈlʌksəmbɜːrɡ/, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east and its culture, people and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours, making it essentially a mixture of French and Germanic cultures. It comprises two regions, the Oesling in the north as part of the Ardennes massif. With an area of 2,586 square kilometres, it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe, Luxembourg had a population of 524,853 in October 2012, ranking it the 8th least-populous country in Europe. As a representative democracy with a monarch, it is headed by a Grand Duke, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a country, with an advanced economy and the worlds highest GDP per capita. Luxembourg is a member of the European Union, OECD, United Nations, NATO, and Benelux, reflecting its political consensus in favour of economic, political. The city of Luxembourg, which is the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions. Luxembourg served on the United Nations Security Council for the years 2013 and 2014, around this fort, a town gradually developed, which became the centre of a state of great strategic value. In the 14th and early 15th centuries, three members of the House of Luxembourg reigned as Holy Roman Emperors, in the following centuries, Luxembourgs fortress was steadily enlarged and strengthened by its successive occupants, the Bourbons, Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the French. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Luxembourg was disputed between Prussia and the Netherlands and this arrangement was revised by the 1839 First Treaty of London, from which date Luxembourgs full independence is reckoned. In 1842 Luxembourg joined the German Customs Union, the King of the Netherlands remained Head of State as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, maintaining a personal union between the two countries until 1890. At the death of William III, the throne of the Netherlands passed to his daughter Wilhelmina and this allowed Germany the military advantage of controlling and expanding the railways there. In August 1914, Imperial Germany violated Luxembourgs neutrality in the war by invading it in the war against France and this allowed Germany to use the railway lines, while at the same time denying them to France. Nevertheless, despite the German occupation, Luxembourg was allowed to maintain much of its independence, in 1940, after the outbreak of World War II, Luxembourgs neutrality was again violated when the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany entered the country, entirely without justification. A government in exile based in London supported the Allies, sending a group of volunteers who participated in the Normandy invasion. Luxembourg was liberated in September 1944, and became a member of the United Nations in 1945. Luxembourgs neutral status under the constitution formally ended in 1948, in 2005, a referendum on the EU treaty establishing a constitution for Europe was held
7.
European Parliament election, 2014
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From 22 to 25 May 2014, elections to the European Parliament were held in the European Union. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists and the European Alliance for Freedom declined to nominate candidates. Additionally, left-wing, eurosceptic, and nationalist parties gained ground at the expense of federalist groups, the Council of the European Union decided to hold the 2014 elections in late May instead of early June as had been the case with previous EP elections. The ongoing Eurozone crisis, an offshoot of the Great Recession, although it affected most EU member states, the hardest-hit economies were those of southern Europe, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, along with Ireland. Among other reasons, harsh austerity measures significantly affected the public approval of EU leadership. The percentage of Greeks approving the EU leadership decreased from 32% in 2010 to 19% in 2013, while in Spain, overall, only four of the 27 members countries approved the EU leadership. Peter S. Goodman suggests that distrust about the treaties and conventions that hold together modern Europe appear at an all-time high. Europes establishment parties are expected to suffer their worst performance since 1979. The Economist estimated in January 2014 that anti-EU populists of the left, euromoney predicted anti-EU populists and nationalists winning around 150 seats in the parliament, almost 20% of the total. In Greece, the left-wing Coalition of the Radical Left consistently led the polling in the leadup to the election. In Italy the populist and anti-establishment Five Star Movement, according to the polls, was expected to be the second most popular party after the Democratic Party and this provision applied for the first time for the 2014 elections. The Common Candidate process of the Party of European Socialists was carried out according to the timetable, 1–31 October 2013. 6 November 2013, PES Presidency meeting to check the candidacies,1 December 2013 –31 January 2014, internal selection process within each member Party or organisation. February 2014, PES Election Congress to ratify the votes on the candidate, adopt the Manifesto, the PES Congress gathering in Brussels in November 2011 made the decision that it would select the PES candidate through internal primaries in each of its member parties and organisations. Member parties and organisations are free to determine their own voting process, possible candidates, José Luis Zapatero, Margot Wallström, Helle Thorning Schmidt, Frans Timmermans, Borut Pahor, Sergei Stanishev, Wouter Bos, José Sócrates, Werner Faymann, Pascal Lamy. Jyrki Katainen, Enda Kenny, Donald Tusk, Michel Barnier, while a compromise position was reached, the corresponding resolution was not passed due to disagreements on other points included in the resolution. The ALDE political party finally decided to discuss candidates at the partys pre-summit meeting at the margins of the 19–20 December European Council. Open to all inhabitants in the union over the age of 16 who support green values, other qualified candidates were Rebecca Harms and Monica Frassoni
8.
European People's Party
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The European Peoples Party is a European political party. A transnational organisation, it is composed of political parties. Founded by primarily Christian democratic parties in 1976, it has broadened its membership to include liberal-conservative parties and parties with other centre-right political perspectives. The EPP has been the largest party in the European Parliament since 1999 and it is also by far the largest party in the current European Commission. The President of the European Council, President of the European Commission, many of the Founding fathers of the European Union were also from parties that later formed the EPP. Outside the EU the party also controls a majority in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the EPP has alternated with its centre-left rival the Party of European Socialists as the largest European political party and parliamentary group. In the late 1990s the Finnish politician Sauli Niinistö negotiated the merger of the European Democrat Union, of which he was President, in October 2002 the EDU ceased its activities after being formally absorbed by the EPP at a special event in Estoril, Portugal. In recognition of his efforts Niinistö was elected Honorary President of the EPP the same year, the manifesto called for, Creation of new jobs, continuing reforms and investment in education, lifelong learning, and employment in order to create opportunities for everyone. Avoidance of protectionism, and coordination of fiscal and monetary policies, increased transparency and surveillance in financial markets. Making Europe the market leader in green technology, increasing the share of renewable energy to at least 20 per cent of the energy mix by 2020. Family-friendly flexibility for working parents, better care and housing, family-friendly fiscal policies. A new strategy to attract skilled workers from the rest of the world to make Europe’s economy more competitive, more dynamic and more knowledge-driven. The EPP operates as an international non-profit association under Belgian law according to its by-laws, the Presidency is the executive body of the party. It decides on the political guidelines of the EPP and presides over its Political Assembly. The Presidency is composed of the President, ten Vice-Presidents, the Honorary Presidents, the Secretary General, the Chairperson of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, the Presidents of the Commission, the Parliament and the Council, and the High Representative are all ex officio Vice-Presidents. The Political Assembly is composed of designated delegates from EPP member parties, associated parties, member associations, the Political Assembly meets at least three times a year. The Congress is the highest decision-making body of the EPP, the Congress elects the EPP Presidency every three years, decides on the main policy documents and electoral programmes, and provides a platform for the EPPs heads of government and party leaders. EPP leaders meet for the EPP Summit a few hours before each meeting of the European Council in order to formulate common positions and it also invites individual Commissioners to the EPP Summit meetings and to EPP Ministerial meetings
9.
