1.
Palazzo dei Conservatori
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The Capitoline Hill, between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was known as Mons Saturnius, dedicated to the god Saturn. The word Capitolium first meant the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus later built here, Ancient sources refer the name to caput and the tale was that, when laying the foundations for the temple, the head of a man was found. Some sources even saying it was the head of some Tolus or Olus, the Capitolium was regarded by the Romans as indestructible, and was adopted as a symbol of eternity. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, influenced by Roman architecture and Roman republican times, the word Capitolium still lives in the English word capitol. The Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. is widely assumed to be named after the Capitoline Hill, at this hill, the Sabines, creeping to the Citadel, were let in by the Roman maiden Tarpeia. For this treachery, Tarpeia was the first to be punished by being flung from a cliff overlooking the Roman Forum. This cliff was named the Tarpeian Rock after the Vestal Virgin. The Sabines, who immigrated to Rome following the Rape of the Sabine Women, the Vulcanal, an 8th-century BC sacred precinct, occupied much of the eastern lower slopes of the Capitoline, at the head of what would later become the Roman Forum. The summit was the site of a temple for the Capitoline Triad, started by Romes fifth king, Tarquinius Priscus and it was considered one of the largest and the most beautiful temples in the city. The city legend starts with the recovery of a human skull when foundation trenches were being dug for the Temple of Jupiter at Tarquins order, recent excavations on the Capitoline uncovered an early cemetery under the Temple of Jupiter. There are several important temples built on Capitoline hill, the temple of Juno Moneta, the temple of Virtus, the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus Capitolinus is the most important of the temples. It was built in 509 BC and was nearly as large as the Parthenon, the hill and the temple of Jupiter became the symbols of Rome, the capital of the world. The Temple of Saturn was built at the foot of Capitoline Hill in the end of the Forum Romanum. According to legend Marcus Manlius Capitolinus was alerted to the Gallic attack by the geese of Juno. Vespasians brother and nephew were also besieged in the temple during the Year of Four Emperors, the Tabularium, located underground beneath the piazza and hilltop, occupies a building of the same name built in the 1st century BC to hold Roman records of state. The Tabularium looks out from the rear onto the Roman Forum, the main attraction of the Tabularium, besides the structure itself, is the Temple of Veiovis. During the lengthy period of ancient Rome, the Capitoline Hill was the geographical and ceremonial center, however, by the Renaissance, the former center was an untidy conglomeration of dilapidated buildings and the site of executions of criminals
2.
Capitoline Hill
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The Capitoline Hill, between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was known as Mons Saturnius, dedicated to the god Saturn. The word Capitolium first meant the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus later built here, Ancient sources refer the name to caput and the tale was that, when laying the foundations for the temple, the head of a man was found. Some sources even saying it was the head of some Tolus or Olus, the Capitolium was regarded by the Romans as indestructible, and was adopted as a symbol of eternity. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, influenced by Roman architecture and Roman republican times, the word Capitolium still lives in the English word capitol. The Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. is widely assumed to be named after the Capitoline Hill, at this hill, the Sabines, creeping to the Citadel, were let in by the Roman maiden Tarpeia. For this treachery, Tarpeia was the first to be punished by being flung from a cliff overlooking the Roman Forum. This cliff was named the Tarpeian Rock after the Vestal Virgin. The Sabines, who immigrated to Rome following the Rape of the Sabine Women, the Vulcanal, an 8th-century BC sacred precinct, occupied much of the eastern lower slopes of the Capitoline, at the head of what would later become the Roman Forum. The summit was the site of a temple for the Capitoline Triad, started by Romes fifth king, Tarquinius Priscus and it was considered one of the largest and the most beautiful temples in the city. The city legend starts with the recovery of a human skull when foundation trenches were being dug for the Temple of Jupiter at Tarquins order, recent excavations on the Capitoline uncovered an early cemetery under the Temple of Jupiter. There are several important temples built on Capitoline hill, the temple of Juno Moneta, the temple of Virtus, the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus Capitolinus is the most important of the temples. It was built in 509 BC and was nearly as large as the Parthenon, the hill and the temple of Jupiter became the symbols of Rome, the capital of the world. The Temple of Saturn was built at the foot of Capitoline Hill in the end of the Forum Romanum. According to legend Marcus Manlius Capitolinus was alerted to the Gallic attack by the geese of Juno. Vespasians brother and nephew were also besieged in the temple during the Year of Four Emperors, the Tabularium, located underground beneath the piazza and hilltop, occupies a building of the same name built in the 1st century BC to hold Roman records of state. The Tabularium looks out from the rear onto the Roman Forum, the main attraction of the Tabularium, besides the structure itself, is the Temple of Veiovis. During the lengthy period of ancient Rome, the Capitoline Hill was the geographical and ceremonial center, however, by the Renaissance, the former center was an untidy conglomeration of dilapidated buildings and the site of executions of criminals
3.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
4.
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 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
5.
Inner Six
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The Inner Six, or simply the Six, were the six founding member states of the European Communities. They were in contrast to the seven who formed the European Free Trade Association rather than engage in supranational European integration. Five of the seven later joined the European Communities. The inner six are those who responded to the Schuman Declarations call for the pooling of coal, the six signed the Treaty of Paris creating the European Coal and Steel Community on 18 April 1951. However the plan was rejected by the Senate of France, which also scuppered the draft treaty for a European Political Community. President of the ECSC High Authority, and architect of the ECSC, Jean Monnet resigned in protest, dependency on overseas oil and the steady exhaustion of coal deposits led to the idea of an atomic energy community. However, the Benelux countries and Germany desired a common market, in order to reconcile the two ideas, both communities would be created. Thus, the six went on to sign the Treaties of Rome in 1957, establishing the European Economic Community, the institutions of these communities would later be merged in 1967, leading to them collectively being known as the European Communities. The six would continue in their co-operation until 1973 when they were joined by two of the seven and Ireland. The events of the Suez Crisis showed the United Kingdom that it could no longer alone, instead turning to the United States. Britain, along with Denmark, Ireland and Norway, applied for membership in 1960, however, then–French President Charles de Gaulle saw British membership of the Community as a Trojan horse for US interests, and hence stated he would veto British membership. The four countries resubmitted their applications on 11 May 1967 and with Georges Pompidou succeeding Charles de Gaulle as French President, negotiations began in 1970 and two years later the accession treaties were signed with all but Norway acceding to the Community. In 1981 Greece joined the European Community, bringing the number to ten, after its democratic revolution, Portugal would also leave EFTA to join the Communities in 1986, along with Spain. On the other hand, membership of the Communities, now the European Union, has reached 28, today, there are still some groups within the European Union integrating faster than others, for example, the eurozone and Schengen Area. Inner Six are today among the most integrated members of the E. U
6.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
7.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
8.
