European Union

The European Union (EU) is a politico-economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It covers an area of 4,324,782 km², with an estimated population of over 508 million. The EU operates through a system of supranational institutions and intergovernmental-negotiated decisions by the member states. The institutions are: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the Court of Auditors. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens.

The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade,agriculture,fisheries, and regional development. The monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002. It is currently composed of 19 member states that use the euro as their legal tender.

European

European, or Europeans, may refer to:

See also

The European (newspaper)

The European, billed as "Europe's first national newspaper", was a British weekly newspaper founded by Robert Maxwell. It lasted from 11 May 1990 until December 1998.

Time magazine (15 May 1990) reported that Maxwell originally envisioned a daily with a circulation of 650,000, but by the launch date plans had been cut down to a more realistic weekly with circulation of 225,000. In reality, the circulation peaked at 180,000, over half of which was British.

The Barclay brothers bought the newspaper in 1992, investing an estimated $110 million and in 1996 transforming it into a high-end tabloid format oriented at the business community edited by Andrew Neil.

In 1996, the London-based European had a staff of 70 in London, 3 in Brussels, 1 in Paris, 1 in Berlin, 1 in Moscow, as well as a network of 100 freelance writers throughout Europe.

History

Maxwell founded the paper in the fervor which immediately followed the destruction of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Iron Curtain - The European's name is a reflection of the feelings of pan-European unity which were brought on by the historic changes, an ideal which Maxwell wholeheartedly supported. Among its innovations was a weekly short fiction contribution from published and previously unpublished writers.

The European (2009 magazine)

The European is a German magazine published in Berlin, Germany. The magazine's name does not describe a thematic of geographic focus but alludes to the discursive tradition of European culture and politics.

History and profile

The European was first published in September 2009. Its publisher and editor-in-chief is Alexander Görlach, former editor-in-chief of Cicero Online, who previously worked for both ZDF and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The magazine's office is located in Berlin, Germany.

The European features opinion articles, regular columns and interviews. Its claim is "Views, not News". According to its mission statement, "The European is an opinion magazine". Its authors "debate important political and cultural issues within the framework of journalistic news analysis."

Opinion articles are grouped into thematically focused debates and are contributed by outside "experts" from academia, media, politics, business, science, and culture. Prominent contributors include José Manuel Barroso, Fareed Zakaria, Nicholas Siegel, Martti Ahtisaari, Gareth Evans, Joseph Stiglitz, and Steven Pinker. According to Görlach, The European does not have a specific political leaning but strives to bring differing opinions into dialogue with each other. The German version of the magazine also features a growing circle of regular columnists who write about topics that range from domestic politics to gender issues, European economics, digital culture, and the media.

European Union (resistance group)

The original European Union (German: Europäische Union) was an antifascist resistance group during Germany's Nazi era, which formed around Anneliese and Georg Groscurth and Robert Havemann. Other important members were Herbert Richter and Paul Rentsch.

Activity and purpose

The Berlin-based resistance group was founded in 1939. Founding members, Robert Havemann, a chemist and Georg Groscurth, a doctor, met each other at the beginning of the 1930s. Rentsch, a dentist, met Groscurth in 1934. Richter, an architect, was Richter's neighbor. They became friends not because of politics, but because of common interests. They were intellectual, free spirits and came to their political views independently.

Three of the four core members of the EU had direct contact with high-level Nazis. When war broke out, both Havemann and Groscurth tried to extend their work in such a way that they wouldn't be called upon to serve in the military. They took on projects from the Heereswaffenamt, biochemical research that was to put Germany in position to use chemical weapons, but neither they nor other scientists were terribly ambitious about the nominal goal. The architect, Richter, received contracts from the Reichshandwerkskammer and got to know and win the trust of Hermann Göring. He was already interested in the Communist Party and the information he learned from his personal contact with Göring filled him with hate for the Nazis and only pushed him further toward the idea of resistance. Groscurth, a doctor, had both Rudolph Hess and Wilhelm Keppler as his patients.

EU three

The EU three (or EU-3) refers to an informal troika consisting of the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom who collectively wield most influence within the European Union.

The group is most noted for negotiations started in 2003 attempting to limit the Iranian nuclear program, which led to the Tehran Declaration of 21 October 2003 and the voluntary Paris Agreement of 15 November 2004.

"EU 3 + 3" (also referred to as the "E3+3" or "E3/EU+3") refers to a grouping which includes the EU-3 and China, Russia, and the United States. It was coined when these states joined the EU diplomatic efforts with Iran in 2006. In the United States and Russia, it is more commonly known as P5+1, which refers to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

Following the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, the EU-3 group had a declining influence in the European Union, and has acted more often within the G6.

Current Ministers

France
Laurent Fabius,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development