The European Union And The Member States

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The European Union and the Member States

Author : Eleanor E. Zeff
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 520 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The European Union and the Member States by : Eleanor E. Zeff

Download or read book The European Union and the Member States written by Eleanor E. Zeff and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for the 1st Edition?This is a rich and timely volume full of novel glimpses into areas of perennial policy concern ... as well as a host of less familiar concerns.... The extremely readable efforts to make sense of policy conundrums means the book may be used quite profitably in the classroom, and the very fact that all member states are covered testifies to the project?s considerable comparative breadth.??William M. Downs, The Journal of PoliticsThoroughly updated, this new edition of The European Union and the Member States explores the complex relationship between the EU and each of its now 25 members.The country chapters follow a common format, considering: How and in what areas does EU policy affect, and how is it affected by, the member states? What mechanisms do the member states use to implement EU policy? What is each state?s compliance record?Covering the full range of issues?from economic, social, and environmental, to security, to home and justice affairs?the authors offer an insightful discussion of the interplay of EU initiatives with strong, existing national policies and traditions.Eleanor E. Zeff is associate professor of political science at Drake University. Ellen B. Pirro is president of Pirro International Research.Contents: Introduction?the Editors. Policymaking and Politics in the New European Union?J. McCormick. Early Union Members. Germany?C. Lankowski. Italy?M. Giuliani and S. Piattoni. Belgium and Luxembourg?K. Anderson. France?C. Deubner. The Second Wave. The UK?N. Nugent and J. Mather. Ireland?R.B. Finnegan. Denmark?E. Einhorn. The Mediterranean Round. Greece?N. Zahariadis. Spain and Portugal?S. Royo. The 1995 Enlargement. Austria?G. Faulkner. Sweden?J. Eliasson. Finland?T. Raunio. The 2004 Enlargement. Poland?A. Gruszczak. Hungary?D. Ellison. Malta and Cyprus?R. Pace. Slovenia and Slovakia?J. Occhipinti. The Czech Republic?S. Fisher. The Baltic States?S. Stoltenberg. Conclusion. Conclusion?the Editors.

The Member States of the European Union

Author : Simon Bulmer
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0199544832
Total Pages : 479 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (995 download)

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Book Synopsis The Member States of the European Union by : Simon Bulmer

Download or read book The Member States of the European Union written by Simon Bulmer and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a comprehensive and rounded thematic study of the EU-member states. The text provides detailed coverage of the principal member states and comparative studies of the smaller states, as well as discussing the issue of enlargement and covering empirical themes.

The Implementation and Enforcement of European Union Law in Small Member States

Author : Ivan Sammut
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030661156
Total Pages : 309 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (36 download)

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Book Synopsis The Implementation and Enforcement of European Union Law in Small Member States by : Ivan Sammut

Download or read book The Implementation and Enforcement of European Union Law in Small Member States written by Ivan Sammut and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-03-11 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The objective of this book is to examine how the legal order of Malta, the EU's smallest Member State, manages to cope with the obligations of the EU's acquis communautaire. As far as the legal obligations are concerned, size does not matter. Smaller Member States have the same obligations as the largest, yet they have to meet these same obligations with very fewer resources. This book examines how the Maltese legal system manages to fulfil its obligations both in terms of the supremacy of EU law, as well as how the substantive EU law is transposed and implemented. It also explores how Maltese courts look at EU law and how they manage, or not manage, to enforce it within the context of national law. It can serve as a model to demonstrate how EU law is being implemented in the smallest Member State and can serve as a basis to study the effectiveness of EU law into the domestic law of its Member States in general.

The New Member States and the European Union

Author : Michael Baun
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136737359
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (367 download)

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Book Synopsis The New Member States and the European Union by : Michael Baun

Download or read book The New Member States and the European Union written by Michael Baun and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the impact of EU membership on the foreign policies of the 12 new member states that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007. Among scholars of European politics there is a general consensus that membership in the European Union changes the countries that join. Yet considerable debate remains over what exactly changes, to what extent, how or why these changes happen, and why some countries, policies, and institutions change more than others. Expert contributors examine the impact of EU integration and membership, with chapters on the 12 new EU entrants since 2004: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, and Romania. Utilizing a common analytical framework, each of the country case studies examines the impact of EU membership on the foreign policies of the new member states in three key areas: foreign policy making institutions and procedures, interests and preferences, and strategies and actions. The New Member States and the European Union will be of interest to students and scholars of European Studies and European Union Politics.

