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Goals

The European Union is an economic and political union between 28 European countries that aims to promote peace, values, and citizens' well-being. It began as the European Economic Community in 1958 to foster economic cooperation after World War 2 and has since expanded its scope. The EU is founded on principles of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, and human rights to create an inclusive society of over 340 million citizens across its member states.

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39 views

Goals

The European Union is an economic and political union between 28 European countries that aims to promote peace, values, and citizens' well-being. It began as the European Economic Community in 1958 to foster economic cooperation after World War 2 and has since expanded its scope. The EU is founded on principles of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, and human rights to create an inclusive society of over 340 million citizens across its member states.

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Наталія Якубець
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© © All Rights Reserved
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"United in diversity", the motto of the European Union, first came into use in 2000.

It signifies how Europeans have come together, in the form of the EU, to work for peace and prosperity,
while at the same time being enriched by the continent's many different cultures, traditions and
languages.
The European Union is a unique economic and political union between 28 EU countries that together
cover much of the continent.
The predecessor of the EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. The first steps were
to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that countries that trade with one another become
economically interdependent and so more likely to avoid conflict.
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 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.
What began as a purely economic union has evolved into an organization spanning policy areas, from
climate, environment and health to external relations and security, justice and migration. A name change
from the European Economic Community (EEC) to the European Union (EU) in 1993 reflected this.
The EU has delivered more than half a century of peace, stability and prosperity, helped raise living
standards and launched a single European currency: the euro. More than 340 million EU citizens in 19
countries now use it as their currency and enjoy its benefits.

Goals
The goals of the European Union are:

 promote peace, its values and the well-being of its citizens


 offer freedom, security and justice without internal borders
 sustainable development based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly
competitive market economy with full employment and social progress, and environmental protection
 combat social exclusion and discrimination
 promote scientific and technological progress
 enhance economic, social and territorial cohesion and solidarity among EU countries
 respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity
 establish an economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro.
Values
The EU values are common to the EU countries in a society in which inclusion, tolerance, justice,
solidarity and non-discrimination prevail. These values are an integral part of our European way of life:

 Human dignity
Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected, protected and constitutes the real basis of fundamental
rights.

 Freedom
Freedom of movement gives citizens the right to move and reside freely within the Union. Individual
freedoms such as respect for private life, freedom of thought, religion, assembly, expression and
information are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

 Democracy
The functioning of the EU is founded on representative democracy. Being a European citizen also
means enjoying political rights. Every adult EU citizen has the right to stand as a candidate and to vote in
elections to the European Parliament. EU citizens have the right to stand as candidate and to vote in
their country of residence, or in their country of origin.

 Equality
Equality is about equal rights for all citizens before the law. The principle of equality between women and
men underpins all European policies and is the basis for European integration. It applies in all areas. The
principle of equal pay for equal work became part of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Although inequalities
still exist, the EU has made significant progress.

 Rule of law
The EU is based on the rule of law. Everything the EU does is founded on treaties, voluntarily and
democratically agreed by its EU countries. Law and justice are upheld by an independent judiciary. The
EU countries gave final jurisdiction to the European Court of Justice which judgements have to be
respected by all.

 Human rights
Human rights are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. These cover the right to be free
from discrimination on the basis of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual
orientation, the right to the protection of your personal data, and or the right to get access to justice.
These goals and values form the basis of the EU and are laid out in the Lisbon Treaty and the EU
Charter of fundamental rights.
Conclusion

The European Union is the largest trade block in the world. It is the world's biggest exporter of
manufactured goods and services, and the biggest import market for over 100 countries.
Free trade among its members was one of the EU's founding principles. This is possible thanks to the
single market. Beyond its borders, the EU is also committed to liberalising world trade.
The EU is committed to helping victims of man-made and natural disasters worldwide and supports over
120 million people each year. Collectively, the EU and its constituent countries are the world's leading
donor of humanitarian aid.
So, the EU plays an important role in diplomacy and works to foster stability, security and prosperity,
democracy, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law at international level.

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