European Union

§1. European Union Introduction

                                                                             
                         Preliminary statement:                              
                                                                             
                    The evolution of the European Union (EU) from a regional
    economic agreement among six neighboring states in 1951 to               
                                                                             
                                   today's supranational organization of 25
    countries across the European continent stands as an unprecedented
    phenomenon                                                               
                                                             in the annals of
    history. Dynastic unions for territorial consolidation were long the norm
    in Europe. On a few                                                      
                                                                     
    occasions even country-level unions were arranged - the Polish-Lithuanian
    Commonwealth and the Austro-Hungarian Empire                             
                                                                             
                     were examples - but for such a large number of
    nation-states to cede some of their sovereignty to an overarching        
                                                                             
                                          entity is truly unique. Although
    the EU is not a federation in the strict sense, it is far more than a
    free-trade
                                                                             
                                                association such as ASEAN,
    NAFTA, or Mercosur, and it has many of the attributes associated with
    independent nations:                                                     
                                                                       its
    own flag, anthem, founding date, and currency, as well as an incipient
    common foreign and security policy in its                                
                                                                             
                  dealings with other nations. In the future, many of these
    nation-like characteristics are likely to be expanded. Thus,             
                                                                             
                                     inclusion of basic intelligence on the
    EU has been deemed appropriate as a new, separate entity in The World
    Factbook.                                                                
                                                            However, because
    of the EU's special status, this description is placed after the regular
    country entries.

Background:
  Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th
  century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced
  that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief
  belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and
  politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed
  an eventual union of all Europe, the first step of which would be the
  integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The
  following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when
  six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the
  Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris. The ECSC was so successful that
  within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the
  countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the European
  Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community
  (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers
  among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of
  all three communities were formally merged into the European Community
  (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the
  European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially
  selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections
  were undertaken and they have been held every five years since. In 1973,
  the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark,
  Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion
  with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty
  of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign
  and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation
  of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This
  further integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria,
  Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, raising the membership total to 15. A
  new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January
  1999; it become the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except the
  United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area
  countries began using the euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries
  joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,
  Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - bringing the
  current membership to 25. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to
  function efficiently with an expanded membership, the 2003 Treaty of Nice
  set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An
  EU Constitutional Treaty, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004, gave member
  states two years to ratify the document before it was scheduled to take
  effect on 1 November 2006. Referenda held in France and the Netherlands in
  May-June 2005 rejected the proposed constitution. This development
  suspended the ratification effort and left the longer-term political
  integration of the EU in limbo.

§2. European Union Geography

Location:
  Europe between Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, southeastern Europe, and the North
  Atlantic Ocean

Map references:
  Europe

Area:
  total: 3,976,372 km²

Area - comparative:
  less than one-half the size of the US

Land boundaries:
  total: 11,214.8 km
  border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km,
    Bulgaria 494 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km,
    Macedonia 246 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Romania 443 km, Russia
    2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia and Montenegro 151 km, Switzerland
    1,811 km, Turkey 206 km, Ukraine 726 km
  note: data for European Continent only

Coastline:
  65,413.9 km

Maritime claims:
  NA

Climate:
  cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet
  winters; hot dry summers in the south

Terrain:
  fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central
  and southern areas

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m
  highest point: Mont Blanc, France 4,807 m

Natural resources:
  iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc,
  hydropower, uranium, potash, fish

Land use:
  arable land: NA
  permanent crops: NA
  other: NA

Irrigated land:
  115,807 km²

Natural hazards:
  flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the
  south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes
  in the Baltic

Environment - current issues:
  NA

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
    Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution- Sulphur 94,
    Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
    Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
    Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94
  signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

§3. European Union People

Population:
  456,953,258 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 16.03% (male 37,608,010/female 35,632,351)
  15-64 years: 67.17% (male 154,439,536/female 152,479,619)
  65 years and over: 16.81% (male 31,515,921/female 45,277,821) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  NA

Population growth rate:
  0.15% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  10 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  10.1 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: NA
  under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
  65 years and older: 0.69 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.96 male(s)/female

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 5.1 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 5.6 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 4.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 78.3 years
  male: 75.1 years
  female: 81.6 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  1.47 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  NA

Religions:
  Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish

Languages:
  Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek,
  Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese,
  Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish; note - only official languages are
  listed; Irish (Gaelic) will become the 21st language on 1 January 2007

§4. European Union Government

  ventional long form: European Union
  reviation: EU ybrid intergovernmental and supranational organization

