Transcript Diapositiva 1

25 countries of the UE adopted the euro on 1 January 1999 with the purpose to integrate their
economies more effectively. Austria, Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Greece introduced the euro in cash form on 1 January 2002. other
countries will adopt it in the next few years. Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom have chosen to
remain outside the euro. All the members profit of : the elimination of the costs of the exchange
transaction; a better economic distribution. The euro is an international currency used by European
travelers to compare in an easy way the prices when they go abroad. The countries that adopted the
euro have seen disadvantages like: les control over their inflation; interest and exchange rates.
The Euro - banknotes
The first euro banknotes were introduced on 1st January 2002 and replaced twelve different sets of
banknotes in the previous national currencies. The European Central Bank is responsible for the overall
authorisation of euro banknote issues but the practical aspects of putting these notes into circulation is
carried out by the twelve national central banks of the euro area. There are seven different
denominations in the current euro banknote series, ranging from the €5 to the €500 note. The designs of
the notes are the same throughout the euro area and feature windows and gateways (on the front) and
bridges (on the reverse) from different periods in Europe's architectural history.
The Euro - coins
The first euro coins were introduced on 1st January 2002 and replaced twelve different sets of coins in
the previous national currencies. The Member States of the euro area issue their own euro coins,
although the volumes issued are subject to approval by the European Central Bank. Each euro coin has
a common European design on one side and an individual national design on the other. However, the
technical features of the coins (size, weight, metals used) are identical across all euro countries.
We take energy for granted. Fuel shortages and power cuts are rare, but timely, reminders that we rely on
energy for transport, for heating our homes in winter, cooling them in summer and running our factories, farms
and offices. But many energy resources are finite. In addition, energy use is often a source of pollution.
Sustainable development means using less fossil fuel more intelligently and developing alternatives.
Some 80% of the energy the EU consumes is from fossil fuels – oil, natural gas and coal. A significant and
increasing proportion of this comes from outside the EU. Dependence on imported oil and gas, which is currently
50%, could rise to 70% by 2030. It also needs to burn less fossil fuel in order to reverse global warming. The
way forward is a combination of energy savings through more efficient energy use, , alternative sources –
particularly renewables within the EU. One fifth of energy consumption could be saved by 2020 through changes
in consumer behaviour and use of energy-efficient technologies. That would cost some €60m of the EU’s annual
energy bill, and help meet international commitments to reverse climate change.
Long-term security of supply also means ensuring the EU is not over-dependent on a few countries for supplies,
or that dependence is compensated for by close cooperation, with countries such as Russia and with the
countries of the Gulf region.
The EU and 11 countries of southeast Europe in 2004 agreed to set up a single Energy Community across the
36 countries and an interim secretariat is already at work. Energy market rules will be the same across the
whole zone..
Caps on the amount of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) EU industry can spew into the atmosphere now apply
to industry. This will encourage more efficient energy use and above all cut pollution and keep the promises the
EU has made in the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and reversing global warming.
Another way in which the EU backs more efficient fuel use is by promoting the use of ‘co-generation’. Gas-fired
co-generation plants produce both electricity and heat, mainly in the form of steam. This maximises the use of
the gas and is also environmentally friendly because gas produces less CO2 than other fossil fuels.
Energy is also saved through energy performance standards for new buildings and those being renovated,
requiring boilers and air-conditioning to be inspected regularly and buildings to have energy certificates. In
future, there will be agreed standards for the eco-design of energy-using equipment, such as household
appliances.
More efficient transport is equally crucial: more people and freight should travel by rail, and better use should be
made of public and private transport. This means getting more kilometres to the litre, better traffic management
and better urban planning.
The customs union is a single trading area where all goods circulate freely, whether made within the EU
or imported from outside. A Swedish car can be dispatched to Hungary without paying any duty and
without any customs control. A Japanese car importer pays duty when the car first enters the EU, but
after that there is nothing more to pay and there are no more checks. The EU completed the customs
union in 1968. Customs checkpoints at borders between EU countries disappeared in 1993.
