Archive-name: european-union/basics
Posting-Frequency: once every three weeks
Last-modified: 19 December 1994
Version: 1.2.3
URL: http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html


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                        European Union Basics (FAQ): Table of Contents
   [IMAGE]
   
            EUROPEAN UNION BASICS (FAQ): TABLE OF CONTENTS
                                   
   
   ___________________________________
   
   This file contains a list of basic questions and answers about the
   European Union, edited by Roland Siebelink <rcsiebel@vub.ac.be>.
   Please send me corrections/additions/comments and I will include
   them and your name in this list.
   
   Version 1.2.3 of 19 December 1994. Posted regularly to
   eunet.politics, alt.politics.ec, talk.politics.misc, alt.answers,
   talk.answers and news.answers. See "About this list"[1] in part E
   of this FAQ for ways to retrieve the most recent version.
   
      A. General European Union Questions[2]
      
      What is the European Union or EU?[3]
      
      When was it founded?[4]
      
      What countries are members of the EU?[5]
      
      What about the languages?[6]
      
      B. What is the difference between the European Union and...[7]
      
      The European Community?[8]
      
      The Common Market?[9]
      
      The Council of Europe?[10]
      
      The European Free Trade Association/European Economic Area?[11]
      
      The North American Free Trade Agreement?[12]
      
      The Western European Union?[13]
      
      C. Questions about European Union institutions[14]
      
      What is the European Commission?[15]
      
      General information[16]
      
      The Directorates-General of the Commission[17]
      
      What is the European Parliament?[18]
      
      Composition of the European Parliament[19]
      
      Powers of the European Parliament[20]
      
      What is the Council of Ministers?[21]
      
      What is the European Council?[22]
      
      Who is the President of the EU?[23]
      
      President of the European Parliament[24]
      
      President of the Council of Ministers and the European
      Council[25]
      
      President (chairman) of the European Commission[26]
      
      What is the European Court of Justice?[27]
      
      What is the Court of Auditors?[28]
      
      What is the Econonomic and Social Committee?[29]
      
      What is the Committee of Regions?[30]
      
      What is the European Monetary Institute?[31]
      
      D. Where to find EU-related information[32]
      
      EU infosystems on the Internet[33]
      
      EU infosystems on other networks[34]
      
      European Commission infosystems[35]
      
      European Parliament infosystems[36]
      
      EU institutions' email addresses[37]
      
      European Commission email addresses[38]
      
      European Parliament email addresses[39]
      
      Other European political resources on the Internet[40]
      
      Western European Union information[41]
      
      Referendum campaigns in Nordic countries[42]
      
      European Union Documents[43]
      
      Discussions on European integration and related topics[44]
      
      Miscellaneous resources[45]
      
      Representative Offices and Delegations[46]
      
      E. About the European Union Basics[47]
      
      Format of this document[48]
      
      Where to get the most recent version of this document[49]
      
      Author, contributors and sources[50]
      
   
   ___________________________________
   
  Edited by Roland Siebelink.[51] Corrections and suggestions welcome.
                                                                      
   

*** References from this document ***
[orig] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html
[1] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#e0
[2] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#a0
[3] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#a1
[4] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#a2
[5] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#a3
[6] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#a4
[7] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#b0
[8] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#b1
[9] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#b2
[10] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#b3
[11] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#b4
[12] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#b5
[13] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#b6
[14] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c0
[15] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c1
[16] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c1a
[17] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c1b
[18] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c2
[19] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c2a
[20] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c2b
[21] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c3
[22] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c4
[23] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c5
[24] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c5a
[25] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c5b
[26] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c5c
[27] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c6
[28] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c7
[29] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c8
[30] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c9
[31] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#c10
[32] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d0
[33] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d1
[34] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d2
[35] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d2a
[36] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d2b
[37] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d3
[38] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d3a
[39] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d3b
[40] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d4
[41] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d4a
[42] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d4b
[43] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d4c
[44] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d4d
[45] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d4e
[46] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#d5
[47] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#e0
[48] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#e1
[49] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#e2
[50] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#e3
[51] mailto:rcsiebel@vub.ac.be


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                        European Union Basics (FAQ): General Questions
   [IMAGE]
   
                 A. GENERAL EUROPEAN UNION QUESTIONS
                                   
   
   ___________________________________
   
1. What is the European Union or EU?

   `European Union' is the name of the organization for the member
   countries that have decided to co-operate on a number of areas
   ranging from a single market to foreign policy, and from mutual
   recognition of school diplomas to exchange of criminal records.
   This co-operation is in various forms, officially referred to as
   three `pillars':
   
      The [three] European Communities (supranational)
      
      The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP, intergovernmental)
      
      The Co-operation in the Fields of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA,
      intergovernmental)
      
   All member states but the UK also co-operate in the area of social
   policy, on the basis of the social chapter in the Maastricht
   Treaty. This could be considered a fourth pillar, although it was
   part of the EEC Treaty revisions in the drafts of the Maastricht
   Treaty.
   
2. When was it founded?

   The European Union as an umbrella organisation has come into
   existence only in November 1993, after the ratification of the
   Maastricht Treaty. Its constituent organisations were founded as
   below:
   
  1952                   The European Community for Coal and Steel
                         (ECSC) was established by the Treaty of Paris
                         (1951).
                         
  1958                   The European Economic Community (EEC) and the
                         European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)
                         were established by the twoTreaties of Rome
                         (1957).
                         
  1967                   The institutions of the ECSC, EEC and Euratom
                         were merged, with a single European
                         Commission replacing the ECSC High Authority,
                         EEC Commission, Euratom Commission etc.
                         
  1987                   The  Single European Act of 1987 provided the
                         implementation provisions for the Single
                         European Market[1], and it codified agreement
                         on majority voting in the Council[2] on a
                         range of questions. It also formally codified
                         the European Co-ordination in the Sphere of
                         Foreign Policy, which was known as European
                         Political Cooperation and dating back to the
                         1970 Davignon report.
                         
  1993                   The European Union was established by the
                         Maastricht Treaty which came into force in
                         November 1993. It created an explicit
                         three-pillar structure with a new Common
                         Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) replacing
                         the Single Act provisions in this field, and
                         codifying the Co-operation in the field of
                         Justice and Home Affairs (JHA). It also
                         reexpanded the scope of the EEC, to include
                         provisions for an Economic and Monetary Union
                         with a single European currency from the end
                         of the century onwards, and it re-baptised
                         the EEC to simply European Community (EC).
                         [Retrieve the full text of the Maastricht
                         Treaty][3]
                         
3. What countries are members of the EU?

   Original ECSC members (from 1952, EEC and Euratom from 1958)
   include Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the
   Netherlands. From 1973 they were joined by Denmark, the Republic of
   Ireland and the UK. In 1981 Greece joined, followed by Portugal and
   Spain in 1986. In 1991 the new German Ldnder (the former GDR) were
   also incorporated.
   
