In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess who was
abducted by Zeus in bull form and taken to the island of Crete,
where she gave birth to Minos. For Homer, Europa (Greek: ) was a
mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later
Europa stood for mainland Greece and by 500 BC its meaning was
extended to lands to the north. The term Europe is generally
derived from Greek words meaning broad ( ) and face ( ).
Slide 3
In 1951, six countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
Luxembourg and the Netherlands) decided to go down the path of
economic cooperation by setting up the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC), the first instance of European integration. In
1957, the six founding Member States went even further, signing the
Treaty of Rome that established the European Economic Community
(EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). As
cooperation between the Member States became ever tighter and the
list of countries wishing to join the EU grew ever longer, several
treaties adapting the Treaty of Rome were signed.
Slide 4
The idea for forming the European Union was originally proposed
on September 19, 1946, by Winston Churchill in a speech at Zurich
University during which he called for a "kind of United States of
Europe." December 17 of that year, the European Federalists Union
was set into place in Paris, France. The early United Europe
Movement was created in 1947, and was in favor of intergovernmental
cooperation as opposed to supranational control.
Slide 5
A unique economic and political partnership between 27
democratic European countries.
Slide 6
Peace, prosperity and freedom for its 498 million citizens in a
fairer, safer world.
Slide 7
Frontier-free travel and trade, the euro (the single European
currency), safer food and a greener environment, better living
standards in poorer regions, joint action on crime and terror,
cheaper phone calls, millions of opportunities to study abroad
Slide 8
To make these things happen, EU countries set up bodies to run
the EU and adopt its legislation. The main ones are: the European
Parliament (representing the people of Europe); the Council of the
European Union (representing national governments); the European
Commission (representing the common EU interest).
Slide 9
Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia
Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia
Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania
Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom
Slide 10
1952- Treaty establishing the European Coal and Community 1958
- Treaty of Rome 1967 - Merger Treaty 1987 - Single European Act
(SEA) 1993- Treaty on European Union 1999 - Treaty of Amsterdam
2003 - Treaty of Nice 2009 Treaty of Lisbon
Slide 11
Konrad Adenauer Alcide De Gasperi Winston Churchill Robert
Schuman Jean Monnet
Slide 12
Konrad Adenauer The first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of
Germany lays one of the most important stones in the foundation of
Europe. A cornerstone of Adenauer's foreign policy is
reconciliation with France. Together with French President Charles
de Gaulle a historic turning point was achieved: in 1963 the
one-time arch- enemies Germany and France sign a treaty of
friendship, which will become one of the milestones on the road to
European integration.
Slide 13
Alcide De Gasperi He was the last prime minister of the Kingdom
of Italy and the first one of the Italian Republic. Time and time
again he promoted initiatives aimed at the fusion of Europe,
working on the realisation of the Marshall Plan, creating close
economic ties with other European countries and backing Schuman
Plan for the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. He
contributed to the development of the idea of a common defence
policy in Europe.
Slide 14
Winston Churchill The British Prime Minister during the Second
World War is one of the first to call for the creation of a United
States of Europe. Following the Second World War, he was convinced
that only a united Europe could avert the nightmare of future wars.
Churchill, a partisan of the anti-nazi coalition and a winner of
the Nobel prize for literature, is one of the main champions of the
European cause in the collective memory.
Slide 15
Jean Monnet The French political and economic adviser Jean
Monnet was the inspiration behind the 'Schuman Plan', published on
9 May 1950, which led to the creation of the European Coal and
Steel Community. ECSC was the first embryo of the European Union
and Monnet, between 1952 and 1955, was its first president. ECSC
was the first of a series of supranational European institutions
which led to what we now call European Union.
Slide 16
Robert Schuman He was the French foreign minister between 1948
and 1952 and President of the European Parliament from 1958 until
1960. He went down to history for the so-called Schuman Plan with
which he proposed joint control of coal and steel production, the
most important materials for the armaments industry. The basic idea
was that whoever did not have control over coal and steel
production would not be able to fight a war. This idea brought
Schuman to draw up, in cooperation with Jean Monnet, the Schuman
Plan, which he published on 9 May 1950, the date now regarded as
the birth of the European Union. One year later, France, Germany,
Italy, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands sign the agreement
establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.
Slide 17
The European Union Flag symbolizes the unity and integrity of
the countries of European Union.The European Union Flag has a blue
background with twelve golden stars arranged at the center in a
circular pattern. Each star has five points. Contrary to popular
beliefs, the twelve stars on the European Union Flag do not
represent the members of the union. The number twelve was adopted
because twelve is considered a symbol of perfection. The circle of
stars represents the harmony among the people of the Union.
Slide 18
The search for a symbol began in 1950 when a committee was set
up in order to look into the question of a European flag. There
were numerous proposals but a clear theme for stars and circles
emerged. [7] Count Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi proposed
that they adopt the flag of his International Paneuropean Union,
which was a blue field, with a red cross inside an orange circle at
the centre, which he had himself recently adopted for the European
Parliamentary Union. [8] Due to the cross symbolism, this was
rejected by Turkey (a member of the Council of Europe since 1949).
[9] Kalergi then suggested adding a crescent to the cross design,
to overcome the Muslim objections. [10] Another organisation's flag
was the European Movement, which had a large green E on a white
background. [11][12] A further design was one based on the Olympic
rings: eight silver rings on a blue background. It was rejected due
to the rings' similarity with "dial", "chain" and "zeros". One
proposal had a large yellow star on a blue background, but it was
rejected due to its similarity with the so-called Burnet flagand
the flag of the Belgian Congo. [9] [7]Count Richard Nikolaus von
Coudenhove-KalergiInternational Paneuropean UnionEuropean
Parliamentary Union [8]Turkey [9] [10]European Movementlarge green
E on a white background [11][12]Olympic ringsBurnet flagflag of the
Belgian Congo [9]
The European anthem is based on the prelude to "The Ode to
Joy", 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Due to
the large number of languages in Europe, it is an instrumental
version only with the original German lyrics having no official
status. The anthem was announced on 19 January 1972 by the Council
of Europe after being arranged by conductor Herbert von Karajan.
The anthem was launched via a major information campaign on Europe
Day, 5 May 1972. It was adopted by European Community leaders in
1985. It does not replace national anthems, but is intended to
celebrate their shared values. It is played on official occasions
by both the Council of Europe and the European Union.
Slide 22
The euro is the official currency of 16 out of 27 member states
of the European Union (EU) The euro was introduced to world
financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999,
replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU)
Slide 23
One of the EUs main goals is to promote human rights both
internally and around the world. Human dignity, freedom, democracy,
equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights: these are
the core values of the EU. Since the 2009 signing of the Treaty of
Lisbon, the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights brings all these
rights together in a single document. The EU's institutions are
legally bound to uphold them, as are EU governments whenever they
apply EU law.Charter of Fundamental Rights
Slide 24
In 2012, the Nobel Peace Price 2012 has been awarded to the
European Union. The EU received the Nobel Peace Price for advancing
the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in
Europe.Nobel Peace Price 2012
Slide 25
Thank you Kyriaki Gaitanidou 2014-2015 English project