European Union

European Union (EU). It is a political community of law born to promote and welcome the integration of the States of Europe , an objective that over time has been subordinated to the interests of large companies and corporations.

It is made up of twenty-seven European states, and its union was established with the entry into force of the “Treaty on the European Union” (TEU), on November 1 , 1993 . Since 1996 , aligned with the United States , they have maintained the so-called ” common position “, an openly interventionist policy that constitutes a major obstacle to the normalization of relations between the EU and Cuba .

Summary

[ disguise ]

• 1 History
  • 1 Background
  • 2 Getting started
  • 3 European Economic Community
• 2 Emergence of the EU
  • 1 Recent history
• 3 Relations with other countries
  • 1 Common position
• 4 Relations with Latin America
• 5 Human rights
• 6 Secret Prisons
• 7 Geography
  • 1 Climate
• 8 Demographics
• 9 Economy
  • 1 Economic and monetary union
• 10 Culture
  • 1 Languages
• 11 References
• 12 Fonts

History

Background

After the end of World War II , Europe was in devastation. On May 9 , 1950 , five years after the surrender of the Nazi regime, Robert Schuman , French Minister of Foreign Affairs, launched an appeal to West Germany and any European countries that wished to submit the management of their respective steel and coal production.

This fact, received unevenly within European governments, marks the beginning of European construction, being the first concrete official proposal for integration in Europe. ^[1] The fact is that by subjecting the two essential productions of the arms industry to a single authority, the countries that participated in this organization would find great difficulty if they wanted to start a war between them.

First steps

In the spring of 1951 , the treaty institutionalizing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was signed in Paris , specifying Schuman’s proposal. Germany , France , Italy , the Netherlands , Belgium and Luxembourg (known as “the six”), achieve an understanding that favors the exchange of raw materials necessary in the steel industry, thus accelerating the economic dynamics, in order to provide to Europe of autonomous production capacity. The treaty expired in 2002 , ^[2] being already obsolete after the merger of the executive and legislative bodies within the European Community, which acquired legal personality and also thanks to the single European act of 1986 .

In May 1952 , already in the middle of the Cold War, a treaty was signed in Paris establishing the European Defense Community (CED), which allowed the arming of West Germany within the framework of a European army. Five ECSC members ratified the treaty, but in August 1954 , French parliamentarians rejected it.

The old Brussels treaty of 1948 is modified to create the Western European Union (WEU), which will be the only European organization in charge of defense and security until the entry into force of the Amsterdam treaty in 1999 . Although it reinforced the old treaty, the WEU was only a symbolic entity with no real power or cooperation vis-à-vis NATO . Its main role was linked to the development of the nuclear forces of France and the United Kingdom , mainly after the conflict in the Suez Canal and during the decolonization conflicts, ensuring the neutrality of other European countries.

European Economic Community

A boost of greater importance came in 1957 with the signing of the Rome Treaties . ^[2] The six decide to advance cooperation in the economic, political and social domains. The goal set was to achieve a “common market” that would allow the free movement of people, goods and capital. The European Economic Community (EEC) is the international entity, of a supranational type, endowed with an autonomous financing capacity institutionalized by this treaty. This document formed a third community of indefinite duration, the Euratom.

Emergence of the EU

In 1965, a treaty was signed that merged the executives of the three European communities (when they already had common institutions in matters of justice) through the creation of the European Commission (EC) and the European Council (EC). ^[2]

The single European act signed in February 1986 came into application in July 1987 . ^[2] Its mission was to revitalize the European construction, establishing the consolidation of the internal market in 1993 and also allowing the free circulation of capital and services. By this treaty, community powers are expanded to the domains of research and technological development, environment and social policy. The single act also establishes the existence of the European Council, which brings together the heads of state and government and promotes a common initiative in foreign policy (European political cooperation) as well as cooperation in security matters.

The Maastricht Treaty, signed in February 1992 , came into force in 1993 . ^[2] Under this agreement, the European Union continues the common market and the EEC, transformed into a European community, marks a new stage in the union process.

The treaty creates European citizenship and allows free movement and residence in the countries of the community, as well as the right to vote and be elected in a state of residence for European or municipal elections. The creation of a single European currency, the euro, was decided, which would enter circulation in 2002 under the control of the European central bank.

Recent history

In 1999 , the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force , affirming the principles of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights, explicitly including the principle of continued development. Two years later, the Treaty of Nice was signed , which would come into force in 2003 . ^[2] Meanwhile, in 2002 , the ECSC, created for 50 years, was extinguished and its scope of action was included in that of the European community.