   In 1994, Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden agreed to join the EU
   from 1995 onwards. All countries organised consultative referenda
   about membership. Austria voted largely in favour of accession on
   June 12th. In Finland, a majority of 57% voted in favour of EU
   membership on October 16th. The Swedes voted narrowly (53%) in
   favour of accession as well, on November 13th. Norwegians, however,
   rejected accession by an equally narrow majority of 52% on November
   28th. Norwegians have already rejected membership once, in 1972,
   then with a 53% majority. This means that from January 1st., 1995,
   the European Union will effectively consist of 15 member states.
   
   Six other countries, all former members of the `eastern bloc', are
   expected to include the next new members of the Union, though this
   will probably be only after the year 2000. In the meanwhile
   Bulgary, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are invited
   to one meeting of the European Council every year.
   
4. What about the languages?

   Like most international organisations, the EU has two sorts of
   languages: official languages and working languages. Official
   languages are used for official public documents, especially those
   with legal value. Working languages are the languages used
   internally.
   
   Since EU legislation is directly applicable in national law, all
   languages with official legal status in one or more of the member
   states must be official EU languages as well. This includes Danish,
   German, Greek, Spanish, French, English, Gaelic (Irish), Italian,
   Dutch and Portuguese; Finnish and Swedish will be added after
   January 1st.  Luxembourg has recognised Letzebuergesch (formerly
   considered the local dialect) as an official national language
   since 1983, but this has not been reflected in EU use of the
   language.
   
   Council members have never been able to agree on a limit to the
   number of working languages within the institutions. Only Gaelic is
   not a working language; all other languages are considered equal in
   every way. It should be noted though that, in practice, some
   languages are more equal than others. The Commission has limited
   much of its internal translations to French, English and German;
   some informal meetings do not have interpreters at all and are
   conducted in English entirely. Nick Bernard[4] says the Court of
   Justice uses French as an internal working language.
   
   EU interpretation services have already noted that the current
   expansion to eleven working languages will already be virtually
   unworkable; an expansion to sixteen or more (with some former
   Eastern Bloc countries joining) will be technically impossible. It
   is therefore to be expected, in my view, that the number of working
   languages will be limited to three (English, French and German) or
   five (with Italian and Spanish), if only for passive use (languages
   to translate into). No official position has been taken on this
   matter though.
   ___________________________________
   
   Go to Table of Contents[5]
   
   Edited by Roland Siebelink.[6] Corrections and suggestions welcome.
                                                                      
   

*** References from this document ***
[orig] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html
[1] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#singlemarket
[2] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#qualifmaj
[3] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#maastrichttext
[4] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#nick-bernard
[5] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html
[6] mailto:rcsiebel@vub.ac.be

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     European Union Basics (FAQ): Differences with other
organisations
   [IMAGE]
   
     B. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND...
                                   
   
   ___________________________________
   
1. The European Community?

   The European Community, formerly known as European Economic
   Community, is by far the most important of the three Communities,
   who together form the first pillar[1] of the European Union. This
   is the only pillar in which there is a significant role for central
   institutions like the Commission and the European Parliament, and


   in which majority voting is used for a number of procedures.
   
2. The Common Market?

   The Common Market was one of the most important objectives of the
   original EEC Treaty. Within 12 years from the date of commencement
   (January 1st 1958) of the Treaty, the Member States were required
   to have formed a common market for products, services, persons and
   capital within a fully fledged customs union. No tariffs or
   quantitative barriers were to remain.
   
   The Common Market objective was effectively attained two years
   early, from 1968 onward. After this initial success, economic
   crises during the 1970s and 1980s induced Member State governments
   to keep or even reinforce numerous other, `qualitative' trade
   barriers (known as NTBs, Non Tarriff Barriers), such as health and
   safety regulations.
   
   Since this was a serious impediment to the development of a real
   internal market, business leaders of all member states (united in
   the so-called Round Table of Industrialists) as well as some EU
   political leaders started to lobby to continue on to a real Single
   European Market, in which `qualitative' trade barriers would be
   attacked as well. Member states finally embraced this goal in the
   Single European Act of 1987.  The project was supposed to be
   completed by January 1st, 1993, but some of the new rules haven't
   yet been implemented, notably in the domain of free traffic for
   persons without border controls.
   
   Personal note: in another respect, the term `Common Market' used to
   be a common term in English/the UK (& USA) to refer to the EEC. It
   was abandoned only in the early 1990s, thereby reinforcing the
   impression, predominant among English-speakers, that the extension
   of the European Union to other areas than just economic activity is
   a very recent phenomenon and a radical change from the Europe they
   agreed to join in 1973.
   
3. The Council of Europe?

   The Council of Europe is quite a different organisation from the
   EU. It is a purely intergovernmental organisation much more like
   the United Nations; unlike EU legislation, its treaties are not
   directly applicable in national law, unless ratified by the normal
   parliamentary procedures of the member state concerned. The Council
   of Europe (Conseil de l'Europe, Europarat) should not be confused
   with the European Council[2] (Conseil europien, Europdische Rat),
   which is an EU institution.
   
   Even through these limited powers, the CoE has achieved some
   remarkable results since its founding in 1949. Apart from
   stimulating grassroots European integration through cultural and
   educational projects, the CoE is probably best known for the
   European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Personal
   Freedoms and its associated European Court for Human Rights in
   Strasbourg (not to be confused with the EU Court of Justice in
   Luxembourg).
   
   CoE members actually allow their nationals to challenge national
   legislation and jurisdiction before this court, which has thus
   become a sort of guarantee for human rights, even for countries
   which do not have a written constitution (such as Britain) or a
   supreme court.
   
   Current CoE members include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus,
   Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
   Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway,
   the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia,
   Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United
   Kingdom.
   
4. The European Free Trade Association/European Economic Area?

   The European Free Trade Association or EFTA was founded in 1960 as
   an intergovernmental alternative to the supranational aspirations
   of the EEC. The EFTA was not intended as a customs union: member
   countries did not have common custom tariffs but just abolished
   custom tariffs between them. There was no common external tarriff,
   a number of commodities and products were excluded from free trade.
   
   
   Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, the Republic of Ireland,
   Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the UK were all members
   of EFTA once, but many of these countries joined or applied for the
   EC/EU afterwards. If all prospective EU members actually join from
   January 1995, the EFTA will just consist of Iceland, Liechtenstein
   and Switzerland.
   
   To complicate matters even more, EFTA members have signed a far-
   reaching agreement with the then EEC in 1992, to create a common
   European Economic Area. This confers upon EFTA members that ratify
   it the four free traffics of the EU (of products, services, persons
   and capital) without decision-making power but with guaranteed
   consulting.
   
   Unfortunately for the designers of this Treaty, the Swiss rejected
   the EEA in a referendum. This may have been a boost for the
   attempts to join the EU for other EFTA member countries. Iceland
   and Liechtenstein did approve of the EEA, but all other remaining
   EFTA members seem to have chosen full EU membership instead. For
   both EFTA and the EEA, it remains to be seen what they will
   actually account to, in practice, over the next couple of years.
   
