Frequently asked questions about the EU
What countries are in the European Union (EU)?
How important is the EU as a marketplace for member countries?
What is a Directive?
What is a derogation?
What is the Social Chapter?
When must we respond to EU statutory measures?
Who's who in the key institutions?
They are as follows:
- The big five - France, Germany, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom
- The Benelux group - Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg
- The Scandinavian group - Denmark, Sweden, Finland
- The smaller outlying states - Irish Republic, Portugal, Austria, Greece
- The new member states - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia
Others
- Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are EFTA countries which apply EU Directives. Switzerland adopts many EU measures and allows free movement of EU15 citizens.
- The Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Turkey all have economic ties with the EU
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The European Union is now the biggest marketplace for companies operating within the region. Exports to other EU countries account for over 75% of the total external trade of Luxembourg (89.5%), Slovakia (85.1%). Czech Republic (84.0%)Netherlands (78.9%), Poland (77.3%), Portugal (77.2%) and Belgium (76.3%), Moreover, EU countries now collectively generate 18% of all world exports - compared with 12.4% by the United States, 10.5% by China and 8.2% by Japan.
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This is an EU law that takes legal precedence over the laws of individual member states. All Directives must be voted into existence by the appropriate Council of Ministers after consultation with the European Parliament. Once adopted, they normally provide for a period of two or three years for introduction into the laws of member states. The final authority for interpreting Directives is the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This is not to be confused with the European Court of Human Rights (which is not an EU institution).
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This is a special provision in a Directive that allows it to be applied to particular groups of people or organisations in different ways. A derogation is not an exemption. It usually just permits greater flexibility in the application of the law to take into account special circumstances. For instance: although security workers are given a derogation in the Working Time Directive, an employer must still provide for compensatory time off to comply with the general working time limitations.
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This was originally article 118 of the 1958 Rome Treaty (Articles 137-140 of the Nice Treaty). This guaranteed that social justice would accompany the liberalisation of the European economy. It laid down provisions for improving standards in such areas as working conditions, employment, social security and trades union rights.
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A private sector employer is not obliged to introduce any changes until a Directive is introduced formally into national law. A public sector employer is, however, regarded as an 'emanation of the state' and should introduce changes as soon as a Directive has been passed by the Council of Ministers and has reached its deadline for incorporation into national legislation.
The one critical exception is the case of European Court of Justice (ECJ) rulings. The views of the 'Advocate General' do not have any real legal standing, but as soon as the court pronounces its judgement all those parties affected by it should respond as soon as practicable. This requirement is, of course, suspended if the case is referred back for a final ruling by a national court.
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EU Commission
President: José Manuel Barroso (Portugal)
Tel: +322 29 81800
Email: jose-manuel.barroso@ec.europa.eu
EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities: Vladimir
Spidla (Czech Republic)
Tel: +322 29 88530
Email: vladimir.spidla@ec.europa.eu
European Council
Each Presidency runs for six months and during 2008-2015 will be held in the following order:
2008: Slovenia - France
2009: Czech Republic - Sweden
2010: Spain - Belgium
2011: Hungary - Poland
2012: Denmark - Cyprus
2013: Ireland - Lithuania
2014: Greece - Italy
2015 Latvia - Luxembourg
Contacts should be via Mr J Solana, Secretary-General to the Council.
European Parliament
President of the EU Parliament: Hans-Gert Poettering (Germany)
Tel: +322 28 45769
Fax: +322 28 45769
Email: hans-gert.poettering@europarl.europa.eu
Chairman of parliamentary committee on employment and social affairs: Jan Andersson
Email: jan.andersson@europarl.europa.eu
The European Commission (directory)
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