The 2004 enlargement to 10 new members ( Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , Poland , Czech Republic , Hungary , Slovakia , Slovenia , Malta and Cyprus ) was the largest ever enlargement of the EU. Later, in 2007 , two new pa

Relations with other countries

common position

The Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla , has pointed out on countless occasions that it is in the interest of European countries to get out of the “trap” of the “common position” with which they have tried to pressure Cuba since 1996 .

In December 1996, the Spanish government of José María Aznar promoted the adoption by the EU of what is known as the “Common Position on Cuba.” Aznar’s initiative prospered.

Shortly after, the Council of the EU approved the common position and, later, the understanding of the European Union with the United States on the Helms-Burton Act , in which European governments agreed to comply with the conditions imposed by the United States, in exchange of the North American promise not to sanction European companies.

The “common position” was, essentially, a European policy of imposing conditions: Cuba must first make concessions and only then can it receive help from the EU. This intolerant imposition is based exclusively on political criteria and hides, under the campaign for alleged violations of human rights and the lack of political freedoms, the inability to accept the existence of the socialist system in Cuba.

On March 25 , 2003 , a note of protest was presented by the presidency of the European Union, for the sentences imposed in Cuban courts on a group of supposed “dissidents”, in reality employed at the service of the United States administration as demonstrated. with overwhelming evidence the government of Cuba .

On April 14 , at the proposal of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a new declaration from the Union’s Foreign Relations Council was presented to the EU, in which the 75 imprisoned Cubans were treated as “political prisoners” and threatened. Cuba with the impact of “plans to increase cooperation.”

On June 5 , in an unusual manner in diplomatic practice, the European Union published a statement entitled “Reassessment of the EU Common Position on Cuba – Council Conclusions-“, in which, in addition to announcing punitive measures against Cuba , informed the international community that he had addressed a letter to the Cuban authorities. The letter arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hours after its public announcement.

On June 11 , the Cuban Foreign Ministry responded indignantly that it considered what was being done a hypocritical and opportunistic action by the European Union.

In summary, the EU subscribed to four measures to tighten the “Common Position”:

• Limit high-level bilateral government visits.
• Reduce the level of participation of member states in cultural events.
• Invite Cuban dissidents to celebrations of national holidays.
• Re-examine the common position of the European Union on Cuba.

On June 17 , 2010 , the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, declared that a new framework of relations between the European Union and Cuba is possible that overcomes the “obsolete” Common Position as long as it is negotiated on equality and without any type of pressure and stressed that more and more European countries agree with the current Spanish government in demanding the abandonment of the policy adopted in 1996 . Likewise, he denounced the double standards of Europeans by asking that human rights be respected in Cuba and not doing the same in European territory.

On February 24, 2011 , as a continuation of the political dialogue established with the Cuban government, Catherine Ashton , High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Parrilla met . During the meeting, Cuban willingness to move towards the establishment of a mutually acceptable bilateral framework of relations was expressed.

Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla reiterated that the normalization of relations between the parties would depend on the elimination by the European Union of existing obstacles and the verification in the facts of its willingness to advance this objective on a reciprocal basis, with an unconditional and non-discriminatory, full respect for the sovereign equality of the States, the legal framework and institutional order of the parties, and total adherence to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of the States ^[3] .

Fidel Castro has already said it :

Neither Cuba needs Europe , nor should Europe forgive Cuba for anything.

On December 6, 2016, the 28 countries of the European Union (EU) approved at the level of their ambassadors the signing of a political and cooperation agreement between that bloc and Cuba to normalize their relations. These decisions allowed the member states to follow the necessary steps to repeal the so-called “Common Position” and encourage better relations between the community bloc and Cuba ^[4] .

Relations with Latin America

In 1999 , the first European Union -Latin America and Caribbean summit took place in Rio de Janeiro . Renowned European leaders proposed the idea of ​​establishing a bi-regional strategic partnership. Curiously, Europe came from the (NATO) Summit in which, in the face of the so-called global threats, a new doctrine was adopted that treated Latin America and the Caribbean as “the Euro-Atlantic periphery.” ^[5]

In 2004 , at the European Union-Latin America and Caribbean summit in Guadalajara , there was no longer any hope for that dream of a strategic partnership. The global economic crisis was generated in developed countries, many of them European, and its effects are now being felt in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Latin immigrants are exploited and discriminated against in Europe. Trade and investment flows demonstrate that resources continue to be extracted in Latin America to finance the development of Europe.

A new look from Europe towards this region is necessary. They must get used to treating the countries of the area as equal partners, as a group of more than 500 million inhabitants who live in a region with enormous resources and potential. The young generations of Europeans must understand, to develop a new relationship with America , that this region is no longer the backyard of the United States , but independent and equally sovereign countries.