   Note: as Jozef van Brabant[3] notes, Liechtenstein got into a
   particularly messy situation when the Swiss rejected the EEA Treaty
   that Liechtenstein itself had already approved, since Liechtenstein
   was in a customs union with Switzerland. Because of this,
   Liechtenstein will join the EEA only on January 1st., 1995.
   
5. The North American Free Trade Agreement?

   The North American Free Trade Agreement obviously affects different
   countries than the EU does, but it may be interesting to compare
   the two on other points as well. NAFTA has much more in common with
   EFTA than with the EU: it is a free trade agreement, not a customs
   union, and most certainly no attempt to create anything more
   substantial in political integration than just a free trade area.
   There are no common political institutions and member states'
   sovereignty is left intact.
   
   Personal note: it remains to be seen if NAFTA will not run into the
   same problems that the EEC has had in the 1970s: a replacement of
   now forbidden quantitative trade barriers and tariffs with
   non-quantitative ones. To counter this, member states will either
   have to accept each other's standards in health, safety,
   environmental and consumer protection, or institute a common body
   which accounts for common standards. That will mean a loss of
   sovereignty for the individual states however.
   
6. The Western European Union?

   The Western European Union was founded in 1954 as a defense
   alliance between the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium,
   Luxembourg, Germany and Italy, after the European Defense Community
   Treaty of 1952 was rejected by the French Assemblie Nationale in
   1954. It was more or less dormant until the beginning of the 1990s,
   when it was revived as a sort of common intermediary solution
   between an organisation of the European NATO members and Defense
   aspirations of the European Union. Spain, Portugal and Greece have
   joined the WEU since, and both Denmark and theRepublic of Ireland
   (which is not a member of NATO) have observer status.
   ___________________________________
   
   Go to Table of Contents[4]
   
   Edited by Roland Siebelink.[5] Corrections and suggestions welcome.
                                                                      
   

*** References from this document ***
[orig] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html
[1] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#pillars
[2] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#eu-council
[3] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#jvbrabant
[4] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html
[5] mailto:rcsiebel@vub.ac.be

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             European Union Basics (FAQ): Questions about institutions
   [IMAGE]
   
            C. QUESTIONS ABOUT EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS
                                   
   
   ___________________________________
   
   Personal note: you will notice that in all EU institutions, there
   is an assymetry between the number of inhabitants of member states
   and the number of representatives they have in the various
   institutions (eg one Commissioner for 300.000 Luxemburgers compared
   to two for 80 million Germans). This is a compromise between the
   supranational princple of one-inhabitant-one-vote and the
   intergovernmental principle of one-government-one-vote, and thus an
   illustration of the general ambiguity between supranational and
   intergovernmental principles that so characterises the European
   Union.
   
1. What is the European Commission?

  A. GENERAL INFORMATION
  
   The European Commission is the body with the formal and exclusive
   power to initiate all EU legislation, and that is supposed to
   represent the interest of the Union as a whole, both in the
   political processes within the EU as in negotiations with the
   outside world. Also, it is the main body with a duty to look after
   correct implementation of the treaties and subsequent legislation.
   
   
   Its members are nominated by their national governments and must be
   acceptable to all the government leaders of the member states.
   Small member states each have one Commissioner, while the larger
   ones (Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain) each have two. That makes
   a total of 17 Commissioners now. The new Member States would each
   get one Commissioner. From 1995 Commissioners will serve for a
   fixed term of five years, with the possibility of reappointment.
   
   Generally, every Commission is more or less balanced in party
   affiliation (Britain always appoints a Tory and a Labour candidate,
   the Benelux countries always see to it that one of their
   Commissioners is a socialist, one a christian-democrat and one a
   `liberal' [which is more rightwing than a christian-democrat in the
   Benelux].)
   
   Since the Maastricht Treaty,[1] the European Parliament must
   approve both of the President of the Commission and of the
   Commission in full. It can also make the Commission resign with a
   2/3 majority. It cannot sack individual Commissioners. The EP is
   the only institution with this power; the Commission is not
   accountable to national governments or parliaments.
   
  B. THE DIRECTORATES-GENERAL OF THE COMMISSION
  
   David Lauder[2] provided the following list of Directorates-General
   within the European Commission:
   
  DG I                   External relations
                         
  DG II                  Economic and financial affairs
                         
  DG III                 Industry
                         
  DG IV                  Competition
                         
  DG V                   Employment, industrial relations and social
                         affairs
                         
  DG VI                  Agriculture
                         
  DG VII                 Transport
                         
  DG VIII                Develoment
                         
  DG IX                  Personnel and administration
                         
  DG X                   Information, communication and culture
                         
  DG XI                  Environment, nuclear safety and civil
                         protection
                         
  DG XII                 Science, research and development
                         
  DG XIII[3]             Telecommunications, information market and
                         exploitation of research
                         
  DG XIV                 Fisheries
                         
  DG XV                  Internal market and financial services
                         
  DG XVI                 Regional policy
                         
  DG XVII                Energy
                         
  DG XVIII               Credit and investments
                         
  DG XIX                 Budgets
                         
  DG XX                  Financial control
                         
  DG XXI                 Customs Union and indirect taxation
                         
  DG XXII                Coordination of structural policies
                         
  DG XXIII               Enterprise policy, distributive trade,
                         tourism and cooperatives
                         
   It might be worth pointing out that the relationship between the
   Commission Members themselves and the staff of the European
   Commission is similar to that between Government ministers and the
   permanent civil service, in the sense that the former have no
   security of tenure, and inevitably with a different number of
   Commission Members and DGs their "portfolios" don't necessarily
   correspond directly to the DG structure.
   
2. What is the European Parliament?

  A. COMPOSITION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
  
   The European Parliament represents the peoples of the member
   states. It is elected once every five years, through direct
   universe suffrage in every member state. The last general EP
   election was held between 9 and 12 June 1994. The next will be in
   June 1999, although there will also be EP elections before, in new
   member states.
   
   There are currently 567 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs):
   
      99 elected in Germany
      
      87 each in France, Italy, the UK
      
      64 in Spain
      
      31 in the Netherlands
      
      25 each in Belgium, Greece, Portugal
      
      16 in Denmark
      
      15 in the Republic of Ireland
      
      6 in Luxembourg
      
   MEPs don't usually vote by country of origin. Instead, they
   organise in political groups according to ideology and/or party
   affiliation. Currently, MEPs are organised in the following groups
   (Note: Parties marked with an asterisk are present in more than one
   EP political group):
   
  Party of European Socialists (198 seats), leader Ms Pauline Green
                         (UK)
                         
      62 Labour (UK)
      
      40 Socialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (DE)
      
      22 Partido Socialista Obrero Espaqol (ES)
      
      16 Partido democratico della Sinistra (IT)
      
      15 Europe Solidaire (Parti Socialiste) (FR)
      
      10 Partido Socialista (PT)
      
      10 Panellinio Socialistiko Kinima (GR)
      
      8 Partij van de Arbeid (NL)
      
      3 Parti Socialiste (BE)
      
      3 Socialdemokratict (DK)
      
      3 Socialistische Partij (BE)
      
      2 LSAP - d'Sozialisten (LU)
      
      2 Partito socialista italiano-Alleanza democratica (IT)
      
      1 Labour Party (IE)
      
      1 Social Democratic and Labour Party (UK)
      
  European People's Party (157 seats),leader Mr Wilfried Martens (BE)
                         
