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European Union: Statement made at the 2nd Preparatory Committee of the Third UN WCDRR
An Official Statement made by His Excellency Peter Sorensen, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the UN in Geneva, at the 2nd Preparatory Committee of the Third UN World Conference.

By: UNISDR

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European Union: Statement made at the 2nd Preparatory Committee of the Third UN WCDRR - Video

The European Union (EU) comprises 28 member states, which are party to the founding treaties of the union and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of membership. Unlike the members of international organisations, the constituent states of the EU are placed under binding laws in exchange for representation within the common legislative and judicial institutions. They do however retain considerable autonomy, and must be unanimous for the union to adopt policies concerning defence and foreign affairs.[3]Subsidiarity is a founding principle of the union.

In 1957 six core states founded the EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community. The remaining states have acceded in subsequent enlargements. On 1 July 2013 Croatia became the newest member state of the EU. In order to accede, a state must fulfill the economic and political requirements known as the Copenhagen criteria, which require a candidate to have a democratic, free market government together with the corresponding freedoms and institutions, and respect for the rule of law. Enlargement of the Union is also contingent upon the consent of all existing members and the candidate's adoption of the existing body of EU law, known as the acquis communautaire.

There is disparity in the size, wealth and political system of member states, but all have equal rights. While in some areas majority voting takes place where larger states have more votes than smaller ones, smaller states have disproportional representation compared to their population. No member state has withdrawn or been suspended from the EU, though some dependent territories or semi-autonomous areas have left.

Enlargement is, and has been, a principal feature of the Union's political landscape. The EU's predecessors were founded by the "Inner Six", those countries willing to forge ahead with the Community while others remained skeptical. It was only a decade before the first countries changed their policy and attempted to join the Union, which led to the first skepticism of enlargement. French President Charles de Gaulle feared British membership would be an American Trojan horse and vetoed its application. It was only after de Gaulle left office and a 12-hour talk by British Prime Minister Edward Heath and French President Georges Pompidou took place that Britain's third application succeeded in 1970.[9][10][11]

Applying in 1969 were Britain, Ireland, Denmark and Norway. Norway, however, declined to accept the invitation to become a member when the electorate voted against it,[12][13] leaving just the UK, Ireland and Denmark to join.[9] But despite the setbacks, and the withdrawal of Greenland from Denmark's membership in 1985,[14] three more countries joined the Communities before the end of the Cold War.[9] In 1987, the geographical extent of the project was tested when Morocco applied, and was rejected as it was not considered a European country.[15]

1990 saw the Cold War drawing to a close, and East Germany was welcomed into the Community as part of a reunited Germany. Shortly after, the previously neutral countries of Austria, Finland and Sweden acceded to the new European Union,[9] though Switzerland, which applied in 2002, froze its application due to opposition from voters[16] while Norway, which had applied once more, had its voters reject membership again.[17] Meanwhile, the members of the former Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia were all starting to move towards EU membership. Ten of these joined in a "big bang" enlargement on 1 May 2004 symbolising the unification of East and Western Europe in the EU.[18] Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007.

2013 saw the latest member, Croatia, accede to the Union, and the EU has prioritised membership for the rest of the Balkans - namely Western Balkans. Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are all formal, acknowledged candidates. Turkish membership, pending since the 1980s, is a more contentious issue but it entered negotiations in 2004.[19] There are at present no plans to cease enlargement. According to the Copenhagen criteria, membership of the European Union is open to any European country that is a stable, free market liberal democracy that respects the rule of law and human rights. Furthermore, it has to be willing to accept all the obligations of membership, such as adopting all previously agreed law (the 170,000 pages of acquis communautaire) and switching to the euro.[20] In addition to enlargement by adding new countries, the EU can also expand by having territories of member states, which are outside the EU, integrate more closely (for example in respect to the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles) or by a territory of a member state which had previously seceded and then rejoined (see withdrawal below).

Each state has representation in the institutions of the European Union. Full membership gives the government of a member state a seat in the Council of the European Union and European Council. When decisions are not being taken by consensus, votes are weighted so that a country with a greater population has more votes within the Council than a smaller country (although not exact, smaller countries have more votes than their population would allow relative to the largest countries). The Presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates between each of the member states, allowing each state six months to help direct the agenda of the EU.[citation needed]

Similarly, each state is assigned seats in Parliament according to their population (again, with the smaller countries receiving more seats per inhabitant than the larger ones). The members of the European Parliament have been elected by universal suffrage since 1979 (before that, they were seconded from national parliaments).[citation needed]

The national governments appoint one member each to the European Commission (in accord with its president), the European Court of Justice (in accord with other members) and the Court of Auditors. Historically, larger member states were granted an extra Commissioner. However, as the body grew, this right has been removed and each state is represented equally. The six largest states are also granted an Advocates General in the Court of Justice. Finally, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank includes the governors of the national central banks (who may or may not be government appointed) of each euro area country.[citation needed]

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Member state of the European Union - Wikipedia, the free ...

