The EU emissions trading system is a cornerstone of EU climate policy and is cutting emissions from industry, power plants and aviation within Europe cost-effectively. All EU citizens have the right and freedom to choose in which EU country they want to study, work or retire. They provide opinions on proposed legislative acts. On the Have your Say web portal, citizens can subscribe to be notified by email when new initiatives are added on topics that they are interested in or to follow developments regarding individual initiatives. On 31 January 2020 the United Kingdom left the European Union. The principle of equality between women and men underpins all European policies and is the basis for European integration. In general, decisions are made by consensus, but votes can also take place. More powers have been given to the directly elected European Parliament, while national parliaments play a greater role, working alongside the European institutions. In areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, i.e. On receipt of the proposal the process proceeds as follows. Its goals are to foster a dynamic yet sustainable fishing industry, including the conservation of resources and protection of the marine environment, while ensuring fair standards of living for fishing communities. In July 2019, the European Council elected Charles Michel as its President for the period from 1 December 2019 to 31 May 2022. The EUâs energy policies aim to ensure a secure, competitive and affordable supply of energy while meeting its climate targets. the Eastern Partnership: a joint initiative to deepen and strengthen relations between the EU and six. The EUâs policy on sport is now mainly carried out through the Erasmus+ programme. The European Commission has delivered most of the legislative proposals it announced in its 2015 digital single market strategy. Most legal acts are adopted following the ordinary legislative procedure during the first or second reading. In 2016 around â¬61 billion (some 38% of the EU budget) was invested in supporting farmers to produce food in a sustainable way, while also promoting growth in the rural economy and a living countryside. As the executive body, the commission is most responsible for the day-to-day operations of the EU.The commission is Once the Commission has finalised a legislative proposal and submitted it to the European Parliament and the Council, citizens have another opportunity to comment on it. 90% of future global growth is forecast to come from outside Europeâs borders and a third of our national income depends on trade. The result was the European Economic Community (EEC), created in 1958, and initially increasing economic cooperation between six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Since it was founded in 1957 the EU has grown from six countries to 27. A minimum number of signatories is required in each of those seven Member States. Petitions are examined by Parliamentâs Committee on Petitions, which makes a decision on their admissibility and is responsible for dealing with them. promoting economic growth and job creation; ensuring the free flow of goods, services and capital around the EU in the single market; making sure businesses in one country do not have an unfair advantage over competitors in another; ensuring taxes do not discriminate against consumers, workers or businesses from other EU countries. Tomic is a deputy in Slovenia's National Assembly, best known as a TV presenter and actress. Each Commissioner is assigned responsibility for specific policy areas by the President. The Commission handles trade negotiations transparently, systematically publishing negotiating texts, reports of negotiating rounds and explanatory documents, and reports regularly to the European Parliament and the Member States. Thanks to the abolition of border controls between EU countries, people can travel freely throughout most of the continent. Human rights are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In a direct vote on 23-26 May, citizens in the EU member states elected MEPs to form the new Parliament. Since then, 22 other members joined and a huge single market (also known as the 'internal' market) has been created and continues to develop towards its full potential. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020. In addition to the basic objectives of ensuring secure energy supplies across the EU at reasonable prices for everyone, there is a growing need to facilitate the shift from a fossil-based economy towards a carbon-neutral system â the so-called clean energy transition. The proposals are a realistic response to an exceptionally challenging context: technological and demographic change, migration, climate change and scarce resources, unemployment and security threats are compounded by geopolitical instability. The EU is working to increase the rate of returns to their home country of irregular migrants with no right to stay in the EU. European funding has supported Britain for decades. This policy includes the following actions aimed at dealing with the crisis. The EU Open Data Portal (http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en) provides access to datasets from the EU. The EUâs transport policy helps keep the European economy moving by developing a modern infrastructure network that makes journeys quicker and safer, all while promoting sustainable and digital solutions. It enables most goods, services, money and people to move freely. 