French Fourth Republic
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The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II. France adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on 13 October 1946, the greatest accomplishments of the Fourth Republic were in social reform and economic development. In 1946, the government established a social security system that assured unemployment insurance, disability and old-age pensions. Moreover, the government proved unable to make decisions regarding decolonization of the numerous remaining French colonies. After a series of crises, most importantly the Algerian crisis of 1958, wartime leader Charles de Gaulle returned from retirement to preside over a transitional administration which was empowered to design a new French constitution. The Fourth Republic was dissolved by a referendum on 5 October 1958 which established the modern-day Fifth Republic with a strengthened presidency. After the liberation of France in 1944, the Vichy government was dissolved, Charles de Gaulle led the GPRF from 1944 to 1946. Meanwhile, negotiations took place over the new constitution, which was to be put to a referendum. De Gaulle advocated a system of government, and criticized the reinstatement of what he pejoratively called the parties system. He resigned in January 1946 and was replaced by Félix Gouin, the new constituent assembly included 166 MRP deputies,153 PCF deputies and 128 SFIO deputies, giving the tripartite alliance an absolute majority. Georges Bidault replaced Félix Gouin as the head of government, a new draft of the Constitution was written, which this time proposed the establishment of a bicameral form of government. Léon Blum headed the GPRF from 1946 to 1947, after a new legislative election in June 1946, the Christian democrat Georges Bidault assumed leadership of the Cabinet. This culminated in the establishment in the year of the Fourth Republic. The President of the Republic was given a symbolic role, although he remained chief of the French Army. The wartime damage was extensive and expectations of large reparations from defeated Germany largely failed, the United States helped revive the French economy with the Marshall Plan, 1948-1951, whereby it gave France $2.3 billion with no repayment. France was the second largest recipient after Britain, the total of all American grants and credits to France from 1946 to 1953, amounted to $4.9 billion. The terms of the Marshall Plan required a modernization of French industrial and managerial systems, free trade, after the expulsion of the Communists from the governing coalition, France joined the Cold War against Stalin, as expressed by becoming a founding member of NATO in April 1949
9.
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
10.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands 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
11.
West Germany
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West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
12.
Wikisource
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Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project, the projects aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, the project officially began in November 24,2003 under the name Project Sourceberg. The name Wikisource was adopted later that year and it received its own domain name seven months later, the project has come under criticism for lack of reliability but it is also cited by organisations such as the National Archives and Records Administration. The project holds works that are either in the domain or freely licensed, professionally published works or historical source documents, not vanity products. Verification was initially made offline, or by trusting the reliability of digital libraries. Now works are supported by online scans via the ProofreadPage extension, some individual Wikisources, each representing a specific language, now only allow works backed up with scans. While the bulk of its collection are texts, Wikisource as a whole hosts other media, some Wikisources allow user-generated annotations, subject to the specific policies of the Wikisource in question. Wikisources early history included several changes of name and location, the original concept for Wikisource was as storage for useful or important historical texts. These texts were intended to support Wikipedia articles, by providing evidence and original source texts. The collection was focused on important historical and cultural material. The project was originally called Project Sourceberg during its planning stages, in 2001, there was a dispute on Wikipedia regarding the addition of primary source material, leading to edit wars over their inclusion or deletion. Project Sourceberg was suggested as a solution to this, perhaps Project Sourceberg can mainly work as an interface for easily linking from Wikipedia to a Project Gutenberg file, and as an interface for people to easily submit new work to PG. Wed want to complement Project Gutenberg--how, exactly, and Jimmy Wales adding like Larry, Im interested that we think it over to see what we can add to Project Gutenberg. It seems unlikely that primary sources should in general be editable by anyone -- I mean, Shakespeare is Shakespeare, unlike our commentary on his work, the project began its activity at ps. wikipedia. org. The contributors understood the PS subdomain to mean either primary sources or Project Sourceberg, however, this resulted in Project Sourceberg occupying the subdomain of the Pashto Wikipedia. A vote on the name changed it to Wikisource on December 6,2003. Despite the change in name, the project did not move to its permanent URL until July 23,2004, since Wikisource was initially called Project Sourceberg, its first logo was a picture of an iceberg
13.
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
14.