Customs officers ensure compliance with EU and international rules on protection of the environment
and of consumer health and safety. During environmental crises, they have been responsible for
tracking dioxin-contaminated or irradiated foodstuffs and ensuring they were returned to their country of
origin. Some goods, such as certainelectrical appliances, cannot be sold in the EU if they do not meet
certain standards. The easiest way of checking that imported goods comply is when they clear customs.
Customs officers make sure that endangered species are protected. That means checking trade in ivory,
protected animals, birds and plants. They also protect our cultural heritage by watching for smuggled art
treasures. They verify the legitimacy of exports of sensitive technology which could be used to make
nuclear or chemical weapons.
They are at the front line in tackling counterfeiting of goods as diverse as mobile phones and medicines,
and piracy of items such as CDs and software. Counterfeiting represents more than 5% of world trade
and the EU’s 150,000 customs officials seize 70% of all the counterfeit products seized worldwide. This
requires a keen eye for the difference between jeans or watches genuinely made by big-name fashion
houses and items that are merely copies. EU customs officials seized 100 million counterfeit items in
2003 with an estimated value of €1 billion.
Customs officers do a vital job in collecting statistics. They also make sure that anyone travelling with
large amounts of cash or its equivalent (such as bearer bonds or cheques) is entitled to do so and is not
laundering money or evading tax. Customs officers help fight illicit traffic in people, drugs, pornography
and firearms. They combat organised crime and support the work of the police and immigration
services.
The opportunities which the EU offers its citizens for living, studying and working in other countries make a
major contribution to cross-cultural understanding, personal development and the realisation of the EU’s full
economic potential. EU-funded educational, vocational and citizenship-building programmes help nearly 200
000 EU citizens each year take advantage of those opportunities. Measures to make mobility easier are
important for the individual and the economy.
There are a lot of interesting projects for the schools. They are:
-The Erasmus programme for students and teachers devotes nearly €200 million annually to grants for
students and teachers to spend time at more than 2 000 universities in 31 countries. Funding is available to
students, teachers and projects from the EU, Bulgaria, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Romania, Switzerland
and Turkey. More than 150 000 students and teachers took part in Erasmus programmes in 2004 and the
number is expected to double by 2011.
-A separate Erasmus Mundus programme open to students and academics from all over the world
promotes Masters courses involving consortia of least three European universities. Some 1 000 students and
academics benefit annually.
Other programmes include:
-Grundtvig for adult learners and their teachers. This aims to develop European teaching materials and
networks. By 2013, there should be 25 000 beneficiaries annually.
-Comenius for schools and their teachers. More than 10 000 schools benefit each year and by 2013 at least
one pupil in 20 should be taking part in Comenius.
-Lingua, which promotes linguistic diversity, better language tuition and lifelong opportunities to learn
languages. Lingua complements activities under the Commission's Language Action Plan and the EU goal
that everyone should have the opportunity to master two foreign languages.
Funding for the application of new technologies in education is available through the Minerva programme
and from a range of other sources which support the eLearning stream of the eEurope Action Plan.
eLearning encourages the use of computers, multimedia tools and the internet. An eTwinning programme for
schools is an offshoot of this.
The European Union has come a long way since the original six member states joined forces to create the
European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and the European Economic Community in 1957. The six
became nine in 1973, and had grown to 15 by 1995. In the meantime, the European Union (as it is now
known) had created a single market and a single currency and had expanded its economic and social
agenda to foreign and security policy as well.
The latest enlargement, from 15 to 25, is the biggest in Union history. It has its roots in the collapse of
communism, symbolised by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which offered an unexpected and
unprecedented opportunity to extend European integration into central and eastern Europe. One of the
Union’s first post-enlargement priorities is to raise the newcomers’ living standards, which are all below the
EU average. The ten newcomers are: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, joined formally on 1 May 2004, the culmination of a long process of
preparation and negotiation.
The economic impact of enlargement will be significant as a bigger and more integrated market boosts
economic growth for new and old members alike. The newcomers stand to benefit from investments from
firms based in western Europe and from access to EU funding for their regional and social development.