Human rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized: “freedom, peace and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family, in a world in which human beings, freed from fear and want, enjoy the freedom of word and belief”…No one may be arbitrarily detained, imprisoned or exiled….nor be subjected to arbitrary interference in his private, family, home or correspondence life: nor to attacks on his honor or reputation… .; In case of persecution, everyone has the right to seek asylum;….and the right to protection against unemployment.

The convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms establishes the prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; information, in the shortest possible time, on the reasons for an arrest, public non-interference in the right to respect for private and family life; the protection of reputation and the prohibition of discrimination…

However, the right to asylum was thrown overboard, derived from the pact with the United States in the “war against terrorism”; The European Commission is inept against racism and xenophobia. Jurists, historians and political scientists confirm that anti-terrorist measures negatively impacted fundamental human rights.

Great Britain , Spain , France , Germany , Italy , the Netherlands, Poland , Belgium , Greece , Cyprus and Hungary debate and approve anti-terrorist or immigration laws that increase the detention period to “suspects” and they are deported indiscriminately to their countries of origin. Even the UN special rapporteur against torture believes that “diplomatic protection is ineffective and called on all governments to observe the principles scrupulously.”

The problems of prisons in Europe are many, overcrowding and lack of hygiene, added to insufficient staff and insecurity, which includes sexual assaults, topics that are not touched on by the press except through alternative media.

These irregularities caused several hundred prison officials to demonstrate in 2008 in front of the Council of Ministers building in Brussels in protest against these anomalies, which also lead to a high suicide rate. Taking one’s own life in prison occurs mainly in the United Kingdom , Norway , France and Slovenia, the study states.

The intensification of the war against terrorism launched by Washington results in the limitation of civil rights in EU member states. For example: in Spain , where demonstrations for socio-economic demands can be prohibited because “they can be classified as a terrorist activity.” Or the proliferation of wiretapping services on telephones and computer networks without the need for a court order.

A law has recently been approved by several countries that contemplates penalties that can reach 15,000 euros or one year in prison for women who wear the Islamic veil.

At the beginning of March 2010, the court created by the philosopher Bertrand Russell and bearing his name met in Barcelona , ​​originally established to prosecute crimes committed in Viet Nam , then in Latin America or other unfortunate scenarios on the planet. On this occasion they ruled on the European Union, which they consider guilty of not influencing Israel to prevent it from undertaking the operation cast lead that between December 2008 and January 2009 caused the death of 1,412 Palestinians and devastated the scarce infrastructure of the Gaza Strip. Gaza .

This result makes it inevitable to assume that if the countries that today make up the European Union had had a common position between the pressures and criticisms regarding the Pinochet coup in Chile in the 1970s , or in relation to the rest of the dictatorships of the cone, American South, it is possible that those illegitimate, bloody, dehumanized processes would not have lasted so long.

With the honorable exception of countries like Olof Palme’s Sweden , the deputies of the parliament that brings together representatives of the community pact in ideological groups so concerned about what is correct, did not oppose the barbarism authorized by the United States with the force that these events required. in those countries. The recent coup d’état in Honduras is recent proof.

secret prisons

European agents have arrested or detained suspects and taken them into US custody without any judicial process. They were directly involved in illegal arrests, in one case helping US agents kidnap a suspect off the street in Italy before his extraordinary rendition to Egypt in 2005 .

In Europe there were secret prisons managed by the CIA , where detainees who were victims of enforced disappearance were held in conditions that amounted to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. They were held secretly and incommunicado in places throughout the country. world, including Europe.

Agents of European States took advantage of the illegal detention of some of the detained people to interrogate them, without doing anything to alert their families about their whereabouts or try to solve the illegal detention, which in itself already constitutes a violation of human rights. The investigations carried out have determined that, between 2003 and 2005 , in Europe there were secret prisons managed by the CIA, where detainees who were victims of forced disappearance were held in conditions that constituted torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Geography

Picture of

The territory of the EU consists of all the territories of its 27 Member States with some exceptions set out below. The territory of the EU is not the same as that of Europe, as parts of the continent are located outside the EU, such as Iceland, Switzerland , Norway , and Russia . Some parts of the Member States are not part of the EU, although they are part of the European continent (for example the Channel Islands and the Faroe Islands). Several overseas territories associated with Member States that are outside Europe geographically are also not part of the EU (e.g. Greenland , Aruba , the Netherlands Antilles , and all non-European territories associated with the United Kingdom ). Some overseas territories are part of the EU, even if they are not geographically part of Europe , such as the Azores, Canary Islands , Ceuta, French Guiana, Guadeloupe ,