2.2 What do we produce in the EU? In bringing other countries into the EU, one of the aims is to deepen the solidarity between the people of Europe and increase their prosperity and opportunities while respecting and preserving diversity. There is not as yet a fully integrated EU single market for consumer financial services, which still operate largely on a national basis. In 2018 there were 16 ongoing civilian missions and military operations on three continents. The follow-up on security and defence has been particularly swift, with the adoption of a wide-ranging EU security and defence package in 2016 to see Europe take more responsibility for these areas. Hundreds of technical, legal and bureaucratic barriers to free trade and free movement between EU Member States have been removed to make things flow more easily within the single market. The EU also ensures animal health and welfare in the agri-food chain. Countries can only become a member of the EU if they fulfil the conditions for accession. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control assesses emerging threats so the EU and national health authorities can respond rapidly. The first section explains in brief what the EU is. The basic principles of the EUâs food safety policy are defined in the EUâs general food law, which ensures a high level of protection for peopleâs health and consumer interests, while ensuring the single market works efficiently. This is part of the capital markets unionâs efforts to connect finance with the specific needs of the European economy to the benefit of the planet and our society. EU-wide action is essential to tackle the problem. In 2019, the EU reached a new agreement on trade with the Mercosur trading bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), signed a trade deal with Vietnam and saw its trade deal with Japan enter into force. Rethinking productsâ life cycles will help to manage precious resources more sustainably, minimise waste and make Europe more resilient as regards the supply of raw materials. Close coordination between tax administrations also helps to prevent companies from exploiting loopholes between different countriesâ systems with the aim of reducing the amount of taxes they pay. This is why research and innovation is supported at EU level, in particular through the Horizon 2020 programme. Horizon 2020 is the biggest ever EU research and innovation programme, investing â¬77 billion of funding over 7 years (2014-2020), in addition to the other public and private investment that this money attracts. For every Syrian returned to Turkey from the Greek islands after an irregular crossing, the EU will take in a Syrian from Turkey who has not sought to make this journey in an irregular way. As the worldâs population continues to grow, the EU is playing a leading role in international efforts to promote sustainable development. The UK had free ports until 2012. The seas and oceans provide us not only with food, jobs, transport and recreation, but also â thanks to research and technological progress â pharmaceuticals, minerals and sources of renewable energy. And to ensure patients get the best treatment, all medicines in the EU must be approved at national or EU level (through the European Medicines Agency) before going on the market. Do you employ any EU citizens, in the UK or in the EU, or do you plan to? Whenever significant outbreaks of animal disease or food poisoning affect consumers, EU authorities can follow the movement of food products via the TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System) electronic system. By building a single market for aviation and advancing on the Single European Sky initiative, flying continues to become easier and cheaper. The recent deals with Japan, Mexico and the Mercosur bloc are the first trade agreements to include a commitment to the Paris climate agreement. indirectly through national courts, which may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice; directly before the General Court, if a decision by an EU institution has affected them directly and individually. The New European Agenda for Culture contains concrete actions to harness the full potential of culture. This procedure ensures full accountability and transparency, and when granted the discharge leads to the formal closure of the accounts for a given year. The European Defence Fund launched in 2017 coordinates, supplements and amplifies national investments in defence so as to increase outputs and develop defence technology and equipment to meet current and future security needs. A big part of the initial bill was the UK's remaining EU budget contributions, covering the time up until the end of 2020, when things have largely stayed the same. Law and justice are upheld by an independent judiciary. Various institutions take part in the EUâs decision-making process, with the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission at the forefront. A customs union means that the countries involved apply the same tariffs to goods imported into their territory from the rest of the world, and apply no tariffs internally. officially signs) a number of agreements between the European Union and non-EU countries, and also with international organisations. It fuels growth and jobs and makes everyday life easier for people and businesses. More than 3.2 million asylum seekers have applied for international protection in the EU since 2015, many of whom were fleeing from war and terror in Syria and other troubled countries. When the negotiations and accompanying reforms have been completed to the satisfaction of both sides the country can join the EU if all existing Member States agree. The common agricultural policy ensures a stable food supply, produced in a sustainable way at affordable prices for the EUâs over 446 million consumers. The current European Parliament President is David Sassoli. The EU also provides humanitarian aid to refugees and migrants in countries outside the EU, and supports work to address the root causes of irregular migration. This places the European Parliament and the Council on an equal footing, and the laws passed using this procedure are joint acts of the Parliament and the Council. European countries, trade unions and employers cooperate to improve vocational and educational training through the Copenhagen process. For example, in 2017 the European Commission fined Google â¬2.42 billion for