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People – History – Statistics – and more…

I. History of the European integration

1951: The Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (it enters into
force in 1952)
1954: The French National Assembly votes down plans to set up a European Defense
Community
1957: The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and the Euratom Treaty
signed in Rome (they enter into force on 1 January 1958)
1962: EEC Assemby renamed European Parliament
1965: The „empty chairs crisis” and the Merger Treaty (it enters into force in 1967)
1970: Beginning of the European Political Cooperation, forerunner to the Common Foreign
and Security Policy
1973: United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark join the EEC
1979: European Monetary System set up, first direct elections to the European Parliament
1981: Greece joins the EEC
1986: Spain and Portugal join the EEC
1986: Single European Act signed (it enters into force in 1987)
1992: The Treaty on European Union signed in Maastricht (it enters into force on 1
November 1993)
1995: Austria, Sweden and Finland join the EU
1997: The Treaty of Amsterdam signed (it enters into force on 1 May 1999)
1999: The euro is born as an electronic currency
2002: Euro notes and coins enter circulation; the ECSC Treaty expires
2001: Treaty of Nice signed (it enters fully into force on 1 February 2003)
2004: Eight Central and Eastern European and two Mediterranean countries join the EU
2004: Treaty establishing a (draft) Constitution for Europe signed

II. People

Founding fathers and other important personalities

• Jean Monnet – French diplomat, businessman, lobbyist, the brain behind the
European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community
• Robert Schuman – French politician, diplomat, father of the ECSC and the EEC, his
famous speech in 1950 on European unity is remember on Europe day, May 9, official
day of the European Union
• Paul-Henri Spaak – Belgian foreign minister, chairman of the Messina Conference
preparing the Treaty of Rome, first President of the EEC Assembly (later European
Parliament)
• Alcide de Gasperi – Italian politican, founder of the modern Italian state, founder of
the Council of Europe
• Konrad Adenauer – first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, founder of
the democratic and European West Germany
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• Winston Churchill – British politician, statesman, early supporter of European unity,

founder of the Council of Europe
• General Charles de Gaulle – French military officer, politician, statesman, founder
of the Fifth French Republic, supporter of the anti-federalist „Europe of nations” idea
of integration
• Walter Hallstein – West German diplomat, first President of the European
Commisson
• Altiero Spinelli – Italian politician, Federalist thinker, leader of the Communist group
in the European Parliament, author of a significant report on European political union
in 1984
• Jacques Delors – French politician, President of the European Commission from
1985 to 1995, father of the single market and the single currency
• Valéry Giscard d’Estaing – French President, President of the European Convention
that wrote the European Consitution

Presidents of the European Commission

• Jean Monnet, High Authority President (FR) – 1952-1955

• René Mayer, High Authority President (FR) – 1955-1958
• Walter Hallstein (DE) – 1958-1967
• Jean Rey (BE) – 1967-1970
• Franco Malfatti (IT) – 1970-1972
• Sicco Mansholt (NL) – 1972
• Francois-Xavier Ortoli (FR) – 1973-1977
• Roy Jenkins (UK) – 1977-1981
• Gaston Thorn (LU) – 1981-1985
• Jacques Delors (FR) – 1985-1995
• Jacques Santer (LU) – 1995-1999
• Manuel Marin (ES) – acting: March 1999 – September 1999
• Romano Prodi (IT) – 1999-2004
• José Manuel Barroso (PT) – 2004-

Presidents of the European Parliament

• Paul Henry Spaak – 1952-1954

• …
• Nicole Fontaine – 1999-2002
• Pat Cox – 2002-2004
• Josep Borrell Fontelles (ES) – 2004-2007
• Hans-Gert Pöttering (DE)– 2007-2009

Actual presidents of other EU institutions and bodies and other important people

• Vassilios Skouris – President of the European Court of Justice

• Bo Vesterdorf – President of the Court of First Instance
• Jean-Claude Trichet - President of the European Central Bank
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• Hubert Weber - President of the European Court of Auditors

• Philippe Maystadt - President of the European Investment Bank
• Nikoforos Diamandouros - the European Ombudsman
• Javier Solana - High Representative for CFSP / Secretary General of the Council /
Mr. Europe