Politics of the European Union
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The Politics of the European Union are different from other organisations and states due to the unique nature of the European Union. These areas are primarily under the control of the EUs member states although an amount of structured co-operation and coordination takes place in these areas. For the EU to take actions in these areas, all Member States must give their consent. The principle of subsidiarity does not apply to areas of exclusive competence, the common institutions mix the intergovernmental and supranational aspects of the EU. The EU treaties declare the EU to be based on representative democracy, the Parliament, together with the Council, form the legislative arm of the EU. The Council is composed of governments, thus representing the intergovernmental nature of the EU. Laws are proposed by the European Commission which is appointed by and accountable to the Parliament, although direct elections take place every five years, there are no cohesive political parties in the national sense. Instead, there are alliances of ideologically associated parties who sit, the two largest parties are the European Peoples Party and the Party of European Socialists with the former forming the largest group in Parliament since 1999. The latter is stronger in northern Europe, especially the United Kingdom, legitimation of the European Union rests on the Treaty System. After World War Two, Europe sought to end conflict permanently between France and Germany, in the spirit of the Marshall Plan, those two nations signed the Treaty of Paris in 1951, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. Since then, the Treaty of Paris, which focused on price setting, the legal basis for the European Community now rests on two treaties, The Treaty for the European Union of 1958, and The Treaty of Maastricht of 1992. The various additions and modifications of treaties has led to a patchwork of policy and planning, the pastiche of treaties, and not a single actualising charter of government, form the constitutional basis of the European Union. This ambiguity is a cause of democratic deficit. The EU itself is a personality and a set of governing institutions empowered by the treaties. However sovereignty is not invested in those institutions, it is pooled with ultimate sovereignty resting with the national governments, yet in those areas where the EU has been granted competencies, it does have the power to pass binding and direct laws upon its members. The competencies of the European Union stem from the original Coal and Steel Community, the original competencies were regulatory in nature, restricted to matters of maintaining a healthy business environment. Rulings were confined to laws covering trade, currency, and competition, increases in the number of EU competencies result from a process known as functional spillover. Functional spillover resulted in, first, the integration of banking and insurance industries to manage finance, the size of the bureaucracies increased, requiring modifications to the treaty system as the scope of competencies integrated more and more functions
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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
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Juncker Commission
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The Juncker Commission is the European Commission in office since 1 November 2014 and is due to serve until 2019. Its president is Jean-Claude Juncker, who presides over 27 other commissioners, in July 2014, Juncker was officially elected to succeed José Manuel Barroso, who had been re-elected by the European Parliament for a second five-year term in 2009. In the 2014 parliamentary election, Juncker campaigned as the candidate of the European Peoples Party for the presidency of the European Commission, the EPP won a plurality in parliament, and on 27 June, the European Council nominated him for the post. Later, on 15 July 2014, the European Parliament elected Juncker as the new Commission president, on 1 November 2014 the new Commission officially assumed office. Juncker has outlined a ten-point agenda for his Presidency focusing on jobs and these clusters are known as Project Teams and will each be headed by one of the vice presidents. Each team is composed of a membership in addition to members who may fall under its respective umbrella as needed. First Vice President, Frans Timmermans Federica Mogherini Dimitris Avramopoulos Johannes Hahn Neven Mimica Christos Stylianides Věra Jourová Julian King Political guidelines Priorities
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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
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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
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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
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European Commissioner
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A European Commissioner is a member of the 28-member European Commission. Each Member within the Commission holds a portfolio, and the Commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent of national ministers, each Commissioner is first nominated by their member state in consultation with the Commission President, although the President holds little practical power to force a change in candidate. The more capable the candidate is, the likely the Commission President will assign them a powerful portfolio. The Presidents team is subject to hearings at the European Parliament which will question them. If members of the team are found to be inappropriate, the President must then reshuffle the team or request a new candidate from the state or risk the whole Commission being voted down. As Parliament cannot vote against individual Commissioners there is usually a compromise whereby the worst candidates are removed, once the team is approved by parliament, it is formally put into office by the European Council. It should be noted however that although Members of the Commission are allocated between member-states they do not represent their states, instead they are supposed to act in European interests. Normally a member-state will nominate someone of the political party as that which forms the government of the day. Partly due to the selection procedure, only 9 of the current 28 Members are women. Peter Mandelson was the first openly gay Commissioner, the first female Commissioners were Christiane Scrivener and Vasso Papandreou in the 1989 Delors Commission. European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek proposed in 2010 that Commissioners be directly elected and that would give them individually, and the body as a whole, a democratic mandate. Each Member is required to take an oath before the Court of Justice of the European Union, as of December 2009, the Charter of Fundamental Rights has gained legal force and Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has proposed that Commissioners should swear to uphold it also. The second Barroso Commission went to the Court of Justice on 3 May 2010 for the first such oath alongside their usual oath. I formally note the undertaking of each Member State to respect this principle, until 2004, the larger member states received two Commissioners and the smaller states received one. Nice also specified that once the number of members reached 27 then the number of Commissioners should be reduced to less than the number of Member States. The exact number of Commissioners would have to be decided by a vote of the European Council. Following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria in January 2007, this took effect for the following commission
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European Civil Service
