European Union

Overview
The European Union (EU) is a politico-economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It covers an area of 4,324,782 km2, with an estimated population of over 508 million. The EU operates through a system of supranational institutions and intergovernmental-negotiated decisions by the member states. The institutions are: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the Court of Auditors. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens.

he 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. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, and regional development The monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002. It is currently composed of 19 member states that use the euro as their legal tender.

The EU works in co-operation with the European Broadcasting Union and European Space Agency.

The concept


After World War 2, the European nations saught a way to make any future wars impossible and a way keep both the USA and USSR from economically and\or politicaly dominating the region in the long term.

The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the WTO, the G8, and the G-20. The European Parliament announces new President and Foreign Affairs Minister in 2009. Got the Nobel Peace Prize 2012" in 2012 and Croatia joined in 3 June 2013. Because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as a current or as a potential superpower in recent years (as of 2015).

Coal and Steel Community and the Treaty of Paris (1951),
Robert Schuman proposed creating the Coal and Steel Community on 9 May 1950, which became operative after the singing of the 1951 Treaty of Paris. The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was an international organization serving to unify European countries after World War II. It was formally established by the Treaty of Paris (1951), which was signed by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The ECSC was the first international organisation to be based on the principles of supranationalism, and would ultimately lead the way to the founding of the European Union.

The Western European Union and the Modified Treaty of Brussels (1954)
The Western European Union (WEU; French: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO) was an international organisation and military alliance, tasked with implementing the Modified Treaty of Brussels (1954), an amended version of the original 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU was established by seven European nations allied with the USA (Capitalist Bloc and NATO members) during the Cold War.

The EEC and Treaty of Rome (1957)
In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (EEC) and established a customs union. They also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958.

The Schengen Agreement (1985)
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's borderless Schengen Area. It was signed on 14 June 1985 by five of the ten member states of the then European Economic Community near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg. It proposed the gradual abolition of border checks at the signatories' common borders. Measures proposed included reduced speed vehicle checks which allowed vehicles to cross borders without stopping, allowing residents in border areas freedom to cross borders away from fixed checkpoints and the harmonisation of visa policies. A single EU border force has been periodically mentioned since.

German reunion (1990)
Germany was occupied and divided in to the FRG and GDR from 1949 to 1990. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and Germany united in 1990.

The Maastricht Treaty (1992)
The Maastricht Treaty (formally, the Treaty on European Union or TEU) undertaken to integrate Europe was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty. Upon its entry into force on 1 November 1993 during the Delors Commission, it created the European Union and led to the creation of the single European currency, the Euro. The Maastricht Treaty has been amended by the treaties of Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon. It became possible to hold European Union citizenship since 1993 and a single passport has been oft proposed since then.

Future expatiation
Turkey, Bosnia, Kosovo, Ukraine, Iceland (pending a 'yes' vote in a public referendum) Albania, Georgia, Macedonia and Montenegro said between 2014 and 2016 that they wanted to join the EU.

Resent issues in Bosnia


The EU established a regional approach to the Western Balkans already in 1997, with political and economic conditionality criteria for the development of bilateral relations. The EU/Bosnia and Herzegovina Consultative Task Force was formed in 1998 and was replaced in 2006, the task force is replaced by the Reform Process Monitoring (RPM).

Unilateral trade preferences ("Autonomous Trade Measures", ATM) were introduced by the EU for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the year 2000 and trade increased since 2008.

It was reported in the UK media that the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina propped up several banks during mid 2009 after a local bank collapsed due to fiscal pressure on it by other European banks it traded with, one of which was German.

The 2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina was a series of demonstrations and riots that began in the northern town of Tuzla on 4 February 2014, but quickly spread to 20 towns and cities. It was caused by concerns over a sluggish economy, mismanagement, corruption and unemployment, which was by the time at ~30%

The protests mark the largest outbreak of public anger over high unemployment and two decades of political inertia in the Balkan country of 3.8 million people since the end of the 1992–95 war. 20% lived below the poverty line.

The IT sector stated booming in Bosnia by 2016, but it had yet to reach its full potential according to corporate bosses and IT experts. Tourism to rural cycle roots also took off in 2015.

They applied to join the EU in February 2016.