      39 Christlich-Demokratische Union (DE)
      
      28 Partido Popular (ES)
      
      18 Conservative and Unionist Party (UK)
      
      13 Union pour la Dimocratie Frangaise/Rassemblement pour la
      Ripublique* (FR)
      
      10 Christendemocratisch Appel (NL)
      
      9 Nea Demokratia (GR)
      
      8 Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern (DE)
      
      8 Partito popolare italiano (IT)
      
      4 Christelijke Volkspartij (BE)
      
      4 Fine Gael (IE)
      
      3 Konservative Folkeparti (DK)
      
      3 Patto Segni (IT)
      
      2 Chrkslich-Sozial Vollekspartei (LU)
      
      2 Coalicisn Nacionalista (ES)
      
      2 Parti Social-Chritien (BE)
      
      1 Christlich Soziale Partei (BE)
      
      1 Partido Social Democrata* (PT)
      
      1 S|dtiroler Volkspartei (IT)
      
      1 Ulster Unionist Party (UK)
      
  European Liberal, Democratic and Reformist Group (43 seats), leader
                         Mr Gijs de Vries (NL)
                         
      8 Partido Social Democrata* (PT)
      
      6 Lega Nord (IT)
      
      6 Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (NL)
      
      4 Democraten '66 (NL)
      
      4 Venstre (DK)
      
      3 Parti Riformateur Libiral/Front Dimocratique des Francophones
      (BE)
      
      3 Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (BE)


      
      2 Convergencia y Unio* (ES)
      
      2 Liberal Democrats (UK)
      
      1 Demokratesch Partei (LU)
      
      1 Independents (IE)
      
      1 Partito reppublicano italiano (IT)
      
      1 Radikale Venstre (DK)
      
      1 Union pour la Dimocratie Frangaise/Rassemblement pour la
      Ripublique* (FR)
      
  Confederal Alliance of the European Left (28 seats),leader Mr
                         Alfonso Puerta Gutierrez (ES)
                         
      9 Izquierda Unida (ES)
      
      7 Parti Communiste (FR)
      
      5 Rifondazione comunista (IT)
      
      3 Coligagao Democratica Unitaria (PT)
      
      2 Kommounistiko Komma Elladas (GR)
      
      2 Synaspismos tis Aristeras kai tis Proodou (GR)
      
  Forza Europa (27 seats), leader Mr Giancarlo Ligabue (I)
                         
      27 Forza Italia (IT)
      
  European Democratic Alliance (26 seats), leader Mr Jean-Claude Pasty
                         (FR)
                         
      14 Union pour la Dimocratie Frangaise/Rassemblement pour la
      Ripublique* (FR)
      
      7 Fianna Fail (IE)
      
      3 Centro Democratico Social/Partido Popular (PT)
      
      2 Politiki Anixi (GR)
      
  The Greens in the EP (23 seats), leaders Ms Claudia Roth (DE) & Mr
                         Alexander Langer (IT)
                         
      12 B|ndnis 90/Die Gr|nen (DE)
      
      3 Federazione dei Verdi (IT)
      
      2 Green Party (IE)
      
      1 Agalev (BE)
      
      1 Dii Gring GLEI-GAP (LU)
      
      1 Ecolo (BE)
      
      1 Groen Links (NL)
      
      1 La Rete-Movimento democratico (IT)
      
      1 Socialistik Folkeparti (DK)
      
  European Radical Alliance (19 seats), leader Ms Catherine Lalumihre
                         
      13 Energie Radicale (FR)
      
      2 Panella-Riformatori (IT)
      
      2 Scottish National Party (UK)
      
      1 Convergencia y Unio* (ES)
      
      1 Volksunie/Vlaamse Vrije Democraten (BE)
      
  Europe of the Nation States (19 seats), leader Mr Jimmy Goldsmith
                         (FR)
                         
      13 Majoriti pour l'autre Europe (FR)
      
      2 Folkebevfgelsen mod EF (DK)
      
      2 Junibevfgelsen (DK)
      
      2 Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij/ Gereformeerd Politiek
      Verbond/ Reformatorisch-Politieke Federatie (NL)
      
  27 Independent members (`non-inscrits')
                         
      11 Alleanza nazionale (IT)
      
      11 Front National (FR)
      
      2 Vlaams Blok (BE)
      
      1 Democratic Unionist Party (UK)
      
      1 Front National (BE)
      
      1 Partito socialista democratico italiano (IT)
      
  B. POWERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
  
   The powers of the European Parliament are very complicated and vary
   considerably with the policy area under consideration. In all
   respects it is significantly lacking in formal powers compared with
   the position of national parliaments in functioning de mocracies.
   
   In some policy areas and procedures, the European Parliament has
   the right to amend or reject Commission proposals before the
   Council takes the final decision. There are two weaknesses to this
   power, which make the EP much less powerful than its national
   counterparts:
   
      The Commission can freely reject EP amendments, without any
      sanction; unlike national governments which face a choice
      between accepting the will of parliament or resigning, when
      major questions are considered a matter of confidence.
      Therefore, the EP's `Right to Amendment' is in fact not much
      more than a `Right to Advise'. Also, the Commission's opinion of
      EP amendments is crucial to their adoption since the final
      decision in the Council can only depart from the Commission's
      final proposal by unanimous vote.
      
      Under the Co-operation and Assent Procedures, EP amendments and
      rejections are valid only if
      
      60% of votes are in favour and
      
      if the MEPs voting in favour constitute at least half of all
      MEPs.
      
   Especially the latter requirement makes it quite difficult to
   influence the political process, and personally I think that
   democratically perverse situations arise when an amendment is
   declared rejected even if 90% of votes are in favour of it, just
   because only 50% of MEPs have turned up for the vote. It would be
   better, in my view, to require a high quorum of MEPs turning up
   before a vote can take place; MEP votes are the only example I know
   where a quorum is applied to the result of the vote instead of to
   the vote itself. Please note that this paragraph has aroused
   considerable discussion whether this rule is undemocratic or not.
   Most people seem to disagree with me.
   
3. What is the Council of Ministers?

   The Council of Ministers (or simply Council) represents the member
   state governments. The Council is composed of member state
   ministers: depending on the matter under discussion, either the
   ones responsible for specific policy areas (environment, transport,
   treasury) or the foreign ministers for general affairs.
   
   In principle, the Council decides unanimously on major policy
   decisions as laid down in the treaty provisions. Some matters
   (often decisions filling in the details of earlier - unanimous -
   decisions on principle, eg Single Market provisions) are approved
   of by qualified majority votes. For this purpose, each member
   states' votes are weighted (less-than-proportionally to the number
   of inhabitants) and cast in a block:
   
      10 votes each for France, Germany, Italy, the UK
      
      8 votes for Spain
      
      5 votes each for Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal
      
      3 votes each for Denmark and the Republic of Ireland
      
      2 votes for Luxembourg
      
      Prospective members Austria and Sweden would each get 4 votes;
      Finland and Norway 3 each.
      