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The European Civil Service is a generic term applied to all staff serving the Institutions of the EU. However, each Institution organises its own structures, only recruitment is done in common. The rules, principles, standards and working conditions of the European civil service are set out in the Staff Regulations, the European Ombudsman has summarised the following five principles of public service which apply to all staff of the EU institutions,1. Commitment to the European Union and its citizens 2, transparency The Commissions civil service is headed by a Secretary General, currently Alexander Italianer who succeeded Catherine Day. According to figures published by the Commission,24,428 persons were employed by the Commission as officials, in addition to these,9066 external staff were employed, these are largely people employed on time-limited contracts, staff seconded from national administrations, or trainees. The single largest DG is the Directorate-General for Translation, with 2261 staff, European civil servants are sometimes referred to in the anglophone press as Eurocrats. High-ranking officials are referred to as European Mandarins. There are staff from all states, with the largest group being Belgian, with French. Most administration is based in the Belgian capital, Often, those states under-represented in the service tend to have more of their nationals in the higher ranks, the qualifications needed to enter the European civil service depend on the whether the job is a specialist one and the grade. One of the qualifications for the European civil service is that the candidate speak at least two of the official European languages, one of which must be English, French or German. Candidates whose mother tongue is English, French or German must pass the competition for entry in one of the two official languages. Prior to their first promotion, officials must demonstrate competence in a third EU official language, a candidate also needs to have a first degree in any discipline. Staff are divided into a set of grades, from AD5, the most junior grade, to AD16. Alongside the AD category is AST and it is now possible for civil servants to be promoted from AST to AD grade, not previously possible, however in practice the grades remain entrenched. While promotion is in theory according to merit, many management posts are now taken by officials parachuted in from member states, prior to this new system, introduced in the 2000s, civil servants were traditionally divided into four categories. A was policy making, B was implementing, C was secretarial, there were various grades in each category. The major ranks used to be in the form of A7 to A1, EU civil and other servants work 40 hours a week, though they are theoretically available 24/7. They receive a minimum of 24 days of leave a year, with additional leave entitlements on grounds of age, grade but no longer distance from home country
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Legislature of the European Union
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The European Union adopts legislation through a variety of legislative procedures. The procedure used for a legislative proposal depends on the policy area in question. Most legislation needs to be proposed by the European Commission and approved by the Council of the European Union in order to become law. An exception to this are so-called passerelle clauses in which the procedure used for a certain policy area can be changed without formally amending the treaties. The European Parliaments 751 members are elected every five years by universal suffrage. It organises itself as a normal multi-party parliament in conducting most of its work in its committees, however, its political groups are very weak due to their status as broad ideological groups of existing national parties. The Parliaments powers have grown considerably since the 1950s as new legislative procedures granted more equality between Parliament and Council and it also has gained greater powers over the appointment of the Commission, which has always been responsible to it. As such, it does not sit according to political groups and rather than conducting most of its work in committees, under the ordinary legislative procedure, the negative opinion from the Commission also forces the Council to vote by unanimity rather than majority. There are also limited instances where the Commission can adopt legislation on its own initiative, if a majority do so – an orange card – then the Council or Parliament can vote it down immediately. The ordinary legislative procedure is the legislative procedure by which directives. Article 294 TFEU outlines ordinary legislative procedure in the following manner, the Commission submits a legislative proposal to the Parliament and Council. At the first reading Parliament adopts its position, if the Council approves the Parliaments wording then the act is adopted. If not, it shall adopt its own position and pass it back to Parliament with explanations, the Commission also informs Parliament of its position on the matter. At the second reading, the act is adopted if Parliament approves the Councils text or fails to take a decision, the Parliament may reject the Councils text, leading to a failure of the law, or modify it and pass it back to the Council. The Commission gives its opinion once more, where the Commission has rejected amendments in its opinion, the Council must act unanimously rather than by majority. If, within three months of receiving Parliaments new text the Council approves it, then it is adopted, if it does not then the Council President, with the agreement of the Parliament President, convenes the Conciliation Committee composed of the Council and an equal number of MEPs. The committee draws up a joint text on the basis of the two positions, if within six weeks it fails to agree a common text, then the act has failed. If it succeeds and the committee approves the text, then the Council, if either fails to do so, the act is not adopted
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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
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President of the European Parliament
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The President of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. He or she represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The presidents signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget, Presidents serve two-and-a-half-year terms, normally divided between the two major political parties. There have been twenty-eight presidents since the Parliament was created in 1952, two presidents have been women and most have come from the older member states. The current president is Antonio Tajani of Italy, the president chairs debates and oversees all the activities of the Parliament and its constituent bodies, in this the role is similar to that of a speaker in a national parliament. Below the president, there are 14 vice-presidents who chair debates when the president is not in the chamber and he or she represents Parliament in all legal matters and external relations, particularly international relations. When the European Council meets, the president addresses it to give the Parliaments position on subjects on the Councils agenda, the president also takes part in Intergovernmental Conferences on new treaties. The presidents signature is required for the budget of the European Union and Union acts adopted under codecision procedure to be adopted. The president also chairs conciliation committees with the Council under these areas, in most countries, the protocol of the head of state comes before all others. However, in the EU the Parliament is listed as the first institution, the gifts given to numerous visiting dignitaries depends upon the president. President Josep Borrell MEP of Spain gave his counterparts a crystal cup created by an artist from Barcelona which had engraved upon it parts of the Charter of Fundamental Rights among other things. With the reorganisation of leading EU posts under the Lisbon Treaty, the Parliaments president meanwhile articulates the EUs values such as democratic elections in other countries. The president is elected by the members of Parliament for a two-and-a-half-year term, since the European Peoples Party and Party of European Socialists began co-operating in the 1980s, they have had a tradition of splitting the two posts between them. Starting from the 2009–2014 session of the Parliament the outgoing president presides over the election of the new president, if the outgoing president is not re-elected as an MEP then one of the 14 vice-presidents takes up the role. While the outgoing president or vice president is in the chair, they hold all the powers of the president, before the ballot nominations are handed to the chair who announces them to Parliament. If no member holds a majority after three ballots, a fourth is held with only the two members holding the highest number of votes on the previous ballot. If there is still a tie following this, the eldest candidate is declared elected, a number of notable figures have been President of the Parliament and its predecessors. The first president was Paul-Henri Spaak MEP, one of the fathers of the Union
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Antonio Tajani