In this article, we examine the European Union. We shall discuss the origins of the European Union, the formation of the international organization, mandate and functions of the IO, as well as debates and criticisms with regards to the organization. We shall also list various references with regards to the European Union

The European Union as we know it today first came to existence as the European Economic Community (EEC) . The idea behind the European Economic Community was for European states to work together on economic matters following the effects of World War II. The hope was that by increasing trade ties with one another, they would increase trade interdependence, which in turn would help move them away from conflict with one another. It is believed that French statesmen Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman are regarded as the architects of the principle that the best way to start the European bonding process was by developing economic ties (BBC, 2012). These ideas led to the Treaty of Paris in 1951 (BBC, 2012). Shortly after, the European Economic Community was formed in 1958, and was initially comprised of six states, which were Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, as well as the Netherlands (European Union, 2014b). The goal was to share sovereignty on a number of matters and issues, which would in turn make conflict increasingly unlikely. For example, the early agreements within the European Economic Community (EEC) focused on economic matters, and specific resources such as coal, steel production, as well as nuclear energy between the states (Archick, 2014).

However, throughout the decades, the European Union has expanded their influence and interdependence greatly. What began as a limited cooperative evolved to include additional issues such as a customs union; a single market in which goods, people, and capital move freely; a common trade policy; a common agricultural policy; many aspects of social and environmental policy; and a common currency (the euro) that is used by 18 member states (Archick, 2014: 1). It was in 1991 the that the European Union officiallyfollowed the European Community (BBC, 2012). Following the official formation of the European Union, the states within the IO began discussing issues related to citizenship. For example, from this point onwards, individuals from any member of the European Union could travel to any other EU state without restriction (BBC, 2012). And it was in this 1991 European Union Treaty at Maastricht that set European Union positions on issues of rights for workers, amongst other related topics (it should be noted that the United Kingdom did not agree to this Social Chapter within the Maastricht Treaty) (BBC, 2012).

In terms of currency, the majority of the 28 states are on the same currency, the Euro. Many did so in 1999. Greece, while a part of the Euro, did so in 2001. However, there are a few countries who are not on the Euro. Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom retained their currencies (BBC, 2012).

The initial criteria for jointing the European Union were laid out in the 1991 Maastricht Treaty.

There are currently 28 countries within the European Union. We have listed the European Union countries and the year they entered (European Union, 2014a) into the European Union below.

Austria (1995)

Belgium (1952)

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International Relations European Union

FRANKFURT: Nov 19 (Reuters) - The European Union's (EU) top insurance watchdog on Wednesday warned against giving insurers strong enticements to invest in particular asset classes, saying this would run counter to prudent supervision.

"We need to emphasise continually that undue incentives to buy any asset class should not be part of a risk-based, prudent regime," Gabriel Bernardino said in the text of a speech to a financial conference.

European politicians want insurers to put more of their 8.5 trillion euros ($10.6 trillion) in assets under management into investments that will boost the bloc's economy, which is in the doldrums.

Big insurers like Allianz, Axa and Generali have been looking for opportunities to make long term investments, such as in infrastructure or clean energy, that match their commitments to policy holders often decades in the future.

But insurers say European capital rules coming into force in 2016 make it too expensive for them to invest in these assets and are pushing for a better deal from regulators.

Insurers complain that infrastructure investments in the so-called Solvency II rules could face capital buffer charges of up to 70 per cent, while real estate investments are much lower, at around 25 per cent.

Bernardino, who is chairman of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority ( EIOPA), said insurers did have a role to play in fostering sustainable growth in Europe and they must not focus on the wrong argument.

"Solvency II stand-alone risk charges are not the appropriate measure because diversification benefits need to be taken into account," he said, adding that marginal capital requirements were a better test.

"If we base our analysis on the marginal return on regulatory capital, investments in high quality securitisations, infrastructure debt and private equity are, at least on a relative basis, quite attractive," he said.

(1 US dollar = 0.7987 euro)

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European Union insurance watchdog warns on "undue" investment incentives

KARACHI: Cash-strapped Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has got a rare boost as the European Union lifted a security ban prohibiting the flag-carrier from flying cargo to EU countries.

The EU had suspended PIA's cargo services to the EU in September because of non-compliance of regulatory security standards for foreign airlines.

"The EU has lifted the ban on PIA flying cargo to the EU bloc after we met their security requirements," a spokesman for the airlines today said.

"We have got clearance after installing dual view x-ray machines and explosive trace detectors to scan cargo booked on our flights," he added.

The EU tightened security controls on cargo freight and imposed the ban on PIA after a plot was uncovered to smuggle a bomb hidden in printer toner cartridges on a plane from Yemen in 2010.

Captain Salman Azhar, who heads PIA's safety and quality insurance, said getting the EU clearance was a big boost for PIA which required international business.

"They only gave approval after their experts came and audited our newly set up security protocol and installations for cargo freights," Azhar said.

"They were satisfied we were meeting international standards for safety and security."

He added the EU had approved the security and safety standards at the international airports of Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi.

In June, the Karachi international airport was attacked by militants in a commando-style raid that left 38 people dead, including the 10 attackers.

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European Union lifts ban on Pakistan International Airlines cargo flights