abusing its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results and demoting those of competitors. According to the European Union's official website, the union's purpose is to promote peace, establish a unified economic and monetary system, promote inclusion and … The EU has set up a number of other initiatives to make it easier for people to study, train or work abroad. The capital markets union creates the necessary framework to mobilise capital in Europe and channel it to all companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, and infrastructure projects that need it to expand and create jobs. The EU's main economic engine is the single market. For example, phone calls in Europe are much cheaper, and airfares have fallen significantly and new routes have opened up. If you have ever wondered what exactly the European Union does and has done for you, here are just a few of the achievements so far. Industrial policy contributes to competitiveness by establishing appropriate framework conditions (such as smart legislation and skills development). By pooling resources at EU level, Member States can achieve more than they could by acting alone. The production of energy in the EU is spread across a range of different energy sources: solid fossil fuels, natural gas, crude oil, nuclear energy and renewable energy (such as hydro, wind and solar energy).. Renewable energy (34 % of total EU energy production) was the largest contributing source to energy production in the EU in 2018. It applies to the great majority of EU legislation, covering a wide range of fields such as consumer rights, environmental protection and transport. The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). To announce new legislative initiatives or planned evaluations of existing legislation, the European Commission publishes inception impact assessments or roadmaps. EU policies encourage the creation of new businesses and support innovative enterprises in their efforts to scale up. The banking union transferred bank supervision and resolution from national to EU level in the 19 Member States of the euro area. And it has become much easier to live, work and travel abroad in Europe. The European Central Bank is an independent institution of economic and monetary union to which all EU Member States belong. EU action on food safety protects the health of people, animals and plants at every step from farm to fork, while helping Europeâs food industry to thrive. National customs authorities carry out regular joint customs operations with OLAF (and other EU agencies) to stop smuggling and fraud in certain high-risk areas and on identified routes. What does the EU do? Q: Can the EU do without them? This partnership applies to all stages of programming, from design, through management and implementation, to monitoring and evaluation. It is the only EU institution that can propose legislation (often after a request from the European Parliament or the Council), though it is the Parliament and the Council that vote on it. The Council and the Member States examine the legislation in detail; most of this discussion happens in a working group of civil servants. It then monitors how these recommendations are implemented. The EU values are common to the EU countries in a society in which inclusion, tolerance, justice, solidarity and non-discrimination prevail. save and preserve life, prevent and alleviate human suffering and safeguard the integrity and dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises; provide rapid response to emergencies both inside and outside the EU; reduce disaster risks, for example by employing strategies aimed at mitigating the consequences of climate change; improve disaster preparedness, for instance by developing early warning systems; ensure a smooth transition when an emergency operation comes to an end, by linking up with development aid strategies; strengthen the overall resilience of populations, for example by investing in measures to help them prepare for future disasters; and. A name change from the European Economic Community to the European Union in 1993 reflected this. There are several types of legal acts, which are applied in different ways. These are the European Committee of the Regions, which consists of representatives of regional and local government, and the European Economic and Social Committee, comprising representatives of employeesâ and employersâ organisations and stakeholdersâ groups. Three years on, we still need to be told: what does the EU do for us? EU countries are responsible for their own education and training systems, but the EU helps them achieve quality education through the exchange of good practice, setting targets and benchmarks and providing funding and expertise. Using materials and resources for as long as possible, and designing products to be more durable and easier to reuse and recycle, are among the goals of the EUâs Circular Economy Action Plan. These agreements may cover broad areas such as trade, cooperation and development, or they may deal with specific subjects such as textiles, fisheries, science and technology, or transport. The transport single market is crucial for the whole EU economy. OLAF will also coordinate inspections by Member State anti-fraud agencies involved in the case. Its focus is on increasing the EUâs jobs and growth potential and on supporting climate action and the EUâs policies beyond its borders. The EU rules on social security coordination do not replace national systems, but protect the social security rights of people when they move within the EU (and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). More information on the outcome of the 2019 European Elections and the forming of the new Parliament can be found on the European Parliament's website. The tax laws of one Member State should not allow people or businesses to escape taxation in another. 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