国际环境标准手册Chap10.pdfVIP

10 The European Union CONTENTS EU Directives and Environmental Programs EU Standards for the Safety of Machinery Directory of Community Legislation in Force Relating to the Environment The European Union (EU) is a community of 15 countries and 372 million citizens. The EU was originally an economic association (European Community) formed in 1958 (Treaty of Rome) with six member states. Component organizations date back to 1951. On November 1, 1993, with the Treaty of the European Union (Maastrict, The Netherlands), the EC became the European Union (EU). Official community languages include Spanish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Portugese, Finnish, and Swedish. The EU is the collective designation of three organizations with common membership: • European Economic Community (EEC) (common market) • The European Coal and Steel Community • The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) In addition, the European Economic Area (EEA) is comprised of the 15 member countries in the EU as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. As of January 1, 1995, the fifteen member states (countries) of the EC included Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Portugal Spain Sweden United Kingdom Goals of the European Union • Integrate the EU economics • Coordinate social development • Accomplish political union of the democratic states of Europe Organizational Structure of the EU • European Parliament Council of the European Union • Commission of the European Union • The Council of Ministers • European Court of Justice • Court of Auditors • Economic and Social Committee