Term
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Definition
Created the EU and the european single currency, the Euro. Treaty signed Feb 7, 1992 but did not come into effect until Nov, '93. Signed in Masstricht (hence the name) formally Treaty on European Union (TEU).
-Important b/c it was the 1st time a political union was claimed among the ppl of Europe. |
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Term
| Masstrichty Treaty Amendments |
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Definition
| Amended by later treaties Amsterdam, Nice & Lisbon. |
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Term
| What the Treaty of Maastricht did. |
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Definition
- strengthened the democratic legitimacy of the
institutions;
• improved the effectiveness of the institutions;
• established economic and monetary union;
• developed the Community social dimension;
• established a common foreign and security
policy.
-It amended the provisions of the Treaty of Rome
- Created a new model for the Community based around three 'pillars' which, broadly speaking, covered economic relations, foreign affairs and home affairs. |
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Term
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Definition
| Between 1993 and 2009, the European Union (EU) legally comprised three pillars. This structure was introduced with the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993, and was eventually abandoned on 1 December 2009 upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon |
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Term
| Pillar 1- European Communities |
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Definition
- The first pillar was where the EU's supra-national institutions (the Commission, the European Parliament and the European
Court of Justice) had the most power and influence.
-based on the principle of supranationalism, which means that EU member states should cooperate with each other to achieve common goals.
-It is the only pillar with a legal personality.
- deals with citezenship & International issues. |
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Term
| Pillar 2 - Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) |
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Definition
-First time such a policy was introduced
- concerned with aid, human rights, & Democracy.
-Security Policy: Concerned with peace-keeping forces, and European defense agency. |
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Term
| Pillar 3- Common Foriegn & Security Policy (CFSP) |
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Definition
- Drug trafficking and weapons smuggling
• Terrorism
• Trafficking in human beings
• Organised Crime
• Bribery and fraud
- One outcome is the European Police office where all the member countries have a representative to be able to search for criminals in other countries.
- The Schengen agreement was signed under this pillar. |
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Term
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Definition
- the criteria for European Union member states to enter the
third stage of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and adopt the euro as their currency. |
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Term
| Masstricht Critera 1- Inflation Rates |
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Definition
| important that joining countries must NOT have more than 1.5% inflation rate higher than the average of the 3 best performing member states of the EU. The reason is to keep the inflation of the member countries under control |
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Term
| Masstricht Criteria 2- Annual Govt Deficit |
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Definition
A) annual govt (budget) deficit ratio must not exceed 3% of the previous fiscal yr. The exception is if it was only temporary and govt gives good explanation of why. Ex) in 2002 CZ had terrible floods lasting 3 weeks and made a drop in GDP of 5-6%)
B- ratio of gross government debt to GDP
must not exceed 60% at the end of the
preceding fiscal year. A country with a higher level of debt can still adopt the euro provided its debt level is falling steadily. |
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Term
| Masstricht Criteria 3- Exchange Rate |
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Definition
Applicant country should have joined the exchange-rate mechanism (ERM II) under the European Monetary System (EMS) for two consecutive years and should not have
devalued its currency during the period. |
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Term
| Masstricht Critiera 4- Long Term Interest Rates |
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Definition
| The nominal long- term interest rate must not be more than 2 percentage points higher than the average returns in the three EU Member States with the best price stability. |
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Term
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Definition
One of the major innovations established by
the Maastricht Treaty is the creation of
European citizenship over and above national
citizenship. Every citizen who is a national of a
Member State is also a citizen of the Union.
This citizenship vests new rights in Europeans |
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Term
| Rights of European Citizens |
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Definition
• the right to circulate and reside freely in the Community;
• the right to vote and to stand as a candidate for European and municipal elections in the State in which he or she resides;
• the right to protection by the diplomatic or consular
authorities of a Member State other than the citizen's
Member State of origin on the territory of a third country in which the state of origin is not represented;
• the right to petition the European Parliament and to submit a complaint to the Ombudsman. |
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Term
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Definition
Establishing and maintaining a single market were a
prominent goal of the EU since its creation by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992.
-This seeks to guarantee the four basic freedoms, which are related to ensure free movement of:
• goods
• services
• capital
• people around the EU's internal market.