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Antonio Tajani is an Italian politician and President of the European Parliament since January 2017. After attending Liceo Torquato Tasso in Rome, he earned a degree in Law at the Sapienza University of Rome, Tajani was an officer in the Italian Air Forces. After attending an air defense course at Borgo Piave di Latina. He was special envoy to Lebanon, the Soviet Union and Somalia, besides Italian, he speaks English, French and Spanish. He is married, with two children, in his youth Tajani was a militant of Fronte Monarchico Giovanile, a student organization of the Monarchist party of Italy. In the first Berlusconis government, Tajani was a spokesman of the Prime Minister, in 1996 he ran for MP in the Alatri college, but obtained only 45. 3% of the votes and was defeated by the representative of the Olive Tree. In 2001 Tajani was a candidate for mayor of Rome for the coalition of the House of Freedom, defeated, however, since 2002 Tajani is one of 10 vice-presidents of the European Peoples Party. He was re-elected at the Rome Congress in 2006 and at the Bonn conference in 2009, in 1994 Tajani was elected MEP, later confirmed in 1999 and 2004. He was chairman of the delegation of Forza Italia to the European Parliament from June 1999 until May 2008. At the 2004 European elections he was elected from a list of Forza Italia in the Central college and he was admitted to the European Peoples Party. Tajani was a Member of the European Parliament for Central Italy with the Forza Italia party from 2004 to 2008 and he was a substitute for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and a member of the Delegation for relations with Israel. He was a member of the European Convention, which drafted the text of the European Constitution that never entered into force. On 8 May 2008, he was appointed as Italys EU Commissioner by newly elected Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, replacing Franco Frattini, Tajani received the Commissioner for Transport portfolio. He was officially approved in his post by the European Parliament on 18 June 2008 with a vote of 507 to 53 with 64 abstentions, in this role, Tajani promoted the rescue plan for Alitalia, through the involvement of private funding in the airline capital. Furthermore, Tajani oversaw the drafting of the new EU Regulation relating to transport, thanks to this regulation, which came into force in December 2009, passengers receive assistance and reimbursement in case of denied boarding, cancellation or delay of the flight. These norms are applicable both to passengers leaving from an airport of the European Union and to passengers flying to Europe from extra-EU countries, the confirmation of Tajani followed the decline of the candidacy of Massimo DAlema as High Representative for Foreign Policy. For Tajani an alternative foreshadowed would have been a candidacy as president of the Lazio Region, on 15 April 2010 a headline in the British newspaper, The Sunday Times, proclaimed that European Commissioner Antonio Tajani had unveiled a plan declaring tourism a human right. In introducing his plan, Tajani stated, Travelling for tourism today is a right, the way we spend our holidays is a formidable indicator of our quality of life. EurActiv notes that the article on The Sunday Times never quotes the Commissioner as having such a statement
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Political groups of the European Parliament
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The political groups of the European Parliament are the parliamentary groups of the European Parliament. The European Parliament is unique among supranational assemblies in that its members organise themselves into groups like in traditional national legislatures. The members of other supranational assemblies form national groups, the political groups of the European Parliament are sometimes the formal representation of a European political party in the Parliament. In other cases, they are political coalitions of a number of European parties, national parties and these groups are not parties, but looser coalitions. They are strictly forbidden to campaign during the European elections since this is the responsibility of the Europarties. Each political group is assumed to have a set of core principles, further incentives for co-operating in Groups include financial subsidies from the Parliament and guaranteed seats on committees which are not afforded to Independent MEPs. For a Group to be recognised in the Parliament, it must fulfil the conditions laid down in the relevant European Parliament Rule of Procedure. That Rule lays down the criteria a Group must meet to qualify as a Group. Provided those criteria are met, MEPs can theoretically create any Group they like and this was put to the test when MEPs attempted to create a far-right Group called Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty. This generated controversy and there were concerns about public funds going towards a far-right Group, attempts to block the formation of ITS were unsuccessful, but ITS were blocked from leading positions on committees, a privilege usually afforded to all Groups. Groups may be based around a single European political party or they can more than one European party as well as national parties. Each Group appoints a leader, referred to as a president, co-ordinator or chair, the chairs of each Group meet in the Conference of Presidents to decide what issues will be dealt with at the plenary session of the European Parliament. Groups can table motions for resolutions and table amendments to reports and this is a summary of the standing of existing European Parliament groups, although these are subject to change. The first sitting of the new parliament was on 1 July 2014, major changes compared to the period 2004–2009 are, The formation of a new political group, the European Conservatives and Reformists. This conservative, Eurosceptic group is headed by 26 MEPs from the UKs Conservative Party, the Eurosceptic Independence/Democracy and Union for Europe of the Nations groups suffered heavy losses in the election. On their own they no longer had enough MEPs to form a separate group, MEPs formerly from these groups formed the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group on 1 July 2009. The centre-right European Peoples Party now formed its own group in its entirety. The Democratic Party did not become member of the Party of European Socialists until February 2014, the mandate of previous European Parliament ran from 2004 and 2009
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European People's Party Group
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The European Peoples Party group is the political group in the European Parliament consisting of deputies from the member parties of the European Peoples Party. In this respect, there is a distinction between the European Peoples Party itself and the EPP Group in the European Parliament, the EPP mostly comprises politicians of Christian democratic, conservative and liberal-conservative orientation. The European Peoples Party was officially founded as a European political party in 1976 and its size has given it influence in all the EUs institutions. It has been the largest political group in the European Parliament since 1999, in the European Council,14 out of 28 Heads of State and Government belong to the EPP family and in the European Commission,13 out of 28 Commissioners come from EPP parties. The group held 38 of the 78 seats, two short of an absolute majority, the Christian Democrat group was the biggest group at formation, but as time wore on it lost support and was the second-biggest group by the time of the 1979 elections. As the European Community expanded into the European Union, the dominant centre-right parties in the new states were not necessarily Christian democratic. To counter this, the EPP expanded its remit to cover the centre-right regardless of tradition and this policy lead to Greek New Democracy and Spanish Peoples Party MEPs joining the EPP Group. However, the consolidation was not unalloyed and a split emerged with the Eurosceptic MEPs who congregated in a subgroup within the group, size was not enough, however, the group did not have a majority. It continued therefore to engage in the Grand Coalition to generate the majorities required by the procedure under the Single European Act. The EPP-ED Group reverted to its original name – the EPP Group – immediately, in the 7th European Parliament the EPP Group remains the largest parliamentary group with 275 MEPs. It is currently the political group in the European parliament to fully represent its corresponding European political party. The United Kingdom is currently the only EU member state not to have representation in the EPP Group, the 38 members in the group on 11 September 1952 were as follows, The EPP Group is governed by a collective that allocates tasks. The Presidency consists of the Group Chair and a maximum of ten Vice-Chairs, the day-to-day running of the EPP Group is performed by its secretariat in the European Parliament, led by its Secretary-General. The Group runs its own think-tank, the European Ideas Network, the debates and votes in the European Parliament are tracked by its website and categorized by the groups that participate in them and the rule of procedure that they fall into. The results give a profile for each group by category and the total indicates the level of participation in Parliamentary debates. The activity profile for each group for the period 1 August 2004 to 1 August 2008 in the Sixth Parliament is given on the diagram on the right, the group is denoted in blue. The website shows the group as participating in 659 motions, making it the third most active group during the period, the group produces many publications, which can be found on its website. Documents produced in 2008 cover subjects such as dialogue with the Orthodox Church, study days, its strategy for 2008-09, Euro-Mediterranean relations, and it also publishes a yearbook and irregularly publishes a presentation, a two-page summary of the group
28.