Bosnia's ethnic quarrels and 1990s civil war fallout remain a worry for the EU, along with heavy corruption and the emergent role of organised crime. The Commission officially stated that Bosnia was still plagued by an "unstable political climate" and ethnic divisions (among Serbs, Croats and Bosniacks). In December 2011 Bosnia's Muslim, Croat and Serb leaders agreed on the formation of a central government, ending 14 months of political deadlock over who could do what in it. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Bosnia's electoral laws discriminate against Jews and Roma (Gypsies), because only Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs are allowed to run for high office. The triple leadership was formed in the wake of the civil war as a way of preventing any further conflict in the future between Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs. The British hate all Bosnians, especially Serbs, on the false post millennium belief that the civil war was all a organised crime/EU cover for a immigration smuggling from the former Yugoslavia.

Bosnia's Canton 10's names, tiitles, symbols and flags controversy
Canton 10 is one of the 10 Cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The local government seat is in Livno, while the assembly is in Tomislavgrad.

In Croatian the term županija (county) is used, while in Bosnian and Serbianthe term is kanton/кантон. The canton is officially referred by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as Canton 10/County 10 (Kanton 10 or Županija 10).

The local government however refers to it as the Herzeg-Bosnia County (Hercegbosanska županija) and uses that name in the local constitution.

This name has been deemed unconstitutional by the Federation's Constitutional Court because it contains elements of the name of the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which any other canton could contain. Other names used at the national level include North Herzegovina Canton/County (Sjevernohercegovački kanton, Sjevernohercegovačka županija) and Livno Canton (Livanjski kanton), after its capital.

The flag and coat of arms of the canton were the same as the flag and coat of arms of the former Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. West Herzegovina canton was another canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina which also used this flag and coat of arms. However, these symbols were deemed unconstitutional by the Federation Constitutional Court, because "it only represented one group". Defying the court's ruling, the local government continues using these symbols, and the coat of arms is used at plates at the official institutions. Due to the name and symbols dispute, the local police up to this day have no official badges.

Other issues
The Republic of Kosovo wants to join the EU, but 5 EU states will block this. The fascist nations Greece (hates Albanians and Macedonians) and Spain (hates Basques and Catalans, the prior then went on to founded ETA in response), hopelessly divided Cypru and the the former Eastern Bloc nations of Romania, Slovakia, do not recognise Kosovo's independence. The United Nations (UN) dose nit reconise it  since it is an artificial made ethnic homeland for Kosovars. It covers the former Serbian province of Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. FEFA, NATO and the IOC do reconise it. The EU has unofficaly reconised it since 2012.

In 2012, EU uofficially recognised the plans of four aspiring members: Albania, Georgia, Macedonia and Montenegro. Macedonia has been prevented from joining the alliance by Greece, who has racist views even about it's name 'Macedonia'. Turkey and Bosnia have had there bids for membership formaly reconised by the EU.

Turkey, Iceland, Switzerland, Serbia, and Ukraine have had recent open political debate on the topic of membership.

The EEA
The European Economic Area (EEA) provides for the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital within the internal market of the European Union (EU) between its 28 member states, as well as three of the four member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA): Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The Agreement is applied provisionally with respect to Croatia—the remaining and most recent EU member state—pending ratification of its accession by all EEA parties.

The EEA was established on 1 January 1994 upon entry into force of an agreement between the member states and the EU's predecessors, the European Economic Community and the European Coal and Steel Community. EFTA states which join the EEA participate in the EU's internal market without being EU members, adopting almost all the relevant EU legislation other than laws regarding agriculture and fisheries. The EEA's "decision-shaping" processes enable them to influence and contribute to new EEA policy and legislation from an early stage.

One EFTA member, Switzerland, has not joined the EEA, but has a series of bilateral agreements with the EU which allow it also to participate in the internal market.

EU flags and emblems


The EEC/EU motto is "United in diversity" and the flag is the gold and blue "Euro-stars"\"Eruo-fag".

The "Ode to Joy" (The German original title: "An die Freude") is the anthem of the European Union and the Council of Europe; both of which refer to it as the European Anthem due to the Council's intention that, as a semi-modern composition with a mythological flair, it does represent Europe as a whole, rather than any organisation. It is based on the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony composed in 1823, and is played on official occasions by both organisations. It was writen by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1824 and adopted in 1972 and 1985.