The Seventh Member State

Author : Megan Brown
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 067427623X
Total Pages : 369 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis The Seventh Member State by : Megan Brown

Download or read book The Seventh Member State written by Megan Brown and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-19 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The surprising story of how Algeria joined and then left the postwar European Economic Community and what its past inclusion means for extracontinental membership in today’s European Union. On their face, the mid-1950s negotiations over European integration were aimed at securing unity in order to prevent violent conflict and boost economies emerging from the disaster of World War II. But French diplomats had other motives, too. From Africa to Southeast Asia, France’s empire was unraveling. France insisted that Algeria—the crown jewel of the empire and home to a nationalist movement then pleading its case to the United Nations—be included in the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community. The French hoped that Algeria’s involvement in the EEC would quell colonial unrest and confirm international agreement that Algeria was indeed French. French authorities harnessed Algeria’s legal status as an official département within the empire to claim that European trade regulations and labor rights should traverse the Mediterranean. Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany conceded in order to move forward with the treaty, and Algeria entered a rights regime that allowed free movement of labor and guaranteed security for the families of migrant workers. Even after independence in 1962, Algeria remained part of the community, although its ongoing inclusion was a matter of debate. Still, Algeria’s membership continued until 1976, when a formal treaty removed it from the European community. The Seventh Member State combats understandings of Europe’s “natural” borders by emphasizing the extracontinental contours of the early union. The unification vision was never spatially limited, suggesting that contemporary arguments for geographic boundaries excluding Turkey and areas of Eastern Europe from the European Union must be seen as ahistorical.

Foreign Policies of EU Member States

Author : Amelia Hadfield
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 135199722X
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (519 download)

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Book Synopsis Foreign Policies of EU Member States by : Amelia Hadfield

Download or read book Foreign Policies of EU Member States written by Amelia Hadfield and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-06-14 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foreign Policies of EU Member States provides a clear and current overview of the motivations and outcomes of EU Member States regarding their foreign policy-making within and beyond the EU. It provides an in-depth analysis of intra-EU policy-making and sheds light, in an innovative and understandable way, on the lesser-known aspects of the inter-EU and extra-EU foreign policies of the twenty-eight Member States: First, EU Member States must cooperate within the mechanisms of the EU, including the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Second, EU, Member States continue to construct their own inter-EU foreign policies. Third, the sovereign prerogative exercised by all EU Member States is to construct their own foreign policies on everything from trade and defence with the rest of the world. This combination of clarity, thematic structure and empirical case studies make this an ideal textbook for all upper-level students of European foreign policy, comparative European politics and European studies. -- from back cover.

The European Union and the Return of the Nation State

Author : Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030350053
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (33 download)

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Book Synopsis The European Union and the Return of the Nation State by : Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt

Download or read book The European Union and the Return of the Nation State written by Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-01-22 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the complex and ever-changing relationship between the European Union and its member states. The recent surge in tension in this relationship has been prompted by the actions of some member state governments as they question fundamental EU values and principles and refuse to implement common decisions seemingly on the basis of narrowly defined national interests. Furthermore, Brexit forces the EU for the first time to face the prospect of a major member state preparing to leave the Union. Are these developments heralding the return of the nation-state, and if so, in what form? Is the national revival a lasting phenomenon that will affect the EU for a long time to come, or is it a transitory trend? This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to answer these questions. It brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide insights into the multifaceted relations between the Union and its member states from different perspectives. All chapters are based on up-to-date research findings, succinct assessments of the current state of affairs and ongoing debates about the direction of European integration. The book concludes by offering policy recommendations at European and national levels.

The European Union

Author : Walter van Gerven
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0804767602
Total Pages : 420 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (47 download)

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Book Synopsis The European Union by : Walter van Gerven

Download or read book The European Union written by Walter van Gerven and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2005-03-21 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a general introduction to the European Union (EU) as an ever closer union of states and peoples. It describes how, from its origin in 1958 as an economic community of six states, the EU has grown into a political entity of 25 states with a population of more than 450 million. It also explains the constitution-making process that is currently taking place—with a draft constitution now being submitted for ratification by the 25 member states. The book shows how the distinctive features of a democratic polity that characterize the separate EU member states are gradually replicated in the European Union and how the Union is on its way to becoming a democratic polity of its own kind. Van Gerven writes from a legal perspective, with an eye to political theory and recent American and European history, and with a diverse readership from both sides of the Atlantic in mind.

