Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The European Union policy for disabled people guarantees governmental responsibility for all disabled people in all of the EU's 27 member states. This policy operates in the framework of the subsidiarity principle: if possible, one should improve at the national level, though in principle the EU will refrain from setting strictly binding laws in this area.
Finally, and technically outside the Copenhagen criteria, comes the further requirement that all prospective members must enact legislation to bring their laws into line with the body of European law built up over the history of the Union, known as the acquis communautaire. In preparing for each admission, the acquis is divided into separate ...
The right to provide services has proven to be increasingly important as the European economy shifts towards a more service-based economy. Today, it is estimated that the services sector represents about two-thirds of the European economy and it is responsible for 90% of the overall creation of jobs in the EU. [ 3 ]
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 ...
The territories of the member states of the European Union (European Communities pre-1993), animated in order of accession. Territories outside Europe and its immediate surroundings are not shown. The European Union (EU) has expanded a number of times throughout its history by way of the accession of new member states to the Union.
The Maastricht Treaty (Article 49) states that any European country (as defined by a European Council assessment) that is committed to democracy may apply for membership in the European Union. [175] In addition to European states, other countries have also been speculated or proposed as future members of the EU.
During the process of the enlargement of the European Union, the acquis was divided into 31 chapters for the purpose of negotiation between the EU and the candidate states for membership for the fifth enlargement (the ten that joined in 2004 plus Romania and Bulgaria which joined in 2007). [4]
The four main criteria, which actually comprise five criteria as the "fiscal criterion" consists of both a "debt criterion" and a "deficit criterion", are based on Article 140 (ex article 121.1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Full EMU membership is only open to EU member states.