European Council
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The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its meetings. Established as a summit in 1975, the European Council was formalised as an institution in 2009 upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Its current President is Donald Tusk, while the European Council has no formal legislative power, it is a strategic body that provides the union with general political directions and priorities, and acts as a collective presidency. The European Commission remains the sole initiator of legislation, but the European Council is able to provide an impetus to guide legislative policy, decisions of the European Council are taken by consensus, except where the Treaties provide otherwise. The European Council officially gained the status of an EU institution after Lisbon treaty in 2000, before that, the first summits of EU heads of state or government were held in February and July 1961. The summits were only formalised in the period between 1974 and 1988, the inaugural European Council, as it became known, was held in Dublin on 10 and 11 March 1975 during Irelands first Presidency of the Council of Ministers. In 1987, it was included in the treaties for the first time and had a role for the first time in the Maastricht Treaty. At first only a minimum of two meetings per year were required, which resulted in an average of three meetings per year being held for the 1975-1995 period, since 1996, the number of meetings were required to be minimum four per year. For the latest 2008-2014 period, this minimum was well exceeded, the seat of the Council was formalised in 2002, basing it in Brussels. Three types of European Councils exist, Informal, Scheduled and Extraordinary, some meetings of the European Council are seen by some as turning points in the history of the European Union. For example,1969, The Hague, Foreign policy and enlargement,1974, Paris, Creation of the Council. 1985, Milan, Initiate IGC leading to the Single European Act,1991, Maastricht, Agreement on the Maastricht Treaty. 1992, Edinburgh, Agreement to retain at Strasbourg the plenary seat of the European Parliament,1993, Copenhagen, Leading to the definition of the Copenhagen Criteria. 1997, Amsterdam, Agreement on the Amsterdam Treaty,1998, Brussels, Selected member states to adopt the euro. 1999, Cologne, Declaration on military forces,1999, Tampere, Institutional reform 2000, Lisbon, Lisbon Strategy 2002, Copenhagen, Agreement for May 2004 enlargement. 2007, Lisbon, Agreement on the Lisbon Treaty,2009, Brussels, Appointment of first president and merged High Representative. The Treaty of Lisbon made the European Council a formal institution distinct from the Council of the EU, as an outgrowth of the Council of the EU, the European Council had previously followed the same Presidency, rotating between each member state. Following the ratification of the treaty in December 2009, the European Council elected the then-Prime Minister of Belgium Herman Van Rompuy as its first permanent president
10.
European Parliament
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The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union. Together with the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, the Parliament is composed of 751 members, who represent the second-largest democratic electorate in the world and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world. It has been elected every five years by universal suffrage since 1979. However, voter turnout at European Parliament elections has fallen consecutively at each election since that date, voter turnout in 2014 stood at 42. 54% of all European voters. The Parliament is the first institution of the EU, and shares equal legislative and it likewise has equal control over the EU budget. Finally, the European Commission, the body of the EU, is accountable to Parliament. In particular, Parliament elects the President of the Commission, and it can subsequently force the Commission as a body to resign by adopting a motion of censure. The President of the European Parliament is Antonio Tajani, elected in January 2017 and he presides over a multi-party chamber, the two largest groups being the Group of the European Peoples Party and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The last union-wide elections were the 2014 elections, the European Parliament has three places of work – Brussels, the city of Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Luxembourg is home to the administrative offices, meetings of the whole Parliament take place in Strasbourg and in Brussels. Committee meetings are held in Brussels, the Parliament, like the other institutions, was not designed in its current form when it first met on 10 September 1952. One of the oldest common institutions, it began as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and it was a consultative assembly of 78 appointed parliamentarians drawn from the national parliaments of member states, having no legislative powers. Its development since its foundation shows how the European Unions structures have evolved without a master plan. Some, such as Tom Reid of the Washington Post, said of the union, nobody would have designed a government as complex. Even the Parliaments two seats, which have switched several times, are a result of various agreements or lack of agreements, the body was not mentioned in the original Schuman Declaration. It was assumed or hoped that difficulties with the British would be resolved to allow the Council of Europes Assembly to perform the task, a separate Assembly was introduced during negotiations on the Treaty as an institution which would counterbalance and monitor the executive while providing democratic legitimacy. The wording of the ECSC Treaty demonstrated the desire for more than a normal consultative assembly by using the term representatives of the people. Its early importance was highlighted when the Assembly was given the task of drawing up the treaty to establish a European Political Community
11.