III. Portfolio and nationality of Commissioners

Name Portfolio Nationality

José Manuel Barroso President Portugal
Margot Wallström Vice-President; Institutional Relations and Sweden
Communication Strategy
Günter Verheugen Vice-President; Enterprise and Industry Germany
Jacques Barrot Vice-President; Transport France
Siim Kallas Vice-President; Administrative Affairs, Estonia
Audit and Anti-Fraud
Franco Frattini Vice-President; Justice, Freedom and Italy
Security
Viviane Reding Information Society Luxembourg
and Media
Stavros Dimas Environment Greece
Joaquín Almunia Economic and Monetary Affairs Spain
Danuta Hübner Regional Policy Poland
Joe Borg Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Malta
Dalia Grybauskaite Financial Programming Lithuania
and Budget
Janez Potocnik Science and Research Slovenia
Jan Figel Education, Training, Culture and Slovakia
Multilingualism
Markos Kyprianou Health and Consumer Protection Cyprus
Olli Rehn Enlargement Finland
Louis Michel Development and Humanitarian Aid Belgium
László Kovács Taxation and Customs Union Hungary
Neelie Kroes Competition Netherlands
Mariann Fischer Boel Agriculture and Rural Development Denmark
Benita Ferrero- External Relations and European Austria
Waldner Neighbourhood Policy
Charlie McCreevy Internal Market and Ireland
Services
Vladimir Spidla Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Czech Republic
Opportunities
Peter Mandelson Trade UK
Andris Piebalgs Energy Latvia
Meglena Kuneva Consumer protection Bulgaria
Leonard Orban Multilingualism Romania
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IV. EU jargon

• Tampere programme – after the 1999 Tampere EU summit that launched the EU’s
common immigration and asylum policy.
• Hague programme – the second phase of Tampere, since 2004
• Lisbon programme – after the 2000 Lisbon EU summit (also known as the „dotcom
summit”) that launched a strategy to modernise the European economy
• Laeken declaration – after the 2001 Laeken EU summit that called for a Convention
on the future of Europe and a new EU Treaty
• Gothenburg programme – after the 2001 Gothenburg EU summit that launched the
EU’s sustainable development strategy
• Maastricht targets – after the 1991 Maastricht EU summit that launched the
Economic and Monetary Union – it states that any state seeking to join the EMU must
not have a public debt higher than 60 per cent of GDP or a deficit higher than 3 per
cent of GDP or an inflation rate more then 1.5 per cent higher than the average rate of
the three states with the lowest inflation
• Copenhagen criteria – after the 1993 Copenhagen EU summit that laid down
political requirements for any state seeking to join the EU
• Schengen – after the 1985 Schengen Agreement that did away with border controls
between member states – it doesn’t include the UK, Ireland and (temporarily) the new
member states but it does include non-EU members Norway, Iceland and Switzerland
• Petersberg tasks – after the Petersberg declaration of 1992 setting certain military
aims for the Western European Union and later (after Amsterdam) for the European
Union
• Bologna process – after the Bologna Declaration of 1999 that aims to establish a
European area of higher education. Some 40 European countries take part.

V. The EU budget in 2005 (app. 119 billion euros in total)

Expenditure (in % of total expenditure) Revenue (in % of total revenues)

Agriculture (42%) Resource based on gross national income
(73%)
Structural actions (35%, of which structural VAT-based resource (14%)
funds 31%, cohesion fund 4%)
Internal policies (7%) Traditional own resources: customs duties,
agricultural duties and sugar levies (12%)
External actions (4%) Other revenues: tax and other deductions
from staff remunerations, bank interest,
contributions from non-member countries to
certain Community programmes (1%)
Administration (5%)
Pre-accession aid (3%)
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VI. Memberships

European Free Trade Association (4 Members): Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and

Switzerland

European Economic Area (28 Members): EU-25 + Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway

Schengen countries (15 Members): Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden

NATO (26 Members): Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, UK, US

Eurozone (13 Members): Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia
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VII. Statistics on the European Union (first three data in brackets)