Capital:
  Brussels, Belgium
  note: the Council of the European Union meets in Brussels, the European
    Parliament meets in Strasbourg, France, and the Court of Justice of the
    European Communities meets in Luxembourg
  25 countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
    Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
    Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia,
    Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK; note - Canary Islands (Spain), Azores and
    Madeira (Portugal), French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Reunion
    (France) are sometimes listed separately even though they are legally a
    part of Spain, Portugal, and France;
  candidate countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Turkey; note - the EC has
    recommended that Macedonia become a candidate country

Independence:
  7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November
  1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)

National holiday:
  Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert
  SCHUMAN proposed the creation of an organized Europe

Constitution:
  based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the
    European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome,
    which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European
    Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in
    1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of
    Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2001; note - a new draft
    Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome, gave member
    states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or
    national referendum before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November
    2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June 2005 caused a
    suspension of the ratification process

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
  chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose Manuel DURAO
    BARROSO (since 22 November 2004)
  cabinet: European Commission (composed of 25 members, one from each member
    country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas)
  elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by member
    governments; the president-designate then chooses the other Commission
    members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a
    five-year term; election last held 18 November 2004 (next to be held
    2009)
  election results: European Parliament approved the European Commission by
    an approval vote of 449 to 149 with 82 abstentions
  note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government
    and the president of the European Commission and meets at least twice a
    year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues
    relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines

Legislative branch:
  Council of the European Union (25 member-state ministers having 321 votes;
  the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population);
  note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU; European
  Parliament (732 seats; seats allocated among member states by proportion to
  population); members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year
  term
  elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009)
  election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - EPP-ED 268, PES
    202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents
    28

Judicial branch:
  Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are
  interpreted and applied correctly) - 25 justices (one from each member
  state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency,
  the court can sit with 11 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of
  First Instance - 25 justices appointed for a six-year term

Political parties and leaders:
  Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or EUL/NGL
  [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party- European Democrats or EPP-ED
  [Hans-Gert POETTERING]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for
  Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance
  or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN- BENDIT];
  Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel
  FARAGE]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ];
  Union for Europe of the Nations Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana
  MUSCARDINI]

International organization participation:
  European Union: ASEAN (dialogue member), ARF (dialogue member), EBRD, FAO,
    IDA, OAS (observer), OECD, UN (observer), WTO
  European Commission: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, G-10, NSG (observer)
  European Central Bank: BIS
  European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON
  chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
  telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500
  FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires P. Michael
    McKINLEY
  embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels
  mailing address: same as above
  telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222
  FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720

Flag description:
  on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle,
  representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is
  fixed

§5. European Union Economy

Economy - overview:
  Domestically, the European Union attempts to lower trade barriers, adopt a
  common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards.
  Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its
  political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per
  capita income (from $15,000 to $56,000) and historic national animosities,
  the European Community faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common
  policies. For example, since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the
  member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from
  running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004, the EU admitted 10 central and
  eastern European countries that are, in general, less advanced
  technologically and economically than the other 15. Twelve EU member states
  introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999, but the UK,
  Sweden, and Denmark do not participate. The 10 new member states may choose
  to adopt the euro when they meet the EU's fiscal and monetary criteria and
  the other euro states so agree.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
  $12.18 trillion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  $13.31 trillion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  1.7% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $28,100 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 2.2%
  industry: 27.3%
  services: 70.5% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
  218.5 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 4.5%, industry 27.4%, services 66.9%
  note: the remainder is in miscellaneous public and private sector
    industries and services (2002 est.)

Unemployment rate:
  9.4% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  see individual country listings

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 2.8%
  highest 10%: 25.5% (1995 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
  32 (2003 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  2.2% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
  19.6% of GDP (2005 est.)

Agriculture - products:
  wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes; dairy products, cattle,
  sheep, pigs, poultry; fish

Industries:
  among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the European
    Union industrial base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production
    and processing, metal products, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals,
    pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail transportation equipment, passenger and
    commercial vehicles, construction equipment, industrial equipment,
    shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools and automated
    manufacturing systems, electronics and telecommunications equipment,
    fishing, food and beverage processing, furniture, paper, textiles,
    tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
  1.3% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production:
  2.925 trillion kWh (2002 est.)

Electricity - consumption:
  2.711 trillion kWh (2002 est.)

Electricity - exports:
  282.6 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
  281.2 billion kWh (2002 est.)

Oil - production:
  3.424 million bbl/day (2001)

Oil - consumption:
  14.59 million bbl/day (2001)

Oil - exports:
  5.322 million bbl/day (2001)

Oil - imports:
  15.69 million bbl/day (2001)

Oil - proved reserves:
  7.294 billion bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:
  239.2 billion m³ (2001)

Natural gas - consumption:
  465.6 billion m³ (2001)

Natural gas - exports:
  78.1 billion m³ (2001)

Natural gas - imports:
  297.8 billion m³ (2001)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
  3.256 trillion m³ (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:
  $NA

Exports:
  $1.318 trillion; note - external exports, excluding intra-EU trade (2004)

Exports - commodities:
  machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other
  chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper
  products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.