Party of European Socialists
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The Party of European Socialists is a social-democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties primarily from states of the European Union. The PES member parties are mostly members of the Progressive Alliance or Socialist International. The political group in the European Parliament of the PES is the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, the PES also operates in the Committee of the Regions and the European Council. The PES is currently led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, the partys English name is Party of European Socialists. The Socialists 1962 congress pushed for greater democratisation and powers for Parliament though it was only in 1969 that this possibility was examined by the member states, in 1973, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the European Community bringing in new parties from these countries. The enlarged Socialist Congress met in Bonn and inaugurated the Confederation of the Socialist Parties of the European Community, the Congress also passed a resolution on social policy, including the right to decent work, social security, democracy and equality in the European economy. In 1978, the Confederation of Socialist Parties approved the first common European election Manifesto, the Luxembourg Congress approved the first Statue of the Confederation of Socialist Parties in 1980. The accession of Greece in 1981, followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986 brought in more parties, in 1984 another common Socialist election manifesto was approved at a congress in Luxembourg. In 2004 Poul Nyrup Rasmussen defeated Giuliano Amato to be elected President of the PES and he was re-elected for a further 2.5 years at the PES Congress in Porto on 8 December 2006 and for another 2.5 years at the Prague Congress in 2009. In 2010, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies was founded as the foundation of the PES. The Party of European Socialists held its latest Congress in Brussels on 28–29 September 2012 and these congresses are organized every two and a half years, once during the year of the elections for the European Parliament, and once at mid-term. The same Congress elected Achim Post as new Secretary General, the congress also adopted a process presented by the PES as more democratic and transparent for the selection of their candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission in 2014. Presidents of the Party of European Socialists and its predecessors, there are thirty-three full member parties from all the twenty-eight member states and Norway. There are a further thirteen associate and twelve observer parties, PES is an associated organisation of the Socialist International. Young European Socialists is the organisation of PES and PES Women is the partys womens organisation. The parties meet at the party Congress twice every five years to decide on political orientation, every year that the Congress does not meet, the Council shapes PES policy. The Congress also elects the partys President, Vice Presidents and the Presidency and they may also be joined by the President of the European Parliament, a PES European Commissioner and a representative from associate parties and organisations
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Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
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It has political groups in the European Parliament, the EU Committee of the Regions, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. There are assorted independents in these groups, the pro-European platform of ALDE espouses neoliberal economics, and support for European integration and the European single market. In doing so, the adopted a new Mission Statement. The current President of the Group is Bart Somers, Mayor of Mechelen, ensuring the Committee maintains the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and efficiency, responding to the expectations of Europe’s citizens and its local and regional authorities. Ensuring CoR Opinions and activities respect and promote freedom and the self-fulfilment of each individual, as the best way to achieve a prosperous. Developing citizen ownership of the Union, by using the CoR’s unique network of Members throughout the EU to communicate, promoting the development of multiple identities as a necessary foundation for a successful European Union. Ensuring the free exercise of regional identity, ensuring that the EU only takes decisions in those areas which are best dealt with at European level, that is to say, guaranteeing the suitable fulfilment of the Principle of subsidiarity. Working closely with the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council, promoting measures which enhance the ability of regions to contribute to Europe’s economic growth and their ability to develop a fair and effective European social model. Ensuring that the heritage of cultures and identities of the peoples of Europe is not lost, promoting simplified, accountable, and fair European governance. Ensuring that CoR Opinions and activities promote sustainable development throughout the Union, promoting the development of decentralization and regionalization. Promoting competitiveness as a mean to achieve economic, social and territorial cohesion on a basis of solidarity, promoting European cultural and linguistic diversity. The Non Member States Assist, where necessary and within the CoR’s means, the development of democratically legitimate local and regional authorities, mainly in the EU’s neighbouring states
13.
Christian Social People's Party
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The Christian Social Peoples Party, abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party follows a Christian-democratic ideology and, like most parties in Luxembourg, the CSV is a member of the European Peoples Party and the Centrist Democrat International. The CSV has been the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies since the partys formation, since the Second World War, every Prime Minister of Luxembourg has been a member of the CSV, with only two exceptions, Gaston Thorn, and Xavier Bettel. It holds three of Luxembourgs six seats in the European Parliament, as it has for 20 of the 30 years for which MEPs have been directly elected, the earliest roots of the CSV date back to the foundation of the Party of the Right on 16 January 1914. In 1944, the Party of the Right was officially transformed into the CSV, the first elections after the Second World War took place in 1945, the party won 25 out of 51 seats, missing an absolute majority by a single seat. From 1945 to 1974, the party was in government and gave Luxembourg the following Prime Ministers, Pierre Dupong, Joseph Bech, Pierre Frieden, mostly in a coalition with the Democratic Party, it gave Luxembourg a certain economic and social stability. In the 1950s, the party underwent a certain democratisation. The party went into opposition for the first time in 1974, in 1979, the party returned to government after its victory in the 1979 general election, Pierre Werner became PM. In 1984, Jacques Santer became PM and this also marked the first time that The Greens were part of a governmental coalition. Below are charts of the results that the Christian Social Peoples Party has secured in the Chamber of Deputies at each election, timelines showing the number of seats and percentage of votes won are on the right. Steven Van Hecke, Emmanuel Gerard, eds, at the Centre of the State, Christian Democracy in Luxembourg. Christian Democratic Parties in Europe Since the End of the Cold War, ursprung und Leistung einer Partei, Rechtspartei und Christlich-Soziale Volkspartei 1914-1974. Trausch, Gilbert, ed. CSV Spiegelbild eines Landes und seiner Politik, geschichte der Christlich-Sozialen Volkspartei Luxemburgs im 20. List of political parties in Luxembourg Christian Social Peoples Party official website
14.
Frans Timmermans
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Frans Timmermans was born on 6 May 1961 in Maastricht in the Dutch province of Limburg to a Roman Catholic family. In 1980 Timmermans entered the Radboud University Nijmegen, graduating in 1985 with a Master of Arts degree in French literature. In 1984 he also enrolled at the Nancy-Université in Nancy, France, on 6 January 1986 he was conscripted in the Royal Netherlands Army as a Private first class for the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service as a Russian Prisoner of War interrogator. Aside from his native languages Limburgish and Dutch, Timmermans is fluent in Italian, Russian, French, German, on 1 August 1987 he was discharged from military service in the Royal Netherlands Army. Timmermans joined the Dutch Civil Service as an officer in the Integration Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 1 July 1990 he was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Dutch Embassy in Moscow in Russia. On 1 September 1993 he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Head of the Bureau for European Development Cooperation, on 15 March 1994 he left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs becoming Assistant to European Commissioner Hans van den Broek. Timmermans represented the House of Representatives in the Convention on the Future of Europe from March 2002 until July 2003, Timmermans also served as a Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 21 September 1998 until 22 February 2007. Timmermans was reelected to the House of Representatives after the Dutch general elections of 2002 and 2003, a major theme of his time as Undersecretary for European Affairs was to increase support for European integration. In February 2010, NATO officially requested the Netherlands to extend its involvement in Task Force Uruzgan. Following the withdrawal of the Labour Party from the coalition agreement, following a coalition agreement between the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, Christian Democratic Appeal and the Party for Freedom the Labour Party became the Opposition Party. Timmermans was returned to the House of Representatives being installed on 17 June 2010, during his second term as a Member of the House of Representatives he served as Parliamentary Spokesman of the Labour Party for Foreign Affairs and European Affairs. On 24 March and March 25,2014 the Netherlands hosted the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit, on 17 July 2014 passenger flight Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine resulting in the deaths of 194 Dutch citizens. Timmermans delivered a speech which was widely praised by the international community. His speech called for Dutch Prime Minister Rutte and the International Community to help bring the victims home, in September 2014 the Dutch Government nominated Frans Timmermans as its prospective member of the European Commission under President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker. As of 1 November 2014 Timmermans took office as Vice-President of the European Commission in Junckers European Commission, Timmermans portfolio comprises Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, Rule of Law and Charter of Fundamental Rights. Timmermans has married twice, having two children by his first marriage, a daughter and a son, Timmermans remarried in 2000 to Irene Timmermans, he and his second wife have a son Max and a daughter Mare
15.