Manfred Weber
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Manfred Weber is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament from Germany. He is a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, in the Bavarian state elections in 2003, Weber became the state’s youngest parliamentarian at the age of 29. Currently heading the European Peoples Party Group, he is the youngest group leader in the current Parliament as well as the group leader of the EPP. In 2015, Bavarias Minister President Horst Seehofer nominated Weber as one of his deputies in the office of CSU chairman, on 7 June 2014, Weber dismissed demands by British Prime Minister David Cameron to put the brakes on European integration. Weber stated that The EU is based on a closer union of European peoples. That is set out in the treaties and it is not negotiable for us. We cannot sell the soul of Europe, if we grant every national parliament a veto right, Europe would come to a standstill. However, he supports Cameron’s demand that Britain, as a non-euro country, also, he told The Guardian in early 2015 that the United Kingdom’s drive to freeze welfare payments for EU immigrants was justified and set an example for the rest of the union. Commenting on Britains vote to leave the European Union, Weber said, “The British people decided to leave this union, so they not be so comfortable, so safe. That’s why we say that it really is a very negative day. Rather than new supplies across the Baltic, Weber called upon the Commission to accelerate its efforts to import more gas across Turkey from the Caspian Sea, and even potentially Iran and Iraq
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Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
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The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists. It adopted its name on 23 June 2009. Centre-left in orientation, the group mostly comprises social-democratic parties, and is affiliated to the Progressive Alliance, until the 1999 European Parliament elections it was the largest group in the Parliament, but since those elections it has constantly been the second-largest group. During the 8th EU Parliament Assembly, the S&D is the only Parliament group with representation from all 28 EU member states. In the European Council,8 out of 28 Heads of State and Government belong to the S&D Group and in the European Commission,8 out of 28 Commissioners come from PES parties. The Socialist Group was one of the first three groups to be created when it was founded on 23 June 1953 in the Common Assembly of the European Coal, the Common Assembly was the predecessor of the European Parliament. A group bureau and secretariat was established in Luxembourg, in 1987, the Single European Act came into force and the group began co-operation with the European Peoples Party to secure the majorities needed under the cooperation procedure. The left–right coalition between the Socialists and EPP has dominated the Parliament since then and the post of President of the Parliament has been split between the two groups ever since, the Confederation was succeeded by the Party of European Socialists, in 1992. As a result, the group was renamed the Group of the Party of European Socialists on 21 April 1993. In 1999, the Parliament refused to approve the Santer Commissions handling of the EU budget, allegations of corruption centred on two PES Commissioners, Édith Cresson and Manuel Marín. The group initially supported the Commission but later withdrew their support, in 2007, the Socialist Group was the second largest group in Parliament, with MEPs from all but two member states, Latvia and Cyprus. However, the 2009 European election saw a reduction in the number of PES MEPs returned from 2004, the group sought additional members in the Democratic Party of Italy, which was not affiliated to the PES in 2009. By the conclusion of the 2004-2009 parliamentary term, the Democratic Party had 8 MEPs in the Socialist Group, but also had 8 MEPs in ALDE Group. The Democratic Party is a big tent centre-left party, strongly influenced by social democracy and the Christian left, so a new and more inclusive group name had to be found. The group was going to be named Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe but this was seemed too similar to Alliance of Liberals, the name Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was suggested on 18 June by group president Martin Schulz and it was renamed on 23 June 2009. The English abbreviation was initially unclear, being reported as PASD or S&D Group or PASDE. The S&D Group joined the Progressive Alliance upon its foundation on 22 May 2013 and is a member of the organisations board. The group was formerly an Associated Organisation of the Socialist International, for Presidents of the European Parliament from the group, see President of the European Parliament
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Gianni Pittella
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Gianni Pittella is an Italian politician from Basilicata. He is a member of the Italian Democratic Party, following the political career of his father Domenico Pittella, who was a member of the Senate, he was a member of the Italian Socialist Party, Labour Federation and Democrats of the Left. In the 1996 elections, he was elected to the Italian Parliament, in 2013, Pittella was a member of the national leadership council of the PD, then led by Pier Luigi Bersani. He took part in the 2013 Democratic Party leadership election and he came fourth out of four with 5. 7% in the vote by party members, thus being excluded to the subsequent primary election. In the 1999 European elections, Pittella was elected to the European Parliament and he was re-elected in 2004,2009 and 2014. In the European Parliament, Pittella first served on the Committee on Budgets between 1999 and 2009, in this capacity, he was the Parliament’s rapporteur on the 2006 budget, the last under a seven-year expenditure framework. He later was a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, Pittella served as one of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament from 14 July 2009 to 1 July 2014. In addition to his assignments and party functions, Pittella currently serves on the Parliament’s delegation. In 2016, Pittella attended the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia to watch the nomination of Hillary Clinton and he is also a visiting professor at the University of East Anglias London Academy of Diplomacy. Gianni Pittella is married and has two children
31.