Territorial organization of the European Union

Madeira, Martinique, Melilla, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Peter and Michelon and La Réunion. ^[6]

The combined surface area of ​​the EU Member States covers an area of ​​4,324,782 square kilometers. The landscape, climate, and economy of the EU are influenced by its coastlines, which are 69,342 kilometers long. The EU has the second longest coastline in the world after Canada . The combined Member States share land borders with 21 non-Member States for a total of 12,441 kilometres, the fifth longest border in the world. ^[7] [8]

In Europe the EU has borders with Norway , Russia , Belarus , Ukraine , Moldova , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , Andorra , Monaco , San Marino and with Vatican City . Also with Turkey , the Republic of Macedonia , Albania , Serbia and Croatia , although these five countries are in the process of integration into the European Union. Finally, it has borders with: Saint Martin in the Caribbean; Brazil and Suriname in South America and with Morocco in Africa .

Climate

Including the overseas territories of the Member States, the EU experiences most types of climate, from arctic to tropical, making weather averages for the EU as a whole meaningless. In practice, the majority of the population lives either in areas with a Mediterranean climate (southern Europe), a temperate oceanic climate ( Western Europe ), or a warm continental summer (Eastern Europe). ^[9]

Thus, there are four important climates in the EU: the Mediterranean climate, the maritime climate (west coast), the dry climate (mid-latitudes), and the humid continental climate. We also find, in northern regions, the boreal forest climate and the tundra climate.

Although much of the EU is located in northern latitudes, the seas surrounding the territory and temperate summers. In the Mediterranean the summer months are usually hot.

Demography

The total population of the European Union (EU) in 2009 is approximately 499,747,211 people. Citizenship of the Union depends on possession of the nationality of one of the Member States, in other words, whoever has the nationality of a Member State will be considered a citizen of the Union.

The number of inhabitants of the Union should increase substantially in the next decade, partly due to immigration but above all thanks to the enlargement process, which could accommodate the entry of Turkey and several states of the former Yugoslavia , thereby The total population of the Union will increase by more than 100 million inhabitants.

Economy

Euro coins and euro cents.

The European Union (EU) economy is the largest in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), surpassing the United States . Since according to IMF data for 2006, Europe’s (nominal) GDP is $13,926,873,000,000 (the American GDP is $13,228,391,000,000). Which makes the (nominal) GDP per capita of the EU, in 2006 , $29,899 (in the US it is $44,168).

economic and monetary union

The euro is the currency of the Eurozone or euro zone, made up in 2009 of sixteen of the 27 EU member states that share this single currency. Euro banknotes and coins were put into circulation on January 1 , 2002 , when 1 euro was exchanged for 0.9038 US dollars (USD). Other milestones for the European currency occurred in July 2002, when the euro surpassed parity with the dollar in the foreign exchange market, and in July 2008 when the euro reached its maximum value so far, when 1 euro was exchanged for 1 .5990 dollars.

Culture

The Treaty of the European Union or Treaty of Maastricht gave official recognition to the cultural dimension of European integration, by attributing certain powers (quite reduced) for cultural action to the European community, in article 128 (today 151) of the treaty. According to this, the European community must promote the cultures of the Member States, taking special care to preserve diversity, but also highlighting the “common cultural heritage.” Regarding culture, the European Commission has a commissioner who groups education, training, culture and youth into a single portfolio, but not multilingualism.

One of the most important cultural projects of the year is the designation of the European capital of culture. This is a title conferred by the European Commission and Parliament to one or two European cities, which for one year have the opportunity to show their cultural development and life. Some European cities have taken advantage of this designation to completely transform their cultural structures and become recognized internationally. When a city is named European capital of culture, all kinds of artistic manifestations develop there.

Languages

The European Union has, in all its institutions, 24 official and working languages. ^[10] However, in the European Commission, for example, the College of Commissioners negotiates on the basis of documents presented in German, Spanish, French and English.

In the member states, in addition to the 24 languages ​​indicated, dozens of other languages ​​are used, co-official only in part of the territory or unofficial. One of the key policies of the EU is to promote the learning by all citizens of at least two languages ​​apart from their mother tongue. The objective is not only to facilitate communication between citizens, but also to encourage greater tolerance towards others and respect for the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Union.

Various cooperation programs promote language learning and linguistic diversity through, for example, school exchanges, the development of new methods, or scholarships for language teachers. In some way, his motto “united in diversity” (Latin: «In varietate concordia») speaks of this. ^[eleven]