Vice-President of the European Commission
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A Vice-President of the European Commission is a post in the European Commission usually occupied by more than one member of the Commission. Any Vice-President occupies this role in addition to the portfolio as Commissioner. Although the post of Vice-President gives little extra power, it is seen as important in appointments, Commission salaries are set as a percentage of the top civil service grade. Vice-Presidents are paid at 125%, in comparison to 112. 5% for normal Commissioners, however, the Vice-President who is also the High Representative, is paid at 130%. There are further allowances on top of these figures, the First Vice-President usually takes on the main role of a Vice-President, taking over from the President in their absence. The current First Vice-President is Frans Timmermans, the Previous First Vice-President was Catherine Ashton who was also the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. European Commission Website ec. europa. eu VP Ashtons Website ec. europa. eu
16.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
17.
Labour Party (Netherlands)
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The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers Party, the Free-thinking Democratic League, Prime Ministers from the Labour Party have been Willem Drees, Joop den Uyl, and Wim Kok. Since 2012, the PvdA is the partner in the Second Rutte cabinet with the Peoples Party for Freedom. Since 2016, Lodewijk Asscher has been Leader of the Labour Party, the party won 9 seats in the House of Representatives in the 2017 general election. The Labour Party is a member of the European Party of European Socialists, in the European Parliament, where the Labour Party has 3 seats, it is part of the parliamentary group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. They were joined by individuals from Catholic resistance group Christofoor and the Protestant parties Christian Historical Union, the founders of the PvdA wanted to create a broad party, breaking with the historic tradition of Pillarisation. This desire to come to a new system was called the Doorbraak. The party combined socialists with liberal democrats and progressive Christians, however, the party was unable to break Pillarisation. Instead the new party renewed the ties that SDAP had with other socialist organisations. In 1948 some conservative members, led by former VDB leader Pieter Oud, together with the Freedom Party, they formed the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, a conservative-liberal party. Between 1946 and 1958, the PvdA formed coalition governments with the Catholic Peoples Party, the KVP and the PvdA together had a large majority in parliament. Since 1948, these cabinets were led by PvdA Prime Minister Willem Drees, under his leadership the Netherlands recovered from the war, began to build its welfare state and Indonesia became independent. After the cabinet crisis of 1958, the PvdA was replaced by the VVD, the PvdA was in opposition until 1965. The electoral support of PvdA voters began to decline, in 1965 a conflict in the KVP-ARP-CHU-VVD cabinet made continuation of the government impossible. The three confessional, Christian-influenced parties turned towards the PvdA, together they formed the Cals cabinet. This cabinet was also lived and conflict ridden. The conflicts culminated in the fall of the Cals cabinet over economic policy, meanwhile, a younger generation was attempting to gain control of the PvdA. A group of young PvdA members, calling themselves the New Left, prominent New Left members were Jan Nagel, André van der Louw and Bram Peper
18.
Federica Mogherini
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Mogherini was Italys Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 22 February 2014 until 31 October 2014 in the centre-left Cabinet of Matteo Renzi. She is a member of the Italian Democratic Party and the Party of European Socialists, federica Mogherini was born on 16 June 1973 in Rome, Italy, to the family of the film director and set designer Flavio Mogherini. In 2001 she became a member of the National Council of the Democrats of the Left, later serving on its National Executive Board, in this role, she oversaw the policies on Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the Middle East peace process. Mogherini was in charge of maintaining relations with the Party of European Socialists, after the formation of the Italian Democratic Party, on 4 November 2007, Mogherini was appointed to the staff of its founding chairman Walter Veltroni. In 2008 Mogherini was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, representing the constituency of Veneto, on 24 February 2009, she was appointed to the staff of the incoming chairman of the PD Dario Franceschini, with responsibility for equal opportunity. After than she was notable as a member of Franceschinis faction and she has also served as Vice-President of the Italy-USA Foundation. In February 2013 Mogherini was returned to parliament for the Emilia-Romagna constituency, on 1 August 2013 she was elected as head of the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly for NATO. On 9 December 2013, the new chairman of the PD Matteo Renzi appointed Mogherini to his staff, Mogherini is a Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Mogherini joined the Renzi Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs, the woman after Susanna Agnelli. Under her direction, the Foreign Ministry worked for the release of Mariam Ibrahim, Italys good relations with Sudan helped in securing the release of this Sudanese woman who was finally permitted to fly to Italy on an Italian government plane. Nonetheless, on 2 August 2014, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi formally nominated her by letter to EC President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker, as Italys official candidate for EU Commissioner. On 30 August, Europes socialist Prime Ministers met prior to the convening of the European Council, on the same day the President Herman Van Rompuy announced that the European Council had decided to appoint the Italian Minister as its new High Representative, effective from 1 November 2014. At her first press conference she declared her efforts will be devoted to establishing discussions between Russia and Ukraine to solve the crisis between the two countries. In 2016, she appointed chief negotiator Helga Schmid as Secretary General of the European External Action Service, since 2015, Mogherini has been serving as a member of the European Commission’s High-level Group of Personalities on Defence Research chaired by Elżbieta Bieńkowska. Mogherini has expressed that she wants the EU to play a role in trying to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after a U. S. -brokered process foundered in April 2014. She visited the region within days of starting her new job, in her capacity of EU High Representative she coordinated the last rounds of negotiations on Irans nuclear programme, which led to an agreement on 14 July 2015. US Secretary of State John Kerry praised her for expertly coordinating international efforts during the stage of the talks. Critics of Mogherini attacked her for being a supporter of Iran in the negotiations
19.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
20.