   A qualified majority decision is valid if 54 out of 76 votes are in
   favour of it (in other words: a 70% majority vote is required). In
   some cases the majority in favour must also include at least eight
   countries.
   
   Note: In April 1994, the UK tried to oppose an extension of the 70%
   rule to the prospective EU of 16 member states, arguing that the
   blocking minority should remain on 23 votes (out of 90) to retain a
   powerful blocking mechanism for minority states. Britain's
   arguments were not accepted, but it was agreed that a blocking
   minority of 23-26 votes would cause a proposal to be reconsidered
   and delayed for some time.
   
   As Andrew MacMullen[4] notes, "This should not be confused [but
   often was, especially in the British press, RS] with the so-called
   national veto arising out of the 1965 French inspired crisis and
   boycott and the amigu ous Luxembourg accords of 1966. This has
   allowed countries to claim the right to a veto where they consider
   their vital national interests are involved. There is no clear
   definition of what this involves since it is simply a flexiblee
   political instrument . A classic instance was the German government
   invocation in 1985 to block a 1% cut in cereal prices which German
   farmers found objectionable."
   
   And Nick Bernard[5] wrote in eunet.politics: "There are in fact two
   different issues: the question of the so-called veto properly
   speaking, which is a reference to the Luxembourg accords of 1966
   (and the UK understanding thereof) and the issue of the weighting
   of votes in Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) with enlargement of the
   EU. In the UK, politicians (on all sides) did little to clear this
   ambiguity. it often sounded as if they either did not have a clue
   as to what they were talking about or did have a clue but pretended
   not to. Nothing new here ( -:))"
   
   
   
4. What is the European Council?

   The European Council was formally established in 1974, building on
   the practice of holding Summits of EC Heads of Government, but its
   existence was only legally recognized in the Single European Act of
   1987. The European Council is a special meeting of the Council of
   Ministers, in which the representatives of the Member States are
   the political heads of government themselves (11 PMs and the
   President of France, plus his PM if in a situation of
   cohabitation). The Foreign Ministers and three members of the
   Commission, including its President, also participate. The European
   Council should not be confused with the Council of Europe,[6] which
   is a totally separate interntional organisation independent of the
   EU.
   
   The European Council convenes twice a year, in the last month of
   each member state's presidency of the Council.[7] In addition to
   some powers of its own (mainly institutional ones), in theory it
   has all the legal powers of the Council of Ministers. However, it
   does not normally operate in this mode. The heads of government
   prefer to meet relatively informally, without being tied to a
   bureaucratic agenda, but with plenty of photo-opportunities and
   press conferences. Its meetings and statements are often very
   important in providing political impetus or laying down guidelines
   in areas of prime importance to the EU, but it leaves the
   day-to-day legislative work to the ordinary Council meetings. The
   European Council also has the main responsibility for the Common
   Foreign and Security Policy.
   
   Note (from the booklet by Emile Nokl)[8]:Unlike the Council of
   Ministers, the European Council convenes in the absence of experts,
   senior civil servants or other supporting staff (except
   interpreters). This plays a major part in its political
   effectiveness [and puts a great burden on personal skills of the
   politicians present], but may often cause problems with subsequent
   implementation of its decisions.
   
5. Who is the President of the EU?

   The EU has no president; only its institutions have presidents.
   
  A. PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
  
    MEPs elect the President (or chair) of the European Parliament and
   his/her bureau from their midst, with a mandate of two and a half
   years. Subsequent EP presidents since the first direct elections
   were:
   
  1979-1982              Ms Simone Veil (LDR[9], France)
                         
  1982-1984              Mr Piet Dankert (PES[10], Netherlands)
                         
  1984-1987              Mr Pierre Pflimlin (EPP[11], France)
                         
  1987-1989              Sir Henry Plumb (Conservative, UK) [Tory MEPs
                         were in the former European Democrats group
                         during Lord Plumb's presidency; they were the
                         last party to leave this group in 1992, when
                         they joined the EPP[12] on a personal basis.]
                         
                         
  1989-1992              Mr Enrique Baron Crespo (PES[13], Spain)
                         
  1992-1994              Mr Egon Klepsch (EPP[14], Germany)
                         
  1994-1997              Mr Klaus Hdnsch (PES[15], Germany)
                         
  B. PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS AND THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL
  
   The Council has a rotating presidency, with each member state being
   chair for six months only. These are the presidencies of the latest
   and following years:
   
  1991                   Luxembourg, the Netherlands
                         
  1992                   Portugal, United Kingdom
                         
  1993                   Denmark, Belgium
                         
  1994                   Greece, Germany
                         
  1995                   France, Spain
                         
  1996                   Italy, Republic of Ireland
                         
  C. PRESIDENT (CHAIRMAN) OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
  
   The function of President (or chair) of the Commission has
   undoubtedly become much more important in the last ten years. This
   has much to do with the personal style of the man who has held the
   job for the last ten years, the French socialist Jacques Delors,
   and the extension of the EU's powers during his presidency. Mr.
   Delors predecessors were mainly considered top civil servants, but
   the political profile of the function has become much stronger.
   
   These are the Commission presidents since the 1967 merger[16]:
   
  1967-1970              Mr Jean Rey (Liberal, Belgium)
                         
  1970-1972              Mr Malfatti (Christian Democrat, Italy)
                         
  1973-1976              Mr Frangois Ortoli (Gaullist, France)
                         
  1977-1980              Mr Roy Jenkins (Socialist [now LibDem], UK)
                         
  1981-1984              Mr Gaston Thorn (Liberal, Luxembourg)
                         
  1985-1994              Mr Jacques Delors (Socialist, France)
                         
  1995-2000              Mr Jacques Santer (Christian Democrat,
                         Luxembourg)
                         
   The Commission president is chosen in consensus by the European
   Council[17], which has shown to be quite a difficult task to
   accomplish now that the function has become highly politicised. On
   July 15th, the European Council agreed upon the Luxembourg PM, Mr
   Jacques Santer, as the new Commission president. This followed the
   UK government veto on the Belgian PM, Mr Jean-Luc Dehaene.
   
   The EP approved Mr.Santer by a margin of only 22 votes on July
   21st. In the coming months, it is planning to organise hearings
   modelled on those in the US Senate before it will vote on the
   collective approval of the new Commission.
   
6. What is the European Court of Justice?

   The European Court of Justice can be compared to the supreme court
   of the European Union. It has the task of interpreting the Treaties
   or secondary EU legislation when disputes arise. [Note:This is a
   very important task, since final compromises reached within the
   Council are often deliberately fuzzy to reach any agreement at
   all.] It has no general jurisdiction over the courts and laws of
   the member states.
   
   The European Court of Justice consists of thirteen Judges (one from
   each member state and one at large) and six Advocates-General who
   assist the Court by making preliminary recommendations which are
   almost invariably followed.The Court's rulings are directly
   applicable in all member states concerned.
   