"Ode to Joy" (German original title: "An die Freude") is the anthem of the European Union and the Council of Europe; both of which refer to it as the European Anthem due to the Council's intention that, as a semi-modern composition with a mythological flair, it does represent Europe as a whole, rather than any organisation. It is based on the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony composed in 1823, and is played on official occasions by both organisations.

Military
The Western European Union (WEU; French: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO) was an international organisation and military alliance, tasked with implementing the Modified Treaty of Brussels (1954), an amended version of the original 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU was established by seven European nations allied with the USA (Capitalist Bloc and NATO members) during the Cold War.

The predecessors of the European Union were not devised as a military alliance because NATO was largely seen as appropriate and sufficient for defence purposes. 22 EU members are members of NATO. while the remaining member states follow policies of neutrality. The Western European Union, a military alliance with a mutual defence clause, was disbanded in 2010 as its role had been transferred to the EU.

Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union provides for substantial military integration within the institutional framework of the union. Complete integration is an option that requires unanimity in the European Council of heads of state or government. For now it remains politically gridlocked considering the critical stance of the United Kingdom in particular.

Article 42 does also provide for a permanent structured cooperation between the armed forces of a subset of member states. As of 2015 this option has not been used, despite calls by prominent leaders such as former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt for a common defence for the Union. However the debate has intensified by the standoff between the EU and Russia over Ukraine. With new calls for an EU military by EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and by other European leaders and policy makers like the head of the German parliament’s foreign policy committee Norbert Röttgen, saying an EU army was “a European vision whose time has come”.

Article 42 was invoked for the first time by French President François Hollande, following the November 2015 Paris attacks. Speaking in front of a joint session of parliament in Versailles, Hollande described the terrorist attack as an attack against Europe as a whole.

The Unified Europe Corps is a small, symbolic, French-Dutch supervise, volunteer infantry unit made up of volunteers from participating EU nations.

EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from middle and northern Africa to the western Balkans and western Asia. EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, European Union Satellite Centre and the European Union Military Staff.

Border controls and border troops
Frontex is an agency of the EU established to manage the cooperation between national border guards securing its external borders. It aims to detect and stop illegal immigration, human trafficking and terrorist infiltration. In December 2015 the European Commission presented its proposal for a new European Border and Coast Guard Agency having a stronger role and mandate along with national authorities for border management.

The scheme
E numbers are codes for substances that are permitted to be used as food additives for use within the European Union and Switzerland. The "E" stands for "Europe". They are commonly found on food labels throughout the European Union. Safety assessment and approval are the responsibility of the European Food Safety Authority.

Having a single unified list for food additives was first agreed upon in 1962 with food colouring. In 1964, the directives for preservatives were added, 1970 for antioxidants and 1974 for the emulsifiers, stabilisers, thickeners and gelling agents.

Most additives are only permitted to be used in certain foods and are subject to specific quantitative limits, so it is important to note this list should be used in conjunction with the appropriate European Union legislation.


 *  It covers-  


 * 1) E100–E199 (colours)
 * 2) E200–E299 (preservatives)
 * 3) E300–E399 (antioxidants, acidity regulators)
 * 4) E400–E499 (thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers)
 * 5) E500–E599 (acidity regulators, anti-caking agents)
 * 6) E600–E699 (flavour enhancers)
 * 7) E700–E799 (antibiotics)
 * 8) E900–E999 (glazing agents and sweeteners)
 * 9) E1000–E1599 (additional chemicals)

Numbering scheme
The numbering scheme follows that of the List of food additives, Codex Alimentarius' International Numbering System] (INS) as determined by the Codex Alimentarius committee, though only a subset of the INS additives are approved for use in the European Union as food additives. E numbers are also encountered on food labelling in other jurisdictions, including the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Australia, South Africa, New York City, New Zealand, Canada and Israel. They are increasingly, though still rarely, found on North American packaging, especially in Canada (Canada most widely outside Quebec and the Maritimes) and New York City on imported European products.

Colloquial use
In some European countries, "E-number" is sometimes used informally as a pejorative term for artificial food additives, and products may promote themselves as "free of E-numbers". This is incorrect, because many components of natural foods have E numbers (and the number is a synonym for the chemical component), e.g. vitamin (Ascorbic acid (E300)) and lycopene (E160).