Democratic Party (Italy)
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The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy. The partys acting leader is Matteo Orfini, who replaced Matteo Renzi after his resignation in February 2017, in April–May the party will hold a leadership election and Renzi is again running for secretary. The PD was founded on 14 October 2007 upon the merger of various centre-left parties which had part of The Olive Tree list. The PDs main ideological trends are thus social democracy and the Italian Christian leftist tradition, the party has been also influenced by social liberalism, which was already present in some of the founding components of the DS and DL, and more generally by a Third Way progressivism. Following the 2013 general election and the 2014 European Parliament election, the PD was the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and the European Parliament. From 2013 the Italian government has been led by three successive Democratic Prime Ministers, Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi, and Paolo Gentiloni. As of 2017, other than the government, Democrats head fourteen regional governments out of twenty and function as coalition partner in Tuscany. Former bigwigs include Giorgio Napolitano, Sergio Mattarella, Romano Prodi, Giuliano Amato, Massimo DAlema, Pier Luigi Bersani, Francesco Rutelli, the coalition, in alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party, won the 1996 general election and Prodi became Prime Minister. In February 1998 the PDS merged with minor parties to become the Democrats of the Left, while in March 2002 the PPI, RI. In the summer of 2003 Prodi suggested that the forces would participate in the 2004 European Parliament election with a common list. Whereas the Union of Democrats for Europe and the far-left parties refused, four parties accepted, the DS, DL, the Italian Democratic Socialists and the European Republicans Movement. They launched a joint list named United in the Olive Tree, the project was later abandoned in 2005 by the SDI. In the 2006 general election the list obtained 31. 3% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies, eight parties agreed to merge into the PD, Democrats of the Left Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy. Southern Democratic Party, Sardinia Project, European Republicans Movement, Democratic Republicans, Middle Italy, while the DL agreed to the merger with virtually no resistance, the DS experienced a more heated final congress. On 19 April 2007 approximately 75% of party members voted in support of the merger of the DS into the PD, the left-wing opposition, led by Fabio Mussi, obtained just 15% of the support within the party. A third motion, presented by Gavino Angius and supportive of the PD only within the Party of European Socialists, during and following the congress, both Mussi and Angius announced their intention not to join the PD and founded a new party called Democratic Left. On 22 May 2007 the composition of the committee of the nascent party was announced. On 18 June the committee met to decide the rules for the election of the 2,400 members of the partys constituent assembly
21.
Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
22.
Jyrki Katainen
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Jyrki Tapani Katainen is a Finnish politician and the European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, in office since 2014. Katainen was previously Prime Minister of Finland from 2011 to 2014 and he was succeeded by Alexander Stubb as chairman of Finlands National Coalition Party. After stepping down as Prime Minister, Katainen was elected as European Commission Vice-President in July 2014, Katainen was born in Siilinjärvi, a town in Finland. He graduated from Siilinjärvi Senior High School in 1990 and he obtained a Masters degree in political science from the University of Tampere. Jyrki Katainen has two children, Saara and Veera, in addition to Finnish, Katainen speaks English, French and Swedish. Katainen became involved in politics after a career in teaching. He was a member of the Siilinjärvi municipal council in his first political position and he was elected member of the Finnish Parliament from the district of Northern Savonia in 1999, served as the vice-chairman of the party in 2001, and became the leader in 2004. From 1990 to 2000, Katainen was Vice President of the Youth of the European Peoples Party, Katainen was elected Vice President of the European Peoples Party for a three-year term in 2006 and won the second election in 2009. In the 2007 parliamentary election, Katainens National Coalition was placed second, Katainen became the Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the new cabinet with the Center, the National Coalition, Greens, and the Swedish Peoples party. As the Finance Minister, Katainen noted that Europes leaders must do more to prepare voters for “exit strategies” and noted that it is politically difficult and we have to do painful things in the coming years when economies begin to recover. Following the parliamentary election held on April 17,2011, Katainen was elected Prime Minister by the new parliament and his centre-right National Coalition Party became the largest party for the first time in the history of Finland. In August 2013 Katainen invited participants representing political parties, interest groups, the forum was designed to explore the broad structural changes needed to improve Finlands economy over the coming years. In his speech Prime Minister Katainen concluded that participants showed curiousness, I believe the discussions will provide an excellent basis for resolving difficult situations. We now need to take action and to address the structural reforms ahead, Finlands economic problems were apparent for many, but the government was forced to delay structural reforms because socialist parties in the six-party cabinet were opposed to the new measures. In September 2013 the six-party cabinet laid out plans for reform, however, Katainen warned that the reforms were not sufficient. In November 2012, the government elected not to have Finland to join the team of EU countries that proposed a financial transaction tax and this was a reportedly difficult issue for the six-party government because three of the parties favored the tax. As Prime Minister, Katainen encouraged investment in Finland, in part because of the excellent education system. He also encouraged the involvement of universities and higher institutions in civil society in order to increase the country’s competitiveness in the national arena
23.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
24.
National Coalition Party
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The National Coalition Party is a liberal and conservative political party in Finland. Founded in 1918, the National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Finns Party and the Centre Party. The party bases its politics on freedom and responsibility, equality, Western democracy and economic system, humane principles. The party is strongly pro-European and is a member of the European Peoples Party and its vote share has been around 20% in parliamentary elections in the 1990s and 2000s. It won 44 out of 200 seats in the elections of 2011. On the municipal level, it became the most popular party in 2008 and has retained that position, in the 2015 election the NCP lost its status as the countrys largest party, as they finished second in votes and third in seats. Regardless, the party joined the government coalition. Its voters are predominantly urban, while in rural regions its performance is relatively weak, the current leader is Petteri Orpo, elected on 11 June 2016. According to its platform the National Coalition Party wants to build a society where a person’s own choices, hopes, the party defends individual freedom, and promotes people’s opportunities to make choices, but without ignoring everyone’s responsibility for their own life, others, and the environment. Our ideology combines freedom with responsibility, democracy, and equality, the partys basic values are education, tolerance, rewarding and caring. Individuals freedom to think and act independently and minorities rights are core matters to the party, according to the history section of the official website the platform has been shaped by ideas of conservatism, liberalism and social reform, which have all contributed to the current ideology. Alexander Stubb has described the policies as unambiguously liberal. In 2010 the party voted in favour of supporting same-sex marriage. In international affairs, the party and its voter base strongly believe in the benefits of the European Union, the party wants to build an economically and politically stronger European Union, we envisage an EU that is a more effective and a more prominent actor in world politics. The party advocates a membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the party is one of parties most supportive of work-based immigration, but many of its supporters want less immigration. The party has supported initiatives of allowing shops and restaurants to serve customers on Sundays. Polls show that as of 2008, the National Coalition Party is the party that has been viewed most positively by Finns, out of the major parties, the National Coalition Party has the highest proportion of women and is the most favored party among young generations. The party has the strongest support in the cities of Southern Finland and is popular among entrepreneurs, people can join various member organizations in the party
25.