   The European Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, is not to be
   confused with the European Court of Human Rights based in
   Strasbourg, which is only competent for issues arising from the
   European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Personal
   Freedoms, and is recognised by all member states of the Council of
   Europe[18].
   
7. What is the Court of Auditors?

   The Court of Auditors checks whether the accounts of all EU
   institutions are in accordance with legislation and jurisdiction,
   and it can comment on EU institutions' financial management. It is
   intended as a safeguard against abuse of the financial arrangements
   involved in EU policies, including questions of improper
   expenditure, fraud, as well as waste and value for money. It has
   twelve members (one from each member state), supported by a
   permanent profess ional staff of some 335. Its resources are
   generally considered inadequate to carry out its important
   functions.
   
8. What is the Economic and Social Committee?

   The Economic and Social Committee consists of representatives of
   the major interest groups from different sectors of economic and
   social life, notably of industry, trade unions, farmers,
   transporters and other sectors affected directly by the EU's
   economic and social policies. They must be consulted for policies
   in several areas defined in the treaties; they can be consulted by
   the Council or the Commission in other areas as well. There is
   little evidence of the ESC playing a significant role in the policy
   process.
   
   The ESC has 186 members (MESCs):
   
      24 each from Germany, France, Italy and the UK
      
      21 MESCs from Spain
      
      12 each from Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal
      
      9 each from Denmark and the Republic of Ireland
      
      6 from Luxembourg
      
9. What is the Committee of Regions?

   The Committee of Regions is a new advisory body established by the


   Maastricht Treaty,[19] to take into account the views of regional
   and local government in European decision making. The advisory
   Committee of Regions is a compromise between the aspirations of
   powerful regions in federally organised member states (such as
   Germany, Spain and Belgium), which have long asked for direct
   influence on EU decision making, and the views of much more
   centralised member states (such as the UK, Denmark and the
   Netherlands) whose regional governments have only derived powers
   from a strong central government.
   
   The CoR has the same numeric composition as the ESC: totalling 186
   members (MCoRs). It is important to note that the MCoRs are
   appointed by their national governments, not directly by any
   regional authority.
   
10. What is the European Monetary Institute?

   The Maastricht Treaty[20] inlcudes provisions for the establishment
   of a Economic and Monetary Union by the end of this century. This
   was not the first try: attempts (to codify the objective) failed in
   1962, 1970 and 1978.
   
   The European Monetary Institute (based in Frankfurt) has the task
   of co-ordinating monetary policy of the central banks of the member
   states within the European System of Central Banks(ESCB), and to
   prepare the so-called third stage of Economic and Monetary Union,
   in which a single European currency will be introduced. This stage
   is intended to start in 1999. At the start of the third stage, the
   EMI will be renamed to European Central Bank (ECB). The director of
   the EMI is Mr Alexandre Lamfalussy (Belgium).
   ___________________________________
   
   Go to Table of Contents[21]
   
  Edited by Roland Siebelink.[22] Corrections and suggestions welcome.
                                                                      
   

*** References from this document ***
[orig] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html
[1] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#maastricht
[2] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#lauder
[3] http://www.echo.lu/dg13/en/dg13tasks.html
[4] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#andrew-macmullen
[5] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#nick-bernard
[6] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#coe
[7] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#councilpres
[8] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#emile-noel
[9] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#ldr
[10] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#pes
[11] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#epp
[12] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#epp
[13] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#pes
[14] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#epp
[15] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#pes
[16] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#merger
[17] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#eu-council
[18] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#coe
[19] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#maastricht
[20] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-a.html#maastricht
[21] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html
[22] mailto:rcsiebel@vub.ac.be

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        European Union Basics (FAQ): Where to find further information
   [IMAGE]
   
               D. WHERE TO FIND EU-RELATED INFORMATION
                                   
   
   ___________________________________
   
   New Internet users read this please: All information sources on the
   Internet are represented in Uniform Resource Locator (URL) format
   throughout this document. Although this may look incomprehensible
   to you at first, it is a very convenient standard way to describe
   almost anything you can get from the Internet in any possible way.
   If you have access to a WorldWideWeb client such as Mosaic, MacWeb,
   WinWeb, Lynx or NetScape, you may enter the URL directly (use the
   `Load URL' command or type the URL in the URL box and press Enter),
   or simply use a link if you are browsing through this document in
   your WorldWideWeb client.
   
   If you don't have access to the WorldWideWeb, you may still
   retrieve the URLs through electronic mail. To do this, send a
   message to <listserv@info.cern.ch> with the command
   send "<URL>"
   (without the <> characters, but with the double quotes) in the
   body. This works for all URLs under 5000 lines, though you may
   encounter problems with binary files. Using this service, you may
   follow the hyperlinks listed at the end of this document's text
   version as if you had a real WWW client. [You may have to try
   several times though, even if the server says it cannot retrieve
   the requested URL].
   
   Intermediate users:If you know how to use gopher and/or anonymous
   FTP, you may retrieve the URLs starting with "gopher://" resp.
   "ftp://" or "file://" at the host mentioned directly behind the
   "://" characters. Thus "ftp://info.cern.ch/pub/documents/text.txt"
   means anonymous ftp to host info.cern.ch, chdir to /pub/documents,
   file text.txt.
   
1. EU infosystems on the Internet

   Like most other European governmental institutions, EU institutions
   are only just beginning to connect themselves to the Internet. This
   seems due at least partly to a historical preference for ISO
   networking protocols (such as X.25, X.400) over IP protocols.
   
   The European Commission's Directorate-General XIII[1] has set up an
   experimental WorldWideWeb server, I'M Europe[2] as of September
   1994. It contains information related to the Information Market,
   especially the Commission's IMPACT programme, as well as a copy of
   the Maastricht Treaty on European Union.[3]
   
   ECHO
   DG-XIII also offer a telnet connection to their ECHO (European
   Commission Host Organisation) system. This infosystem contains some
   free databases, mostly related to research and development
   activities within the European Union. You will find virtually no
   information about the EU itself though. Some of ECHO's databases
   require subscription fees, but you can get a free access code for
   all public information. Information: ECHO help desk, tel.
   +352.3498.1200; fax +352.3498.1234.
   
   Try `telnet echo.lu[4]' and login as `echo' if you want to try.
   Alternatively, you may try the unofficial ECHO/WWW gateway[5] which
   offers access to some of ECHO's information without getting into a
   telnet session, such as Eurodicautom[6] (a glossary of mainly
   technical terms in all EU languages).
   
   No other EU institution offers any service on the Internet for now.
   
   
2. EU infosystems on other networks

   There are several other databases available for people logging in
   through the public access X.25 network, Videotex systems or through
   a simple PSTN connection (modem connection via the Public Service
   Telephone Network; obviouslylong-distance charges for most users).
   Every host has its own command language or structure; there is no
   universal interface.
   
   Most of these systems are not for free, and require previous
   registration. We will thus limit ourselves to very basic
   information about them.
   
