3.1. Building vocabulary of integration
Task 7: You have learned about the history of the formation of the European Union (EU). Now read the text and take a look at the basics purposes of this organization. Compare them with the basic purposes of the United Nations organization.
History and mission of the eu
The EU means many things to many people. For some it has been at the core of efforts to help maintain peace over the past 50 years in a continent which in the past was driven by rivalry and suspicion. Others, however, talk of its political impotency.
For many the EU is primarily about the single market and the opportunities and benefits this presents to business, students, pensioners and holidaymakers.
The European Union – previously known as the European Economic Community (EEC) – is an institutional framework for the construction of a united Europe. It was created after World War II to unite the nations of Europe economically so another war among them would be unthinkable. Twenty seven countries are members of the European Union, and more than 400 million people share the common institutions and policies that have brought an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity in Western Europe.
The European Union’s mission is to organize relations between the Member States and between their peoples in a coherent manner and on the basis of solidarity. The main objectives are:
to promote economic and social progress (the single market was established in 1993; the single currency was launched in 1999);
to assert the identity of the European Union on the international scene (through European humanitarian aid to non-EU countries, common foreign and security policy, action in international crises; common positions within international organizations);
to introduce European citizenship (which does not replace national citizenship but complements it and confers a number of civil and politic rights on European citizens);
to develop an area of freedom, security and justice (linked to the operation of the internal market and more particularly the freedom of movement of persons);
to maintain and build an established EU law (all the legislation adopted by the European institutions, together with the founding treaties).
Fill in the table below, using the materials from the part about the UN, and find common purposes:
UN purposes |
EU purposes |
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Task 8. Organise a Discussion: “Comparing the Purposes of the World Organisations: are there more similarities than differences? Why?”
Task 9: Continue to fill in the markers of integration from the text “History and Mission of the EU” in the table below
Markers of EU integration |
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Common events |
World War II…
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Common actions |
to construct Europe…
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Common territory |
the continent… |
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Common purposes |
to help maintain peace…
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Common documents |
the founding treaties… |
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Integrative pronouns |
- |
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Verbs of integration |
to unite |
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Adjectives of integration |
united… |
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Nouns of integration |
unit… |
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Words of multitude |
people… |
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Threats |
rivalry… |
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