Exports - partners:
  US 24.2%, Switzerland 7.7%, China 5%, Russia 4.7% (2004)

Imports:
  $1.402 trillion; note - external imports, excluding intra-EU trade (2004)

Imports - commodities:
  machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles,
  metals, foodstuffs, clothing

Imports - partners:
  US 15.3%, China 12.4%, Russia 7.8%, Japan 7.2% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
  $NA

Currency (code):
  euro, British pound, Cypriot pound, Czech koruna, Danish krone, Estonian
  kroon, Hungarian forint, Latvian lat, Lithuanian litas, Maltese lira,
  Polish zloty, Slovak koruna, Slovenian tolar, Swedish krona

Exchange rates:
  euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626
  (2002), 1.1175 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  NA

§6. European Union Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  238,763,162 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  314,644,700 (2002)

Telephone system:
  note - see individual country entries of member states

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 866, FM 13,396, shortwave 73 (1998); note - sum of individual country
  radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)

Television broadcast stations:
  2,791 (1995); note - does not include repeaters; sum of individual country
  television broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station
  (Eurovision)

Internet country code:
  .eu (effective 2005); note - see country entries of member states for
  individual country codes

Internet hosts:
  22,000,414 (2004); note - sum of individual country Internet hosts

Internet users:
  230,097,055 (2005)

§7. European Union Transportation

Airports:
  3,130 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  1,852 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  1,274 (2005)

Heliports:
  93 (2005)

Railways:
  total: 222,293 km
  broad gauge: 28,438 km
  standard gauge: 186,405 km
  narrow gauge: 7,427 km
  other: 23 km (2003)

Roadways:
  total: 4,634,810 km (including 56,704 km of expressways)
  paved: 4,161,318 km
  unpaved: 473,492 km (1999-2000)

Waterways:
  53,512 km

Ports and terminals:
  Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Bremen (Germany), Copenhagen
  (Denmark), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las
  Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal),
  London (UK), Marseille (France), Naples (Italy), Peiraiefs or Piraeus
  (Greece), Riga (Latvia), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden),
  Talinn (Estonia)

§8. European Union Military

Military - note:
  In November 2004, the European Union heads of government signed a "Treaty
  Establishing a Constitution for Europe" that offers possibilities - with
  some limits - for increased defense and security cooperation. If ratified,
  in a process that may take some two years, this treaty will in effect make
  operational the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) approved in the
  2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits of cooperation for some EU members,
  development of a European military planning unit is likely to continue. So
  is creation of a rapid-reaction military force and a humanitarian aid
  system, which the planning unit will support. France, Germany, Belgium,
  Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy continue to press for wider
  coordination. The five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France,
  Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has already deployed troops and
  police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and
  the Democratic Republic of Congo and assumed command of the International
  Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in August 2004. Eurocorps
  directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational
  Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR, which took over from SFOR in Bosnia in
  December 2004. Other troop contributions are under national command -
  commitments to provide 67,100 troops were made at the Helsinki EU session
  in 2000. Some 56,000 EU troops were actually deployed in 2003. In August
  2004, the new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting cooperative
  European defense capabilities, began operations. In November 2004, the EU
  Council of Ministers formally committed to creating thirteen 1,500-man
  "battle groups" by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a
  rotating basis. Twenty-two of the EU's 25 nations have agreed to supply
  troops. France, Italy, and the UK are to form the first three battle groups
  in 2005, with Spain to follow. In May 2005, Norway, Sweden, and Finland
  agreed to establish one of the battle groups, possibly to include Estonian
  forces. The remaining groups are to be formed by 2007. (2005)

§9. European Union Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  as a political union, the EU has no border disputes with neighboring
  countries, but Estonia and Latvia have no land boundary agreements with
  Russia, Slovenia disputes its land and maritime boundaries with Croatia,
  and Spain has territorial and maritime disputes with Morocco; the EU has
  set up a Schengen area - consisting of 13 EU member states that have signed
  the convention implementing the Schengen agreements (1985 and 1990) on the
  free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in
  Europe; the Schengen agreements ("acquis") became incorporated into EU law
  with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999;
    member states are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
    Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden; in
    addition, non-EU states Iceland and Norway (as part of the Nordic Union)
    have been included in the Schengen area since 1996 (full members in
    2001), bringing the total current membership to 15; the UK (since 2000)
    and Ireland (since 2002) take part in some aspects of the Schengen area,
    especially with respect to police and criminal matters; the 10 new member
    states that joined the EU in 2004 eventually are expected to participate
    in Schengen, following a transition period to upgrade their border
    controls and procedures


<Factbook 2006>