  A. EUROPEAN COMMISSION INFOSYSTEMS
  
      In addition to the Internet connection, ECHO is also available
      via X.25, PSTN and (very limited) national videotex services.
      See above for telephone and fax numbers.
      
      Eurobases is available via X.25 and PSTN. It contains several
      interesting databases, among which the CELEX database with EU
      legislation and jurisdiction. Most information is available in
      any of the nine EU languages. There is a per-kB-fee in addition
      to the ECU100 administration charges. Information:
      tel.+352.49928.2563, fax +352.407877.
      
      ARCADE is DG-XII[7]'s free two-way, interactive infosystem with
      specific information about the European Commission's R&D
      programmes. It is available in nine languages, via X.25, PSTN
      and national videotex services. Information: tel.+32.2.2950745,
      fax +32.2.2960626.
      
  B. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT INFOSYSTEMS
  
      The European Parliament offers news and general press
      information in its menu-based EPISTEL system, available via X.25
      and PSTN. Subscription is free for accredited journalists;
      others pay ECU 100/month. Information: tel.+32.2.2842128, fax
      +32.2.2305808.
      
      EPOQUE is a documentary database produced by the European
      Parliament. Its first objective is to make information easily
      accessible internally, but it is also intended to provide
      information on the EP activities to the outside world. Access is
      free, but requires previous registration; EPOQUE is available
      through PSTN in Luxembourg and through X.25. Information: fax
      +352.439317.
      
3. EU institutions' email addresses

  A. EUROPEAN COMMISSION EMAIL ADDRESSES
  
   Most people working at the European Commission should now be
   reachable though the Internet at the address
   <given_name_initial.surname@mhsg.cec.be>. The example of
   <J.Santer@mhsg.cec.be> is purely fictional because this address
   system applies only to the Commission's staff (civil servants),
   rather than the Commissioners (politicians). Indeed, rumour goes
   that the authors of the Bangemann Report used faxes (not e-mail) to
   exchange drafts and comments ;-)
   
   Some of the DG's have their own Internet domain as well, but their
   users should still be reachable under the scheme described above.
   Thanks to Alan Fraser Reekie[8] for providing this information.
   
  B. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT EMAIL ADDRESSES
  
   The European Parliament has a simple MX (mail exchange) record for
   (old-fashioned?) UUCP connections: ditbxl.eppe.be. Mail sent to
   <postmaster@eppe.be> or <root@ditbxl.eppe.be> usually arrives, but
   in my experience, nobody answers.
   
4. Other European political resources on the Internet

  A. WESTERN EUROPEAN UNION INFORMATION
  
   Several documents[9] from the Western European Union[10]'s
   parliamentary assembly are available.
   
  B. REFERENDUM CAMPAIGNS IN NORDIC COUNTRIES
  
   Both the Norwegian and the Finnish "NO" campaigns (against
   accession to the European Union, for the October resp. November
   referenda) have their own World Wide Web pages. The Norwegian "NO"
   page[11] is in the national language only (I can't tell whether it
   is Nynorsk or Bokmel, sorry), while the Finnish one is available in
   Finnish[12] and Swedish.[13] In contrast, in Sweden it is the
   "YES"-side of the campaign[14] that has a home page, in Swedish
   only.
   
  C. EUROPEAN UNION DOCUMENTS
  
   Apart from the Maastricht Treaty[15] mentioned above, basic EU
   treaties are not available. This is especially regretful since the
   Maastricht Treaty refers to them constantly. Just the EEC and
   Euratom Treaties[16] are available, but only for those with an
   understanding of Norwegian! The same site offers an hypertext
   version of the Maastricht Treaty in Norwegian[17] too. If the same
   resources are available in other (potential) EU languages, please
   let me know.
   
   There is some electronic documentation from DGXIII[18] available
   via the Universitdt Stuttgart:
   ftp://ftp.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/org/cec/
   
   The Bangemann Report[19] (or European Council report on specific
   measures to be taken by the European Community and the Members
   States for information infrastructures) is available on the
   WorldWideWeb.
   
  D. DISCUSSIONS ON EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND RELATED TOPICS
  
   Discussion about European Union politics takes place on Netnews ,
   in eunet.politics[20] and alt.politics.ec[21]. Neither of these
   groups are carried by all sites, since none of them is in the
   official Usenet feed. Most regulars in the discussions try to post
   all articles both to eunet.politics and alt.politics.ec, so that
   reading one of the two groups should be sufficient. Those of you
   who can't post to the groups directly can use the mail-to-news
   gateway at the Demon site: simply send your message to
   <newsgroup@news.demon.co.uk>, eg
   eunet.politics@news.demon.co.uk[22]. This works for all newsgroups
   carried locally at the Demon site.
   
   There are two mailing lists concerned with European Union issues:
   
      The EU list discusses all issues pertaining to the European
      Union. To subscribe to EU, send a message to
      <listproc@knidos.cc.metu.edu.tr>[23] with the command `SUB EU
      <your name>' as the first line in the body of the mail, not the
      `Subject:' line. EU is maintained by Egemen Metin TURAN
      <metin@knidos.cc.metu.edu.tr>[24].
      
      EURO-LEX (All European Legal Information Exchange List) will
      allow the exchange of and mutual assistance with legal
      information research in all European countries.  Especially
      invited to participate in EURO-LEX are members of law faculties
      and law library staffs at European universities and other
      academic institutions. Experts in specialized legal fields are
      as welcome as "allrounders" in legal documentation and
      information. To subscribe to Euro-Lex, send a message to
      <listserv@vm.gmd.de>[25] with the command `sub euro-lex <your
      name>' as the first line in the body of the mail, not the
      `Subject:' line. Euro-Lex is maintained by Renate Weidinger)
      <bbweidin@dnkurz1.bitnet>[26]
      
  E. MISCELLANEOUS RESOURCES
  
   Jonathan Slater[27] has created a graphical collection of European
   resources[28] in WebWorld, with references to i.a. a collection of
   European countries' (cultural) home pages,[29] and to the file you
   are reading now of course ;-)
   
   If you can wait a few minutes for retrieval, the Internet can also
   provide you with the current ECU rate[30]:
   gopher://gopher.uni-paderborn.de:4324/echofind info ECU
   
   An example of the `Europe of the Citizens' is provided by AEGEE
   (Association des Etats-Giniraux des Etudiants de l'Europe),[31] a
   paneuropean student organization.
   
   Finally, there is a WWW page giving access to several sizes of the
   European flag[32] in monochrome and colour graphical files. I think
   the blue should be darker though.
   
