EU Values
By Eurogems aps
The Union's founding principles
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The Union's values and objectives
Classification and exercise of competences
Membership of the Union
Legal acts
Democratic life
The Institutions of the Union
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Institutional framework
European Parliament
European Council
Council of Ministers
Commission
Minister for Foreign Affairs
The Union's decision-making
procedures
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Legislative procedures
Union finances and budgetary procedure
New system of qualified majority voting
Extension of qualified majority voting
Principle of subsidiarity and role of national
parliaments
The policies of the Union
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Internal policies and action
Economic and monetary policy
Justice and home affairs
External action
Common foreign and security policy
Defence policy
The founding principles of the Union:
Values and objectives of the Union
Establishment of the Union
The values of the Union
The objectives of the Union
The fundamental principles
The symbols of the Union
The fundamental rights
Summary table
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNION
• In Article I-1, the Constitution established the
European Union, reflecting the will of the citizens
and States of Europe to build a common future.
The Member States confer competences on the
Union to attain objectives they have in common,
and the Union coordinates the policies by which
the Member States aim to achieve these
objectives, and exercises on a Community basis
the competences conferred on it by the
Constitution.
THE VALUES OF THE UNION
• The Union is founded on the values of:
– Respect for human dignity
– Liberty
– Democracy
– Equality
– Respect for human rights
THE VALUES OF THE UNION
• These values, which are set out in Article I-2,
are common to the Member States. Moreover:
– Pluralism
– Non-discrimination
– Tolerance
– Justice
– Solidarity
– Equality between women and men
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE UNION
• The main objectives of the Union are now to
promote peace, the Union's values and the
well-being of its peoples.
• These general objectives are supplemented by
a list of more detailed objectives
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE UNION
• an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers ;
• an internal market where competition is free and undistorted;
• sustainable development, based on balanced economic growth and
price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming
at full employment and social progress, and a high level of
protection and improvement of the quality of the environment;
• the promotion of scientific and technological advance;
• the combating of social exclusion and discrimination, and the
promotion of social justice and protection, equality between
women and men, solidarity between generations and protection
of the rights of the child;
• the promotion of economic, social and territorial cohesion, and
solidarity among Member States.
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE UNION
• In addition, the Union respects cultural and
linguistic diversity and ensures that Europe's
cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.
• the Constitution thus adds the promotion of
scientific and technological advance, of solidarity
between generations and of the protection of
children's rights. Economic and social cohesion
now additionally acquires a territorial dimension.
Cultural and linguistic diversity, and the
safeguarding and enhancing of Europe's cultural
heritage, also become Union objectives.
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE UNION
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peace;
security;
sustainable development of the Earth;
solidarity and mutual respect among peoples;
free and fair trade;
eradication of poverty;
protection of human rights (in particular the
rights of the child);
• development of international law (respect for the
principles of the United Nations Charter).
THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
• Article I-4 of the Constitution guarantees the
free movement of persons, goods, services
and capital within the Union (the famous
"four freedoms") and strictly prohibits any
discrimination on grounds of nationality.
• in Article I-5, in particular the obligation to
respect the national identities and the
fundamental political and constitutional
structures of the Member States.
THE SYMBOLS OF THE UNION
• the flag of the Union, which is a circle of twelve gold
stars on a blue background;
• the anthem of the Union, which is based on the 'Ode
to Joy' from the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van
Beethoven;
• the motto of the Union, which is 'United in diversity';
• the currency of the Union, which is the euro;
• 9 May, which is celebrated throughout the Union as
Europe Day, in memory of the 1950 declaration by
Robert Schuman, who initiated the European
integration project.
European Values Study
• The project
• The European Values Study is a large-scale, crossnational, and longitudinal survey research
program on basic human values, initiated by the
European Value Systems Study Group (EVSSG) in
the late 1970s, at that time an informal grouping
of academics. Now, it is carried on in the setting
of a foundation, using the (abbreviated) name of
the group European Values Study (EVS).
EVS: Questions
• Do Europeans share common values?
• Are values changing in Europe and, if so, in
what directions?
• Do Christian values continue to permeate
European life and culture?
• Is a coherent alternative meaning system
replacing that of Christianity?
• What are the implications for European unity?
EVS: Survey
• EVS SourceBook:
• 2001. The European Values Study: A Third
Wave. Source Book of the 1999/2000
European Values Study Surveys. [compiled by]
Loek Halman [in collaboration with Anthony
M. Abela, Helmut Anheier and Stephen
Harding and 53 others]. Tilburg: European
Values Study.
European Values Study 1999/2000
• The European Values Study (EVS) is a wellestablished network of social and political
scientists, investigating basic values, beliefs,
attitudes, priorities and preferences of the
Europeans and exploring the similarities,
differences, and changes in these orientations.
• The study is a follow-up of waves in 1981 and
1990. An important goal of the most recent wave
was to examine whether the emerging concept of
one common European cultural identity has an
empirical basis.
EVS: nations envolved
• Austria,
• Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia,
• Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece,
Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy,
• Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Northern
Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland,
• Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Turkey, and the Ukraine.
• The fieldwork was carried out in 1999 and 2000, except
for Turkey, where fieldwork took place in 2001.
EVS: Questionnaire
• Representative national samples were
interviewed using uniformly structured
questionnaires to enable generalization and
comparison in 33 European countries
EVS: basic questions
• 􀂃 Do Europeans share common values?
• 􀂃 Are values changing?
• 􀂃 Do Christian values continue to permeate
European life and culture?
• 􀂃 Is a coherent alternative meaning system
replacing that of Christianity?
• 􀂃 What are the implications for European
unity?