Media freedom
Media freedom is a fundamental right that applies to all member states of the European Union and its citizens, as defined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights:[246]:1. Within the EU enlargement process, guaranteeing media freedom is named a "key indicator of a country's readiness to become part of the EU".

Bosnia banking allegations
It was reported in the UK media that the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina propped up several banks during mid 2009 after a local bank collapsed due to fiscal pressure on it by other European banks it traded with, one of which was German.

The 2014-to date immigration crisis
On the Italian, Greek and Turkish coast it was

The constant torrent of dubious, false or misrepresented stories boomed due to the Syrian, Eritrean and Iraqi immigration crisis. Many EU nations refused to co-operate with the EU dispersal plan lead to Greece, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania and the former Yugoslavia becoming a dustbin for immigrants. The attempted cover-up over the Cologne station and Stockholm rock concert rape gangs gave more fodder to the very people they feared the truth would aggravate. The British media claimed they ere all crooks and the steady drift of endearing and hapless immigrants had become a mindless conquering horde as on the beaches of Greece, which it had not.

The Tories wanted to crack down on Eastern European immigration and thire right once in the UK. UKIP blended the longstanding fear of EU bureaucracy, the ailing Euro (€), Anglo-Irish economic decline, Polonaphobia, Islamaphobia and Syrian refuge worries in to a ugly new anti-EU cabal. They implied wanted to end all UK treaties, overseas relations, trade, tourist, immigration and ethnic communities.

Brexit?
The British always regarded the EU with suspicion ever since the Maastricht Treaty was drafted in 1992. UKIP, Voters again Europe and the Referendum Party formed to campaign on a UK wide referendum over whether the UK should join or not.

The growing union of and between nations, as well as the idea of EU citizenship and

The 2008 economic crash was caused by recklessness and criminality in the Icelandic, American and British economy, but the UK and USA refused to see the truth, with the prior blaming the EU and the latter openly threatening Mexico and China.

As the world's economy imploded and even a Belorussian an Bosnian bank went broke, the EU fell in to chaos and Greece was fiscally destroyed.

There had been a lot of factually dubious or exaggerated anti-EU stories about eastern Europeans in the UK media since the millennium.

The EU was falsely accused in some tabloid newspapers of single handedly undermining the UK economy and of siding with Romanian criminal gangs. Germany's mean spirited plans could have not worked in the UK without the help of the UK government and officials. As the Western economies folded the British blamed the Poles for taking thire jobs as immigration from Africa and the Indian sub-continent went in to hyper-drive. UKIP had replaced the BNP by 2013 as the UK's leading racist/immigrant hating party.

41 year old Latvian crook, Arnis Zalkalns, murdered 14 year old Alice Gross early in the year and as the year ended a 4 man Polish gang launched a brutal attack on a top London law school academic after being let through Britain’s open border controls despite horrific criminal records. The UK government was the accused by the media and some Latvian officials of only letting crooks and not nice or useful people in.

As time went on, UKIP became a champion of the far-right and the darling of the UK tabloid papers, especially the Mail and Express. Their constant claims about Islamic terrorists, immigrants and the EU were soon discredited by the TV and radio news, all political parties bar UKIP and the Tory leadership, experts, universities, the EU, the UN, the Arab League, charities, firms and NGOs. Any indiscretion by a Middle Esterners and Asians was held as a norm, whilst Blacks were treated fairly and only the worst of Whites were exposed.

The constant torrent of dubious, false or misrepresented stories boomed due to the Syrian, Eritrean and Iraqi immigration crisis. Many EU nations refused to co-operate with the EU dispersal plan lead to Greece, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania and the former Yugoslavia becoming a dustbin for immigrants. The attempted cover-up over the Cologne station and Stockholm rock concert rape gangs gave more fodder to the very people they feared the truth would aggravate. The British media claimed they ere all crooks and the steady drift of endearing and hapless immigrants had become a mindless conquering horde as on the beaches of Greece, which it had not.

The Tories wanted to crack down on Eastern European immigration and thire right once in the UK. UKIP blended the longstanding fear of EU bureaucracy, the ailing Euro (€), Anglo-Irish economic decline, Polonaphobia, Islamaphobia and Syrian refuge worries in to a ugly new anti-EU cabal. They implied wanted to end all UK treaties, overseas relations, trade, tourist, immigration and ethnic communities.