8th European Parliament
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The eighth European Parliament was elected in the 2014 elections and will last until the 2019 elections. 22–25 May 2014 Elections to the Eighth Parliament,1 July 2014 First meeting of the Eighth Parliament. Martin Schulz is elected as President of the European Parliament,17 January 2017 Antonio Tajani is elected as President of the European Parliament. After the 2014 election, the members formed seven groups with 52 independent members, mainly MEPs against the Union who failed to unify into a political group
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Vice President of the European Parliament
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There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament. Vice-presidents are members of the Bureau and chair the plenary when the president is not in the chair, the president may also delegate any duty, task or power to one of the vice-presidents. Three vice-presidents, designated by the Conference of presidents, traditionally have more power than the others, the vice-presidents are elected following the election of the president, which takes place every two and a half years. There tends to be an agreement dividing up the 14 posts between the groups, and thus they are elected without formal opposition. However, in 2009 Edward McMillan-Scott, through the support of 40 MEPs, successfully challenged his groups formal candidate. Having been elected and prevented the election of Kaminski, McMillan-Scott was expelled from the ECR and Kaminski gained the group chair
33.
Council of the European Union
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The Council of the European Union is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union as listed in the Treaty on European Union. It is part of the essentially bicameral EU legislature and represents the governments of the EUs member states. It is based in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, Belgium, the Council meets in 10 different configurations of 28 national ministers. The continuity between presidencies is provided by an arrangement under which three successive presidencies, known as Presidency trios, share common political programmes, the Foreign Affairs Council is however chaired by the Unions High Representative. Its decisions are made by qualified majority voting in most areas, usually where it operates unanimously, it only needs to consult the Parliament. In a few limited areas the Council may initiate new EU law itself, the Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union. The Secretariat is divided into seven directorates-general, each administered by a director-general, the Council first appeared in the European Coal and Steel Community as the Special Council of Ministers, set up to counterbalance the High Authority. The original Council had limited powers, issues relating only to coal and steel were in the Authoritys domain, as a whole, the Council only scrutinised the High Authority. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome established two new communities, and with two new Councils, the Council of the European Atomic Energy Community and the Council of the European Economic Community. However, due to objections over the power of the Authority, their Councils had more powers. In 1965 the Council was hit by the empty chair crisis, due to disagreements between French President Charles de Gaulle and the Commissions agriculture proposals, among other things, France boycotted all meetings of the Council. This halted the Councils work until the impasse was resolved the following year by the Luxembourg compromise, although initiated by a gamble of the President of the Commission, Walter Hallstein, who later on lost the Presidency, the crisis exposed flaws in the Councils workings. In 1993, the Council adopted the name Council of the European Union and that treaty strengthened the Council, with the addition of more intergovernmental elements in the three pillars system. However, at the time the Parliament and Commission had been strengthened inside the Community pillar. The Treaty of Lisbon abolished the system and gave further powers to Parliament. It also merged the Councils High Representative with the Commissions foreign policy head, the development of the Council has been characterised by the rise in power of the Parliament, with which the Council has had to share its legislative powers. The Parliament has often provided opposition to the Councils wishes and this has in some cases led to clashes between both bodies with the Councils system of intergovernmentalism contradicting the developing parliamentary system and supranational principles. The primary purpose of the Council is to act as one of the two chambers of the EUs legislative branch, the chamber being the European Parliament
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Presidency of the Council of the European Union
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The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, the upper house of the EU legislature. It rotates among the states of the EU every six months. The presidency is not an individual, but rather the position is held by a national government and it is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the President of the European Union. The presidencys function is to chair meetings of the Council, determine its agendas, set a work programme, the presidency is currently held by Malta. Three successive presidencies are known as presidency trios, the current trio is made up of the Netherlands, Slovakia and Malta. When the Council was established, its work was minimal and the presidency rotated between each of the six members every six months. In order to rectify the lack of coordination, the idea of trio presidencies was put forward where groups of three successive presidencies cooperated on a political program. This was implemented in 2007 and formally laid down in the EU treaties in 2009 by the Treaty of Lisbon, until 2009, the Presidency had assumed political responsibility in all areas of European integration and it played a vital role in brokering high-level political decisions. The Treaty of Lisbon reduced the importance of the Presidency significantly by officially separating the European Council from the Council of the European Union, estonia is scheduled take over the UKs six-month slot for July–December 2017. The Council meets in various formations where its composition depends on the topic discussed, for example, the Agriculture Council is composed of the national ministers responsible for Agriculture. The primary responsibility of the Presidency is to organise and chair all meetings of the Council, so, for instance, the Minister of Agriculture for the state holding the presidency chairs the Agriculture council. This role includes working out compromises capable of resolving difficulties and this ensures more consistency in comparison to a usual single six-month presidency and each three includes a new member state. This allows new states to hold the presidency sooner and helps old member states pass their experience to the new members. This element is particularly substantial, holding the presidency may be, on balance, a disadvantage for member states
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General Affairs Council
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The General Affairs Council is a configuration of the Council of the European Union and meets once a month. Meetings bring together the Foreign Ministers of the Member States, Ministers responsible for European Affairs also participate depending on the items on agenda. It was created in 2009 by the Treaty of Lisbon by splitting it from the General Affairs, the General and Foreign Councils are the only two Councils mentioned in the EU treaties. It co-ordinates preparation for and follow-up to meetings of the European Council and it also exercises a role in co-ordinating work on different policy areas carried out by the Councils other configurations, and handles any dossier entrusted to it by the European Council
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Foreign Affairs Council