Valdis Dombrovskis
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Valdis Dombrovskis is a Latvian politician and the current European Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue as well as a Vice-President of the European Commission, serving since November 2014. He served as Prime Minister of Latvia from 2009 until 2014 and he served as Minister of Finance from 2002 to 2004 and was a Member of the European Parliament for the New Era Party. Following the resignation of Jonathan Hill, it was announced that Dombrovskis will take over the portfolio for Financial Stability, Financial Services, james Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park for electrical engineering in 1998. In 2002 Dombrovskis became a member of the New Era Party. He was Minister of Finance of Latvia from 2002 to 2004, then he was Observer at the Council of the European Union. Dombrovskis was also one of six Members of the European Parliament participating in the European Unions observer mission in Togo for the October 2007 Togolese parliamentary election, on 26 February 2009, following the resignation of Ivars Godmanis, President Valdis Zatlers nominated Dombrovskis to succeed Godmanis as Prime Minister. Dombrovskis resigned as Prime Minister on 27 November 2013 following the Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse in which 54 people were killed and he announced that a new government is needed with strong support in the parliament after the tragedy, considering all related circumstances. His spokesman said that the government takes political responsibility for the tragedy, first Dombrovskis cabinet Second Dombrovskis cabinet Third Dombrovskis cabinet Personal website The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia
26.
Latvia
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Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2. The country has a seasonal climate. Latvia is a parliamentary republic established in 1918. The capital city is Riga, the European Capital of Culture 2014, Latvia is a unitary state, divided into 119 administrative divisions, of which 110 are municipalities and 9 are cities. Latvians and Livs are the people of Latvia. Latvian and Lithuanian are the two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th centuries, the Latvian nation maintained its identity throughout the generations via the language, Latvia and Estonia share a long common history. Until World War II, Latvia also had significant minorities of ethnic Germans, Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant Lutheran, except for the Latgale region in the southeast, which has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic. The Russian population has brought a significant portion of Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Republic of Latvia was founded on 18 November 1918, however, its de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II. The peaceful Singing Revolution, starting in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation of Soviet rule and it ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990, and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia is a democratic and developed country and member of the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, CBSS, the IMF, NB8, NIB, OECD, OSCE, and WTO. For 2014, Latvia was listed 46th on the Human Development Index and it used the Latvian lats as its currency until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. The name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes, henry of Latvia coined the Latinisations of the countrys name, Lettigallia and Lethia, both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the name in Romance languages from Letonia. Around 3000 BC, the ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals, by 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia, Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians, as well as the Livonians speaking a Finnic language
27.
Unity (Latvian political party)
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Unity registered as Latvian, Partija VIENOTĪBA Party UNITY is a liberal-conservative political party in Latvia. It is currently the largest party of the centre-right in Latvian politics and was the party in the Dombrovskis. Unity is a member of the European Peoples Party and it remains the largest parliamentary party in the Kučinskis cabinet. The party was founded as an alliance of the New Era Party, Civic Union. On 6 August 2011 the alliance was transformed into a political party. Its president is Andris Piebalgs, former European Commissioner, the current Prime Minister is from the Union of Greens and Farmers, but Unity and ZZS each hold 5 ministerial portfolios in the 2016-2018 government. For the 2014 general election, Unity announced a pact with the Reform Party
28.
Andrus Ansip
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Andrus Ansip is an Estonian politician, the current European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission, in office since 2014. Previously, he was Prime Minister of Estonia from 2005 to 2014, before his entry into politics Ansip trained as a chemist, before working in banking and business. He entered Parliament in 2004, quickly becoming Minister of Economic Affairs, on 1 November 2014, he was appointed to the European Commission. Born in Tartu, Ansip graduated from the University of Tartu with a degree in Chemistry in 1979 and he worked as an engineer at the university from 1979 to 1983. He was an Instructor in the Industry Department and Head of the Organisational Department of the Tartu District Committee of the Estonian Communist Party from 1986 to 1988, Ansip has been involved in several banking and investment ventures. He has served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the People’s Bank of Tartu, Chairman of the Board of Livonia Privatisation IF and he also has served as Chairman of the board for Radio Tartu. He had run in elections for the Riigikogu, the Estonian Parliament. He was succeeded by fellow Reform Party member Laine Jänes, Ansip became his successor on 13 September. His track record as Minister is more difficult to evaluate because of the duration of his service. On 31 March 2005, Ansip was charged by President Arnold Rüütel to form a government, Ansip was able to form a coalition with the Centre Party and the Peoples Union of Estonia, which was approved by the Riigikogu on 12 April 2005. Ansip thus became Prime Minister of Estonia and he was backed by 53 out of 101 members of the Riigikogu,40 deputies voting against. He and the ministers were inaugurated in office the next day, on 4 March 2007, Ansips Reform Party won 27 percent of the vote in the Estonian parliamentary elections, raising its mandate in the Riigikogu to 31 seats from 19. Ansip personally received over 22,500 votes and he was charged by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves to form a government. This time the Reform Party formed a coalition with the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica and his second term as Prime Minister began on 5 April 2007. Ansip was once again charged by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves to form a government, the Reform Party continued in a coalition with the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica. Ansips third term as Prime Minister began on 6 April 2011, but Ansips center-right coalition soon struggled in polls amid signs of voter fatigue at years of a government focused on fiscal austerity as well as several high-profile party funding scandals. The center-left opposition also gained popularity, on 4 March 2014, Ansip announced his resignation to enable a successor to lead his party into 2015 elections. From 4 December 2013 to 26 March 2014 he was the prime minister in the European Union
29.