The European Fund for Strategic Investments: The Legacy

Author : European Investment Bank
Publisher : European Investment Bank
ISBN 13 : 9286148151
Total Pages : 81 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (861 download)

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Book Synopsis The European Fund for Strategic Investments: The Legacy by : European Investment Bank

Download or read book The European Fund for Strategic Investments: The Legacy written by European Investment Bank and published by European Investment Bank. This book was released on 2021-01-07 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inside story of the European Fund for Strategic Investments from 2015 to 2020 told through interviews with the Managing Director, Deputy Managing Director, members of the Investment Committee and final beneficiaries across Europe. The architects of this €500 billion-plus programme, the head of the EU bank and the president of the European Commission, describe the genesis of this financial pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe. Then the people who ran one of the biggest economic stimulus programmes in history detail how they did it—and what the lessons are for policymakers responding to new crises, including the economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The European Fund for Strategic Investments has been one of the good news stories to emerge in a decade of economic uncertainty. It has gone well beyond its highly ambitious target of €500 billion in mobilised investments. The Juncker Plan has made a strong contribution to the 14 million jobs created in the EU between 2015 and 2020. It has become a success in co-financing projects that otherwise might not have been carried through. It has also charted the path towards new ways of financing. This is not only the case in relatively conventional areas, such as infrastructure, but also in sectors like research and innovation or the contribution to climate change mitigation. This is exactly what makes EFSI so ground-breaking: responding to the needs of the market through continuous financial innovation. The principle of the European Fund for Strategic Investments is here to stay. It has paved the way for its successor, the InvestEU programme, which is to be deployed under the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework. This publication details why the programme was such a success.

The European Union and Developing Countries

Author : C. Cosgrove-Sacks
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 0230509185
Total Pages : 365 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (35 download)

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Book Synopsis The European Union and Developing Countries by : C. Cosgrove-Sacks

Download or read book The European Union and Developing Countries written by C. Cosgrove-Sacks and published by Springer. This book was released on 1999-05-17 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the ways in which EU policies towards developing countries are changing in response to the new challenges of globalization and the end of the Cold War. It analyses the patchwork of relationships between the fifteen Member States and more than 140 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean.

Responsibility of the EU and the Member States under EU International Investment Protection Agreements

Author : Philipp Theodor Stegmann
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3030043665
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (3 download)

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Book Synopsis Responsibility of the EU and the Member States under EU International Investment Protection Agreements by : Philipp Theodor Stegmann

Download or read book Responsibility of the EU and the Member States under EU International Investment Protection Agreements written by Philipp Theodor Stegmann and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-01-24 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive portrait of how international responsibility of the EU and the Member States is structured under the EU’s international investment protection agreements. It analyses both the old regime as represented by the Energy Charter Treaty and the new regime as represented by the new EU investment treaties, such as CETA, TTIP, the EU-Singapore Agreement and the EU-Vietnam Agreement. The international responsibility of the EU, being a “special” international organisation, is in and of itself an important and challenging topic in public international law. However, in the context of international investment law, and especially with regard to the emerging new EU investment treaties, the topic is largely unexplored and represents new terrain. The book promotes the development of law in this area and provide a springboard for further research. The book puts forth the thesis that the determination of the EU or a Member State as respondent in a dispute under the new EU investment treaties has a substantive effect on the respondent’s international responsibility. The international law effects of the respondent determination will surely be one of the central topics in future debates on the new EU investment treaties. The book further compares the EU regulation that allocates financial burdens between the EU and the Member States arising out of international investment disputes with the only other genuinely existing allocation system in federal states to date, namely that of Germany. The book finally reveals many shortcomings of the new EU responsibility regime in international investment law and provides some suggestions on how they can best be remedied.