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The Foreign Affairs Council is a configuration of the Council of the European Union and meets once a month. Meetings bring together the Foreign Ministers of the Member States, Ministers responsible for European Affairs, Defence, Development or Trade also participate depending on the items on agenda. The configuration is unique in that is chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy rather than the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. A priority in recent years for the Council, in cooperation with the European Commission, has been to ensure coherence in the EUs external action across the range of instruments at the EUs disposal. It was created in 2009 by the Treaty of Lisbon by splitting it from the General Affairs, the General and Foreign Councils are the only two Councils mentioned in the EU treaties. About the Foreign Affairs Council Press releases of the Foreign Affairs Council
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Justice and Home Affairs council
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The Justice and Home Affairs Council is one of the configurations of the Council of the European Union and is composed of the justice and home affairs ministers of the 28 European Union member states. JHA is composed of the justice and home affairs ministers of the 28 European Union member states, while most member states send one minister for both sectors, others send one minister for justice and another for home affairs. The European Commissioner for Home affairs and the European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights, the Justice and Home Affairs Council develops cooperation and common policies on various cross-border issues, with the aim of building an EU-wide area of justice. The work and tasks of the Council concerning justice and home affairs is prepared by the Directorate-General for Justice and Home Affairs
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Euro Group
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It exercises political control over the currency and related aspects of the EUs monetary union such as the Stability and Growth Pact. Its current president is former Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the ministers meet in camera a day before a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the Council of the European Union. They communicate their decisions via press and document releases and this group is related to the Council of the European Union and was formalised under the Lisbon Treaty. The December 1997 European Council endorsed its creation and the first meeting was held on 4 June 1998 at Senningen Castle in Luxembourg. In 2004 the ministers decided to elect a president and in 2008 and this became known as the Euro summit and has held meetings irregularly during the financial crisis. Since the beginning of the union, its role has grown in regards to the euros economic governance. The fact the group meets just before the Ecofin council means it can pre-approve all Ecofins decisions on eurozone affairs, in 2009 the Lisbon Treaty formalised the group and its president. The current president of the group, dubbed Mr Euro or the president of the eurozone, is Jeroen Dijsselbloem, in September 2004, the Eurogroup decided it should have a semi-permanent president who would be appointed for a term of two years. Under the Lisbon Treaty, this system was formalised and Juncker was confirmed for another term, the Presidency has helped strengthen the group, since before Junckers appointment the Eurogroup was only accidentally present at meetings in the European Parliament. Since the position of President was created, the president has attended Parliaments committee on Economic, after his reappointment as Eurogroup president in January 2010, Juncker emphasised the need to broaden the scope of the Eurogroups business. In particular in terms of co-ordinating economic policies and representation, Juncker proposed creating a small secretariat consisting of four to five civil servants to prepare the groups meetings. However, although France and Spain support such plans, Germany fears that strengthening the group might undermine the independence of the European Central Bank, in June 2012, the Estonian minister Jürgen Ligi was being considered as a possible successor for Mr. Juncker. However, in January 2013, Juncker hinted that his successor would be Jeroen Dijsselbloem. On 13 July 2015, Dijsselbloem was re-elected, the ECB President, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner and Chairman of the Eurogroup Working Group also attend the meetings. It is worthwhile to note that the members of the EU who choose not to participate in the Euro have been excluded from observer status, for example, IMF personnel such as Christine Lagarde are sometimes allowed to be present at meetings—see Lagarde statement 20130316. What remains unknown about this group is whether they allow observers to speak or speech by the observers is forbidden, a formal legal basis was granted for the first time under the Lisbon Treaty when it came into force on 1 December 2009. Protocol 14 of the treaty lays out just two articles to govern the group, Article 1, The Ministers of the Member States whose currency is the euro shall meet informally. Such meetings shall take place, when necessary, to questions related to the specific responsibilities they share with regard to the single currency
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Voting in the Council of the European Union
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The procedures for voting in the Council of the European Union are described in the treaties of the European Union. The Council of the European Union has had its voting procedure amended by subsequent treaties and this section presents the former qualified majority voting systems employed in the Council of the European Union, and its predecessor institutions. While some policy areas require unanimity among Council members, for selected policy areas qualified majority voting has existed right from the start, all major treaties have shifted some policy areas from unanimity to qualified majority voting. Whenever the community was enlarged, voting weights for new members were defined, all systems prescribed higher thresholds for passing acts that were not proposed by the Commission. Member states have to cast their votes en bloc, hence, the number of votes rather describes the weight of a members single vote. According to Article 148 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, acts of the Council required for their adoption,12 votes, the values above are related to the EU-6, the founding member states. The treaty allocated the votes as follows,4 votes, France, Germany, Italy,2 votes, Belgium, Netherlands,1 vote, under this system, Luxembourg had no voting power for acts proposed by the Commission. Acts of the Council now required for their adoption,41 votes and these values were now related to the EU-9. The treaty allocated the votes as follows,10 votes, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom,5 votes, Belgium, Netherlands,3 votes, Denmark, Ireland,2 votes, Luxembourg. Article 148 of the EEC Treaty, specifying the qualified majority voting system of the Council, was amended by Article 14 of the Accession Treaty regulating the enlargement of the community by Greece. Acts of the Council now required for their adoption,45 votes, the votes allocated previously to the EU-9 did not change. Acts of the Council now required for their adoption,54 votes, the votes allocated previously to the EU-10 did not change. To the new members, the votes were allocated,8 votes, Spain,5 votes. The Treaty of Maastricht established the European Community Treaty where the majority voting system was detailed in Article 148. While this treaty transferred some policy areas subject to unanimity to qualified majority, acts of the Council now required for their adoption,62 votes, or 62 votes by at least 10 member states. The votes allocated previously to the EU-12 did not change, to the new members, the following votes were allocated,4 votes, Austria, Sweden,3 votes, Finland. The voting system of the Council as defined in the Treaty of Nice entered into force on 1 February 2003, the voting weights of the member states according to this treaty are shown in the table on the right. The voting system was replaced by the Treaty of Lisbon, effective 1 November 2014, the last condition was only checked upon request by a member state
The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community at Wikisource