Prior to joining, the new members had to adopt the so-called acquis communautaire which meant applying
80 000 pages of EU law, making their bureaucratic and administrative structures more efficient,
strengthening judicial systems and tightening security at their eastern borders. These now become the
external borders of the 25-nation Union. Secure external frontiers are a necessary precondition for
maintaining open internal frontiers within the EU. The Union is providing considerable assistance, both
material and in terms of technical support and advice, to bring border controls in the new member states up
to EU standards.
Only Bulgaria and Romania, two candidate countries which belonged to the second wave of negotiations of
February 2000 alongside Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia, were unable to accede in 2004 because they
were not ready. As the EU begins the task of assimilating 10 new members, the deadline for the next
enlargement is already approaching. Bulgaria and Romania, having completed negotiations, signed their
Treaty of accession on 25 April 2005. They should normally join the Union on 1 January 2007.
Two other candidate countries, Turkey and Croatia, are due to open their membership negotiations in 2005.
Key EU objectives include increasing research spending by well over 50% in real terms by 2010,
thus bringing it to 3% of GDP, and increasing the private sector share of total expenditure to 67% in
2010 (from 56% in 1999). These increases and the creation of a European Research Area (ERA)
will help the EU catch up with the US and Japan. The idea of the ERA is to replace loose
cooperation between researchers and research organisations with research programmes integrated
across borders and across disciplines.
Funding for research
The European Commission has a budget of some €20 billion for 2002-2006 for building a European
Research Area under its Sixth Framework Programme (known as FP6). This is 6% of all public
support for civilian research expenditure in the EU.
The objective is to build EU-wide platforms of excellence. Special attention is paid to research
programmes which will make the implementation of EU policies more effective in areas like
agriculture, fisheries, health and consumer protection, the environment, the single market, transport
and the information society.
.
There is also money for researcher training and mobility, development aid, creating European
scientific and technological infrastructures, identifying future science and technology policy priorities,
and activities of particular interest to small business. The EU is particularly keen to attract young
people and women into research careers. As needs evolve, so do the priorities. More money will be
spent in future on meeting new and more sophisticated security threats to EU citizens.
The Joint Research Centre
Well over 5% of the FP6 budget is destined for the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European
Union's own network of seven research units located across the EU. These provide EU
policymakers with sound scientific data on which to base decisions, particularly in the areas of food,
chemicals and health; environment and sustainable development; and nuclear safety and
safeguards. The JRC also has expertise in technical forecasting, reference materials and
measurements, and protection of the public from economic and technological risk.
In addition, the Innovation 2010 programme of the European Investment Bank (the EU's long-term
lending arm) has some €6.5 billion annually to lend or invest as venture capital for technology
projects.
We think that when the UE adopted the euro we
took an important step because we could reinforce
the relations with other countries. When we see this
money we ask ourselves: how can a small coin
unite a lot of countries? we also think that the euro
is very similar to us: his aspect changes from
country to country, but his value is always the
same. In fact we have different cultures, languages,
traditions, but we are all equal, with feelings and
emotions.
We think that we can reduce the energy, through
its efficient use and alternative sources. In this way
we can stop a lot of problems for the environment
and we can build a better world without pollution.
We think that now customs are almost inexistent,
goods circulate without any problems. When we
travel in the Countries of the EU we haven’t got to
stop to be checked, nobody enters our cars to see
if we transport drugs. We think that it is an
advantage because we can travel freely but also a
disadvantage because drugs can pass without any
problems..
We think that it is important for everyone to have
the opportunity to master two foreign languages.
Many of these programmes are open to people of
all ages and these projects are useful to allow
everybody to meet people of different Countries,
with a different culture, different traditions and we
think that it is important to know the customs of
other people in the EU besides their languages.
It is very important that the UE continuing its
enlargement because we are living the longest
peace time of our continent.
Personally we think that the coming of the Turkey is
an important step for the enlargement of the
Europe because with this event we’ll be able to
increase the cultural exchanges between some
different countries.
We think that whit the other countries of the EU we
can have a lot of great results. We couldn’t have
them if we were alone. There are a lot of
advantages because working together means
having good results in a very short time.
Students: Rosaria Notarangelo, Michela Caporusso, Mario Ciavolella,
,
Angela Di Massa, Sara Coletti