Italy and the European Union

Author : Federiga Bindi
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 0815705093
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (157 download)

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Book Synopsis Italy and the European Union by : Federiga Bindi

Download or read book Italy and the European Union written by Federiga Bindi and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2011-02-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Brookings Institution Press and Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione (SSPA) publication Federiga Bindi provides, for the first time, an in-depth analysis of Italy's role within the European Union (EU) in this inaugural volume of a book series published jointly by the Brookings Institution Press and the Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione (Italian National School of Public Administration, or SSPA). Italy and the European Union relates in detail the historical, cultural, and sociological factors that have led to Italy's incomplete "Europeanization," or full integration, within the EU. It also brings the reader up-to-date on the steps taken by the country's leaders to improve Italy's standing and become a more effective member in the organization it helped to found. Discussing the author's extensive research, The Economist notes.... "Federiga Bindi identified a number of barriers to an effective European policy in Italy: a high turnover of governments; coalition partners with conflicting aims; the failure of bureaucrats to learn from other member states; and politicians' lack of interest in Europe... recently however, she found that matters had improved. An interdepartmental body for the coordination of EU policies has been created, Parliament operates an effective scrutiny system..., the administration has learnt to learn from others. But the other problems remain, and they are formidable. Her study ends on an exasperated note: 'Italy appears to be stuck in the age of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, in which the victory of one faction over another is what counts, and the fact that this may be damaging to the country matters little.'" —from The Economist, July 31, 2010

Defending Checks and Balances in EU Member States

Author : Armin von Bogdandy
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 366262317X
Total Pages : 478 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (626 download)

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Book Synopsis Defending Checks and Balances in EU Member States by : Armin von Bogdandy

Download or read book Defending Checks and Balances in EU Member States written by Armin von Bogdandy and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-01-05 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book deals with Article 7 TEU measures, court proceedings, financial sanctions and the EU Rule of Law Framework to protect EU values with a particular focus on checks and balances in EU Member States. It analyses substantive standards, powers, procedures as well as the consequences and implications of the various instruments. It combines the analysis of the European level, be it the EU or the Council of Europe, with that of the national level, in particular in Hungary and Poland. The LM judgment of the European Court of Justice is made subject to detailed scrutiny.

Fifteen into one?

Author : Wolfgang Wessels
Publisher : Manchester University Press
ISBN 13 : 1526137364
Total Pages : 497 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (261 download)

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Book Synopsis Fifteen into one? by : Wolfgang Wessels

Download or read book Fifteen into one? written by Wolfgang Wessels and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-30 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This book takes up traditional approaches to political science. It aims to offer a mixture of conventional and specific analyses and insights for different groups of readers. In view of the European Union's multi-level and multi-actor polity, the book highlights the complex procedural and institutional set-up of nation states preparing and implementing decisions made by the institutions of the European Community (EC). In looking at the emerging and evolving realities of the European polity, it shows how European institutions and Member States (re-)act and interact in a new institutional and procedural set-up. It explores how governmental and non-governmental actors in different national settings adapt to common challenges, constraints and opportunities for which they are mainly themselves responsible. The book discusses the Belgian policy toward European integration as a significant demonstration of its commitment to multilateralism and international co-operation in security and economic affairs. Attitudes to European integration in Denmark, Germany, Finland, Greece, and Spain are discussed. Tendencies towards 'Europeanisation' and 'sectoralisation' of the ministerial administration during the process of European integration and the typical administrative pluralism of the Italian political system seem to have mutually reinforced each other. Strong multi-level players are able to increase their access and influence at both levels and to use their position on one level for strengthening their say on the other. German and Belgian regions might develop into these kinds of actors. A persistent trend during the 1990s is traced towards stronger national performers, particularly in terms of adaptations and reactions to Maastricht Treaty.

The State of the European Union

Author : Stefanie Wöhl
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 365825419X
Total Pages : 278 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (582 download)

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Book Synopsis The State of the European Union by : Stefanie Wöhl

Download or read book The State of the European Union written by Stefanie Wöhl and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-07-08 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Against the backdrop of combating the financial and economic crisis in the European Union for the past decade, this volume strives to explore the manifold impacts the prevailing crisis management has on the further alignment of European Integration. The efforts targeted at overcoming the financial and economic crisis evoked far-reaching consequences on the societal, economic, and political level within European member states, which in turn challenge the institutional alignment, democratic legitimacy and economic coherence of the European Union. Taking into account current developments in the EU, the contributions presented in this volume focus on the ‘fault lines’ in the integration process, i.e. questions of policy coherence, democratic accountability, financialization, militarization, migration, gendered social and economic asymmetries as well as the rise of populist and extreme right-wing parties. The volume focuses on how these different developments come together by relating aspects of transdisciplinary research to uncover the fault lines in the European integration project in the subsequent chapters. ContentEconomic and Democratic Governance • Right Wing Populism and Right Extreme Parties • Financialization and Militarization • Social Exclusion, Welfare and Migration Policies EditorsProf. (FH) Dr. Stefanie Wöhl, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna. Prof. (FH) Dr. Elisabeth Springler, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna. Mag. Martin Pachel, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna. Dr. Bernhard Zeilinger, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna.