Estonia
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Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and islets in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 of land and water, and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 6500 BC, in 1988, during the Singing Revolution, the Estonian Supreme Soviet issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in defiance of Soviet rule, and independence was restored on 20 August 1991. Estonia is a parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties. Its capital and largest city is Tallinn, with a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union, Eurozone, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, OECD and Schengen Area. Estonia is a country with an advanced, high-income economy that is among the fastest growing in the EU. Its Human Development Index ranks very highly, and it performs favourably in measurements of economic freedom, civil liberties, the 2015 PISA test places Estonian high school students 3rd in the world, behind Singapore and Japan. Citizens of Estonia are provided with health care, free education. Since independence the country has developed its IT sector, becoming one of the worlds most digitally advanced societies. In 2005 Estonia became the first nation to hold elections over the Internet, in the Estonian language, the oldest known endonym of the Estonians was maarahvas, meaning country people or people of the land. The land inhabited by Estonians was called Maavald meaning Country Parish or Land Parish, one hypothesis regarding the modern name of Estonia is that it originated from the Aesti, a people described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his Germania. The historic Aesti were allegedly Baltic people, whereas the modern Estonians are Finno-Ugric, the geographical areas between Aesti and Estonia do not match, with Aesti being further down south. Ancient Scandinavian sagas refer to a land called Eistland, as the country is called in Icelandic. Early Latin and other ancient versions of the name are Estia and Hestia, esthonia was a common alternative English spelling prior to 1921. Human settlement in Estonia became possible 13,000 to 11,000 years ago, the oldest known settlement in Estonia is the Pulli settlement, which was on the banks of the river Pärnu, near the town of Sindi, in south-western Estonia. According to radiocarbon dating it was settled around 11,000 years ago, the earliest human inhabitation during the Mesolithic period is connected to Kunda culture, which is named after the town of Kunda in northern Estonia. At that time the country was covered with forests, and people lived in communities near bodies of water
30.
Estonian Reform Party
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The Estonian Reform Party is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party is led by Hanno Pevkur and has 30 members in the 101-member Riigikogu, the party was founded by then-President of the Bank of Estonia Siim Kallas as a split from National Coalition Party Pro Patria. At the 1995 election, it won 19 seats in the Riigikogu, the Reform Party replaced the Estonian Centre Party in government in autumn 1995, and remained there until 1996. In 1999, the party lost a seat, but returned to the cabinet in coalition with the Pro Patria Union, the party has remained in various coalitions since then, with Andrus Ansip as Prime Minister since 2005. At the 2007 election, the party won 31 seats, becoming the largest party for the first time and it narrowly won the 2015 general election, losing 3 mandates compared to its 2011 result, ending up with 30 seats. The party has been a member of Liberal International since 1996. The founder and the first chairman of the Reform Party, Siim Kallas, was a Commissioner of the European Commission between 2004 and 2014 and he was also one of the five Vice Presidents of the Barroso Commission. The Estonian Reform Party was founded on 18 November 1994, joining together the Reform Party — a splinter from the Pro Patria National Coalition — and the Estonian Liberal Democratic Party. The new party, which had 710 members at its foundation, was led by Siim Kallas, Kallas was untainted by association with Mart Laars government, but was widely seen as a proficient central bank governor, having overseen the successful introduction of the Estonian kroon. The party formed ties with the Free Democratic Party of Germany, the Liberal Peoples Party of Sweden, Finlands Swedish Peoples Party, Siim Kallas was leader of the Reform Party from 1994 to 2004. He was Prime Minister of Estonia from 2002-03, in the partys first parliamentary election, in March 1995, it won 19 seats, catapulting it into second place, behind the Coalition Party. Kallas was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs, with five other Reform Party members serving in the cabinet, the Reform Party left the government in November 1996 after the Coalition Party signed a cooperation agreement with the Centre Party without consulting them. At the 1999 election, the Reform Party dropped one seat to 18, finishing third behind the Centre Party and the conservative Pro Patria Union. The ER formed a coalition with the Pro Patria Union and the Moderates, with Mart Laar as Prime Minister and Siim Kallas as Minister of Finance. Although the coalition was focused on EU and NATO accession, the Reform Party successfully delivered its manifesto pledge to abolish corporate tax, after the October 1999 local elections, the three parties replicated their alliance in Tallinn. From May 2009 the Reform Party was in a government with the Pro Patria. Andrus Ansip was Prime Minister of Estonia from April 2005 to March 2014, after the 2007 parliamentary election the party held 31 out of 101 seats in the Riigikogu, after receiving 153,040 votes, an increase of +10%, resulting in a net gain of 12 seats. Following the resignation of Andrus Ansip, a new cabinet was installed on 24 March 2014, in the 2014 European elections held on 25 May 2014, the Reform Party won 24. 3% of the national vote, returning 2 MEPs
31.
Digital Single Market
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Digital Single Market is a planned sector of the European Single Market that covers digital marketing, E-commerce and telecommunication. It was announced in May 2015 by the Juncker Commission, the Digital Single Market is part of the Digital Agenda for Europe 2020 program of the EU, an initiative of Europe 2020 proposed strategy. It is defined by A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe by the European Commission, European Union roaming regulations Digital Single Market European Commission website Digital Agenda for Europe 2020 European Commission website
32.
European Commissioner for Justice and Consumers
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The Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality is a post in the European Commission. The current commissioner is Věra Jourová, the post was created in 2010 by splitting the previous Justice, Freedom and Security portfolio into a justice post and a security post, the Commissioner for Home Affairs. This split was made as a concession to the liberals in the European Parliament to gain their support for the second Barroso Commission. His role includes to guide and coordinate all other Justice and Home Affairs-related Commissioners, in particular those of the new DG Justice, the portfolio of the Commissioner has evolved under the Juncker Commission and renamed into Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. Major changes are, The Commissioner for Justice no longer holds the title that was used in the previous Commission, other citizenship-related matters regarding ‘communication to citizens’ have been moved from DG Communication and attributed to the new Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Citizenship. Issues related to non-discrimination in employment have been removed from DG JUST and placed back under DG Employment, Social Affairs, however, DG JUST still holds responsibility for the wider non-discrimination portfolio. DG JUST gained competences on issues related to Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility, previously in DG Internal Market and Services, the responsibility of Anti-Drug Policy has been transferred to DG Home Affairs
33.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
34.