Member State Capital Population Area Population Inflation GDP per GDP Unemployment Number of Number of
(million) (1000 density rate capita in growth rate (2004) votes in members of
(2002) km [2]) (people/km [2]) (2004) PPS rate Council Parliament
(2002) (2002) (2002) (2004)
Austria Vienna 8,1 84 96 2,0 26 700 2,0 4,5 10 18
Belgium Brussels 10,3 31 330 [3] 1,9 25 100 2,9 8,0 12 24
Cyprus Nicosia 0,8 9 90 1,9 18 500 3,7 5,5 4 6
Czech Prague 10,3 79 130 2,6 14 600 4,0 8,3 12 24
Republic
Denmark Copenhagen 5,4 43 126 0,9 [2] 28 300 [3] 2,4 5,1 7 14
Estonia Tallinn 1,4 45 31 3,0 10 900 6,2 [3] 8,3 4 6
Finland Helsinki 5,2 337 15 0,1 [1] 24 600 3,7 8,8 7 14
France Paris 59,3 [3] 544 [1] 109 2,3 23 900 2,3 9,7 29 [1] 78 [2]
Germany Berlin 82,4 [1] 357 231 1,8 24 800 1,6 9,5 29 [1] 99 [1]
Greece Athens 10,6 132 80 3,0 16 500 4,2 10,2 12 24
Hungary Budapest 10,2 93 110 6,8 12 600 4,1 6,2 12 24
Ireland Dublin 3,9 70 56 2,3 28 400 [2] 5,4 4,3 [1] 7 13
Italy Rome 58,0 301 193 2,3 25 000 1,2 8,0 29 [1] 78 [2]
Latvia Riga 2,4 65 37 6,2 7 900 8,5 [1] 9,6 4 9
Lithuania Vilnius 3,5 65 54 1,1 8 800 6,7 [2] 9,3 7 13
Luxembourg Luxembourg 0,4 3 133 3,2 45 000 [1] 4,5 4,4 [2] 4 6
Malta Valletta 0,4 0,3 1333 [1] 2,7 13 300 1,0 7,0 3 5
Netherlands Amsterdam 16,1 41 393 [2] 1,4 26 600 1,4 4,8 13 [3] 27
Poland Warsaw 38,6 313 123 3,6 9 000 5,3 18,3 27 [2] 54 [3]
Portugal Lisbon 10,3 92 112 2,5 17 300 1,0 7,1 12 24
Slovakia Bratislava 5,4 49 110 7,4 12 000 5,5 16,8 7 14
Slovenia Ljubljana 2,0 20 100 3,6 17 000 4,6 5,8 4 7
Spain Madrid 40,4 505 [2] 80 3,1 19 900 3,1 10,4 27 [2] 54 [3]
Sweden Stockholm 8,9 411 [3] 22 1,0 [3] 24 900 3,6 6,4 10 19
United London 60,1 [2] 244 246 1,3 24 200 3,1 4,6 [3] 29 [1] 78 [2]
Kingdom
EU-25 454,6 3929 174 2,1 18 660 2,3 8,9 321 732
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Bulgaria Sofia 7,9 111 71 6,1 7 700 5,6 N/A 10 17

Romania Bucharest 22,4 238 94 11,9 6 200 8,3 6,2 14 33
Turkey Ankara 69,2 775 89 N/A 6 200 7,7 N/A N/A N/A
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VIII. Current and upcoming EU presidencies

2005 – first semester: Luxembourg, second semester: UK

2006 – first semester: Austria, second semester: Finland
2007 – first semester: Germany, second semester: Portugal

IX. European Years

2005 – European Year of Citizenship through Education

2006 – European Year of Workers’ Mobility
2007 - European Year of Equal Opportunities for All

X. Cultural Capitals of Europe

2005 – Cork, IE
2006 - Patras, EL
2007 - Luxembourg, LU and Sibiu, RO
2008 - Liverpool, UK and Stavanger, NO

XI. European prizes

Sakharov Prize:
- presented by European Parliament for freedom of thought
- last winner (2006): Alexander Milinkevich

Charlemagne Prize
- presented by the City of Aachen
- last winner (2006): Jean-Claude Juncker