The Foreign Policies of European Union Member States

Author : Ian Manners
Publisher : Manchester University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780719057793
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (577 download)

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Book Synopsis The Foreign Policies of European Union Member States by : Ian Manners

Download or read book The Foreign Policies of European Union Member States written by Ian Manners and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comparative analysis of the foreign policies of European Union member states includes comprehensive coverage of the post-Maastricht period and the three newest members of the EU. In the only comparative study of its kind since 1976, the book analyzes the dual impact of the Maastricht Treaty on the European Union, and the post-Cold War environment on the foreign policy processes of the EU’s member states. The book argues for a new approach to the foreign policy analysis of EU states that recognizes the fundamental changes that membership brings after the Cold War, but also acknowledges the diverse role of policies which states seek to retain or advance as being “special.”

The European Union

Author : Kristin Archick
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781693263408
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (634 download)

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Book Synopsis The European Union by : Kristin Archick

Download or read book The European Union written by Kristin Archick and published by . This book was released on 2019-09-15 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Union (EU) is a political and economic partnership that represents a unique form of cooperation among sovereign countries. The EU is the latest stage in a process of integration begun after World War II, initially by six Western European countries, to foster interdependence and make another war in Europe unthinkable. The EU currently consists of 28 member states, including most of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and has helped to promote peace, stability, and economic prosperity throughout the European continent. The EU has been built through a series of binding treaties. Over the years, EU member states have sought to harmonize laws and adopt common policies on an increasing number of economic, social, and political issues. EU member states share a customs union; a single market in which capital, goods, services, and people move freely; a common trade policy; and a common agricultural policy. Nineteen EU member states use a common currency (the euro), and 22 member states participate in the Schengen area of free movement in which internal border controls have been eliminated. In addition, the EU has been developing a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), which includes a Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), and pursuing cooperation in the area of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) to forge common internal security measures. Member states work together through several EU institutions to set policy and to promote their collective interests. In recent years, however, the EU has faced a number of internal and external crises. Most notably, in a June 2016 public referendum, voters in the United Kingdom (UK) backed leaving the EU. The pending British exit from the EU (dubbed "Brexit") comes amid multiple other challenges, including the rise of populist and to some extent anti-EU political parties, concerns about democratic backsliding in some member states (including Poland and Hungary), ongoing pressures related to migration, a heightened terrorism threat, and a resurgent Russia. The United States has supported the European integration project since its inception in the 1950s as a means to prevent another catastrophic conflict on the European continent and foster democratic allies and strong trading partners. Today, the United States and the EU have a dynamic political partnership and share a huge trade and investment relationship. Despite periodic tensions in U.S.-EU relations over the years, U.S. and EU policymakers alike have viewed the partnership as serving both sides' overall strategic and economic interests. EU leaders are anxious about the Trump Administration's commitment to the EU project, the transatlantic partnership, and an open international trading system-especially amid the Administration's imposition of tariffs on EU steel and aluminum products since 2018 and the prospects of future auto tariffs. In July 2018, President Trump reportedly called the EU a "foe" on trade but the Administration subsequently sought to de-escalate U.S.-EU tensions and signaled its intention to launch new U.S.-EU trade negotiations. Concerns also linger in Brussels about the implications of the Trump Administration's "America First" foreign policy and its positions on a range of international issues, including Russia, Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, climate change, and the role of multilateral institutions. This report serves as a primer on the EU. Despite the UK's vote to leave the EU, the UK remains a full member of the bloc until it officially exits the EU (which is scheduled to occur by October 31, 2019, but may be further delayed). As such, this report largely addresses the EU and its institutions as they currently exist. It also briefly describes U.S.-EU political and economic relations that may be of interest.