- The goal is that the movement of capital, labour, goods, and services between the members is as easy as within them |
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Definition
-Jan. 1994: Established following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the EU.
-states that when a country becomes a member of the European Union, it shall also apply to become party to the EEA Agreement, thus leading to an enlargement of the EEA.
-Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal Market without a conventional EU membership
• The EEA Agreement provides for the inclusion of EU
legislation covering the four freedoms— the free
movement of goods, services, persons and capital —
throughout the 30 EEA States;
• In addition, the Agreement covers cooperation in
other important areas such as research and
development, education, social policy, the
environment, consumer protection, tourism and
culture. |
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Term
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Definition
- officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty of the European Union was signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999
-it made substantial changes to the Maastricht Treaty
- was the third major amendment to the arrangements made under the Treaty of Rome (1957). It was largely an exercise in tying up the loose ends left over from the Maastricht Treaty |
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Term
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Definition
-Jan. 1994: Established following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the EU.
-states that when a country becomes a member of the European Union, it shall also apply to become party to the EEA Agreement, thus leading to an enlargement of the EEA.
-Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal Market without a conventional EU membership
• The EEA Agreement provides for the inclusion of EU
legislation covering the four freedoms— the free
movement of goods, services, persons and capital —
throughout the 30 EEA States;
• In addition, the Agreement covers cooperation in
other important areas such as research and
development, education, social policy, the
environment, consumer protection, tourism and
culture. |
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Term
| What did the Amsterdam Treaty do? |
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Definition
–The gradual establishment of an area of freedom,
security and justice;
–Although the Amsterdam Treaty did not provide
for a common defense, it did increase the EU's
responsibilities for peacekeeping and
humanitarian work, in particular by forging closer
links with Western European Union;
–The Schengen Agreements have been
incorporated into the legal system of the EU.
- For the first time, it gave the European Commission a say over the majority of Justice and Home Affairs, which had previously been in the hands of the European Council. |
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Term
| Lisbon European Council 2000 |
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Definition
The European Council held a special meeting on 23-
24 March 2000 in Lisbon to agree a new strategic
goal for the Union in order to strengthen
• employment
• economic reform
• social cohesion
as part of a knowledge-based economy.
New strategy was to make Europe more dynamic
and competitive. |
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Term
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Definition
• EU is experiencing its best macro-economic outlook
for a generation;
• inflation and interest rates are low;
• public sector deficits have been reduced remarkably
• EU's balance of payments is healthy;
• euro has been successfully introduced;
• internal market is largely complete;
• forthcoming enlargement will create new opportunities for growth and employment;
• EU possesses a generally well-educated workforce as
well as social protection systems able to provide the
stable framework required for managing the
structural changes involved in moving towards a
knowledge-based society;
• growth and job creation have resumed. |
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Term
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Definition
• more than 15 million Europeans are out of work;
• employment rate is too low;
• participation in the labor market by women and older workers is insufficient;
• long-term structural unemployment and marked regional unemployment imbalances remain;
• underdeveloped services sector, particularly in the areas of telecommunications and the Internet;
• widening skills gap, especially in information technology. |
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Term
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Definition
New strategic goal for the decade 2000-2010:
to become the most competitive and
dynamic knowledge-based economy in
the world, capable of sustainable
economic growth with more and better
jobs and greater social cohesion. |
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Term
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Definition
- Amednds the Masstricht treaty & the treaty of rome
• The Treaty of Lisbon improves the EU's ability to act in several
policy areas of major priority for today's Union and its
citizens.
• This is the case in particular for the policy areas of freedom, security and justice, such as combating terrorism or tackling crime.
• It also concerns to some extent other areas including energy policy, public health, civil protection, climate change, services of general interest, research, space, territorial cohesion, commercial policy, humanitarian aid, sport, tourism and administrative cooperation. |
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Term
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Definition
• the Treaty of Lisbon creates the function of President of the European Council elected for two and a half years;
• introduces a direct link between the election of the
Commission President and the results of the European
elections;
• provides for new arrangements for the future composition of the European Parliament;
• includes clearer rules on enhanced cooperation and financial provisions. |
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