ANO 2011
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ANO2011 is a centrist and populist political party in the Czech Republic founded by Andrej Babiš, second wealthiest man in the Czech Republic, owner of Agrofert and media publishing company MAFRA. It is based on the former movement Action of Dissatisfied Citizens, the idea of founding a new political party came after leader and founder Andrej Babiš started talking about systemic corruption. His statements were supported by thousands of Czechs, ANO2011 started as association in November 2011, and on 11 May 2012 ANO became an official political party in the Czech Republic. In the legislative election held on 25–26 October 2013, ANO gained 18. 7% of the vote and 47 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, attaining second place behind the Czech Social Democratic Party. On 29 January 2014, the Cabinet of Social Democrat Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka was sworn in, with ANO and the Christian Democratic Union participating as junior coalition partners to the ČSSD. On 24–25 May 2014, ANO came first nationally in the 2014 European election gaining 16. 13% of votes and 4 seats, joining the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in European Parliament. On 10 September 2014, ANO member Věra Jourová was designated European Commissioner of Justice, Consumers, in the 2014 senate and municipal elections held on 10–11 October 2014, ANO won 4 seats in the Senate. ANO was also the largest party in 8 of the 10 biggest cities in the Czech Republic including its capital and it currently holds mayoral offices in three largest cities in the Czech republic. Adriana Krnáčová is the first female mayor of Prague and this success was later undermined when a large number of municipal coalitions broke up because of partys disunity. On 21 November 2014, ANO was given membership of the Alliance of Liberals. In 2016, two parties split from ANO2011 – Change for People and PRO2016, the latter was joined by numerous local councillors and Mayors from ANO2011. New parties warranted the split by lack of democracy and discussion in ANO2011, radka Paulová, leader of PRO2016, defended herself that if she had really wanted a better position on Candidate list, she would have done better to have stayed in ANO2011. Another member of PRO2016 admitted that conflict about Candidature for Regional Councils also played a role and she said that the main criterion for Candidates to regional councils was not professionality but loyalty. ANO2011 lost one MP in July 2016 when Kristýna Zelienková left the party, ANO won 2016 regional elections and 1st round of 2016 senate election. The party came 1st in 9 regions and 2nd in remaining 4 regions, surprising was the victory in South Bohemia. ANO ended up with 5 governors, karlovy Vary Governor Jana Vildumetzová became Chairman of regional association. The second round of the election was a disappointment to the party. Andrej babiš started a project Babišs Cafe in June 2016 and it is partys Television program that consists of interviews with partys leader Andrej Babiš
35.
Bulgaria
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Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, with a territory of 110,994 square kilometres, Bulgaria is Europes 16th-largest country. Organised prehistoric cultures began developing on current Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period and its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians, Greeks, Persians, Celts, Romans, Goths, Alans and Huns. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came under Ottoman rule for five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 led to the formation of the Third Bulgarian State, the following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both world wars. In 1946 it became a one-party socialist state as part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc, in December 1989 the ruling Communist Party allowed multi-party elections, which subsequently led to Bulgarias transition into a democracy and a market-based economy. Bulgarias population of 7.2 million people is predominantly urbanised, most commercial and cultural activities are centred on the capital and largest city, Sofia. The strongest sectors of the economy are industry, power engineering. The countrys current political structure dates to the adoption of a constitution in 1991. Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic with a high degree of political, administrative. Human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria can be traced back to the Paleolithic, animal bones incised with man-made markings from Kozarnika cave are assumed to be the earliest examples of symbolic behaviour in humans. Organised prehistoric societies in Bulgarian lands include the Neolithic Hamangia culture, Vinča culture, the latter is credited with inventing gold working and exploitation. Some of these first gold smelters produced the coins, weapons and jewellery of the Varna Necropolis treasure and this site also offers insights for understanding the social hierarchy of the earliest European societies. Thracians, one of the three primary groups of modern Bulgarians, began appearing in the region during the Iron Age. In the late 6th century BC, the Persians conquered most of present-day Bulgaria, and kept it until 479 BC. After the division of the Roman Empire in the 5th century the area fell under Byzantine control, by this time, Christianity had already spread in the region. A small Gothic community in Nicopolis ad Istrum produced the first Germanic language book in the 4th century, the first Christian monastery in Europe was established around the same time by Saint Athanasius in central Bulgaria. From the 6th century the easternmost South Slavs gradually settled in the region, in 680 Bulgar tribes under the leadership of Asparukh moved south across the Danube and settled in the area between the lower Danube and the Balkan, establishing their capital at Pliska
36.
GERB
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GERB is a Bulgarian centre-right political party established on March 13,2006. The initials of the party герб/gerb also translate as coat of arms in Bulgarian, GERB is headed by Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov, former mayor of Sofia and former member of the National Movement Simeon II. The establishment of the party followed the creation of a organization with the acronym GERB — Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria. The name of the party is not stated to be an acronym, in early January 2007, and early February 2007, the party came second in public polls on party support with around 14%, trailing the Bulgarian Socialist Party which had around 25%. Its stated priorities are fighting crime and corruption, preserving family as the cornerstone of society, GERB won the 2009 European Parliament election in Bulgaria with 24. 36% of the vote. The party elected five MEPs and joined the European Peoples Party-European Democrats Group in the European Parliament, on June 6,2007 GERB applied formally to join as a member-party the European Peoples Party and joined EPP on February 7,2008. GERB won the 2009 parliamentary elections, held a month after the European ballot, after the elections, a new government was formed, led by Borisov, exclusively with GERB members. On 20 February 2013, the government resigned after nationwide protests demanding it to step down, GERBs candidates for the 2011 presidential election, Rosen Plevneliev and Margarita Popova, won the elections on the second ballot with 52. 6% of the popular vote. GERB won the 2013 parliamentary elections with 97 seats, receiving 30. 5% of the popular vote and this made GERB the first governing party to be re-elected in the history of the post-communist Bulgaria. However, with lack of support from the parties and designated to form a new government, Borisov refused the offer. Official website Official website GERBs page on the European Peoples Party website
37.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
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Bulgaria