5. Representative Offices and Delegations

   The first version of this list included telephone and fax numbers
   of the EP's and EC's representative offices and delegations. I have
   excluded them from version 1.1 on, because I think it would be much
   more useful to have complete lists (including postal addresses)
   posted separately. As soon as I have the complete files ready (ie
   until my OCR setup is finally working), I will make it another
   periodical posting connected to this file. Up to then , please
   contact me if you need an address.
   ___________________________________
   
   Go to Table of Contents[33]
   
 Edited by Roland Siebelink.[34]  Corrections and suggestions welcome.
                                                                      
   

*** References from this document ***
[orig] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html
[1] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#dg13
[2] http://www.echo.lu/
[3] http://www.echo.lu/eudocs/en/maastricht/mt_top.html
[4] telnet://echo@echo.lu/
[5] http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/~felix/echo.html
[6] http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/~felix/eurodictautom.html
[7] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-c.html#dg12
[8] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#afreekie
[9] ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/doc/world/AWEU
[10] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-b.html#b6
[11] http://www.oslonett.no/nteu/index.html
[12] http://www.kaapeli.fi/~veu/
[13] http://www.kaapeli.fi/eu.html
[14] http://www.nada.kth.se/~f91-gal
[15] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-d.html#maastrichttext
[16] http://www.uio.no/tekst/roma-avtalen/1.INNLEDNI.html
[17] http://www.uio.no/tekst/maastricht/traktat.html
[18] ftp://ftp.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/org/cec/
[19] http://www.earn.net/EC/bangemann.html
[20] news:eunet.politics
[21] news:alt.politics.ec
[22] mailto:eunet.politics@ne ws.demon.co.uk
[23] mailto:listproc@knidos.cc.metu.edu.tr
[24] mailto:metin@KNIDOS.CC.METU.EDU.TR
[25] mailto:listserv@vm.gmd.de
[26] mailto:BBWEIDIN@DKNKURZ1.bitnet
[27] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#jslater
[28] http://sailfish.peregrine.com/wb/ww/m(80,92,0,0)
[29] http://s700.uminho.pt/cult-europ.html
[30] gopher://gopher.uni-paderborn.de:4324/echofind info ECU
[31] http://www.uni-konstanz.de/studis/aegee/
[32] http://www.adfa.oz.au/CS/flg/col/none/xx-eur.html
[33] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html
[34] mailto:rcsiebel@vub.ac.be


--xxxSECTIONxxx
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

 
                                 European Union Basics (FAQ): About...
   [IMAGE]
   
               E. ABOUT THE EUROPEAN UNION BASICS (FAQ)
                                   
   
   ___________________________________
   
 1. Format of this document

   From version 1.1 of this document, the original version is in HTML
   and available on the web. The text version is a screen dump from
   the CERN Line Mode Browser[1]. Please appreciate that some accented
   characters will probably be lost (and falsely translated) in the
   process of posting this document to the different newsgroups,
   especially for those of you whose sites haven't converted to 8-bit
   character sets yet.
   
    If you have a WWW browser, you may prefer to look at the original
   file (see next paragraph).
   
2. Where to get the most recent version of this file

   The latest version of this document[2] is available in hypertext
   format at <http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html>. The text
   version of the file is available at the following gopherlink:
   
Type=0
Name=European Union Basics (FAQ) text version
Path=0/LocalProjects/CSMINC/extern/eubasics.txt Host=gopher.vub.ac.be
Port=70 URL:
gopher://gopher.vub.ac.be:70/00/LocalProjects/CSMINC/extern/eubasics.t
xt

   It is also posted monthtly to the EC mailing list and the


   newsgroups eunet.politics, alt.politics.ec, talk.politics.misc,
   alt.answers, news.answers. If you think other newsgroups should be
   included in this posting, don't hesitate to suggest this to the
   author.
   
   You can also retrieve the most recent version of this file in text
   format via anonymous FTP to rtfm.mit.edu [18.181.0.24], as file
   `basics' in the /pub/usenet/news.answers/european-union directory.
   Many mirror sites are available.
   
   If you do not have anonymous ftp access, you can access the MIT
   archives by mail server as well. Send an E-mail message to
   <mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu> with the command
   send usenet/news.answers/european-union/basics
    in the body.
   
   Alternatively, you may retrieve the file directly from the
   WorldWideWeb through email: send a message to
   <listserv@info.cern.ch> with the command
   send "http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html"
    in the body. This works for other URLs too, so you may follow the
   hyperlinks listed at the end of the text version as if you had a
   real WWW client.
   
3. Author, contributors and sources

   This list was edited by Roland Siebelink <rcsiebel@vub.ac.be>.
   Please contact me by e-mail if you have any questions, corrections,
   contributions or remarks about this list.
   
   Several people contributed to the information contained in this
   list, thus making it more complete, accurate and up-to-date. I
   would like to thank specifically:
   
      Malte Lewan[3] <cml@df.lth.se>
      
      Alan Fraser Reekie[4] <aree@dg13.cec.be>
      
      Nick Bernard[5] <bernn@essex.ac.uk>
      
      Jozef van Brabant[6] <Jozef_van_Brabant_at_UNHQ3@un.org>
      
      David Lauder[7] <ddl1@unix.york.ac.uk>
      
      Jonathan Slater[8]
      
      And finally, Andrew Macmullen[9] who helped me a lot in sending
      many minor corrections and additional i nformation.
      
   Andrew[10] also writes: "Most of the infomation contained here
   could be found in greater depth in basic text books on the EU.
   Three excellent up to date works (and all available in paperback
   editions) are:
   
      NUGENT (N.) 1994. The Government and Politics of the European
      Union. London, Macmillan.
      
      DINAN (D.) 1994. An Ever Closer Union? London, Macmillan.
      
      ARCHER (C.) 1994. Organizing Europe: the Institutions of
      Integration. Edward Arnold.
      
   The leading academic journal carrying excellent material on all
   aspects of the EU is, in spite of its rather out-dated title:
   Journal of  Common Studies (Blackwells, Oxford). This includes an
   invaluable annual supplement The European Union Annual Review of
   Activites."
   
   Some of the (paper) sources I used to find the answers on the
   questions in this list are:
   
      NOEL (E.) 1994. Working Together--The Institutions of the
      European Community.Luxembourg, Office for Official Publications
      of the European Communities, 66pp.
      
      STEIN (M.) & VON WITZLEBEN (A.), eds., 1994. Europe Info.
      Directory of important information sources in the European
      Union. Luxembourg, Office for Official Publications of the
      European Communities, 161p.
      
      The European Parliament Factsheets.
      
      The Treaties of Paris, Rome and Maastricht and the Single
      European Act.
      
      Various brochures published by the European Commission and the
      European Parliament.
      
   
   ___________________________________
   
   Go to Table of Contents[11]
   
  Edited by Roland Siebelink.[12] Corrections and suggestions welcome.
                                                                      
   

*** References from this document ***
[orig] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html
[1] http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/LineMode/Status.html
[2] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html
[3] mailto:cml@df.lth.se
[4] mailto:aree@dg13.cec.be
[5] mailto:bernn@essex.ac.uk
[6] mailto:Jozef_van_Brabant_at_UNHQ3@un.org
[7] mailto:ddl1@unix.york.ac.uk
[8] mailto:jhs335@ulst.ac.uk
[9] mailto: a.l.macmullen@durham.ac.uk
[10] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics-e.html#andrew-macmullen
[11] http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html
[12] mailto:rcsiebel@vub.ac.be



                                                                                                
