European Union
1) The most advanced economic union of 28 countries in Europe is the European Union. After World War II, European nations came together to promote economic cooperation and trade. The EEC (European Economic Community) was established in 1958 by Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
2) The EEC organization was the Custom Union. Trade, services, production and components of production began to be freely exchanged. Over time, this cooperation between European countries has expanded beyond economic and trade to broader perspectives on nuclear energy, the environment, health, security and global relations, justice and migration. The transformation of the Custom Union into the Economic Union means that the EEC was transformed into the European Union in 1993. Since its inception, the EU has been moving towards becoming a Political Union.
3) EU is a law based organization. All EU decisions are based on EU treaties. The Lisbon Treaty 2007, the Nike Treaty 2001, the Amsterdam Treaty 1997, the Maastricht Treaty 1992, the EEC Agreement, the ECSC (European Coal & Steel Community) Agreement are some of the existing treaties. The EU was established by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.
4) The principle of representative democracy has been adopted in the EU administration. Under Article 13 of the EU Agreement, the following 7 institutions are the pillars of the EU.
i) The European Parliament has 751 members, who are directly elected by the citizens of the member countries (according to the number determined by the country). This parliament plays an important role in electing the President of the European Commission, in the budget and in making laws. This parliament is in Brussels.
ii) European Commission - The European Commission is the main executive body of the EU. The Commission is responsible for formulating EU rules, enforcing them, reviewing the above agreements and the day-to-day running of the EU. The Commission is headquartered in Brussels.
iii) Council of the European Union - The key members of the European Parliament, who have specific powers in the budget and legislation, their cabinet is called the Council of the European Union. The conference is headquartered in Brussels.
iv) The European Council is the Council of Heads of EU member states. This council determines the political direction of the European Parliament. The conference is headquartered in Brussels.
v) European Court of Justice - The main function of this court is to interpret the European law properly and to check whether the law is being enforced. This court is in Luxembourg.
vi) European Court of Auditors - This pillar is working for proper implementation of European budget through audit. This court is in Luxembourg.
vi) European Central Bank - 19 of the 28 member states of the European Union are headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. The euro currency has been adopted by creating the eurozone by adopting monetary policy. The central bank for these 19 countries is the European.
EU members currently Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland , Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and England are 28 member states of the EU. Recent members are Romania and Bulgaria (1 January 2007) and Croatia (1 July 2013). Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are eligible to join. Russia, Norway and Switzerland are important countries on the map of Europe, while Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Ukraine are not members of the EU. To become a member of the EU, one has to meet the 1993 Copenhagen criteria. Stable democracy, respect for human rights, rule of law, open market economy and recognition of EU laws are the Copenhagen criteria, and nations that meet these criteria are eligible to become EU members.
African Union
1) On 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, 32 African countries formed the 'Organization of African Units'. The organization had the following objectives.
i) To co-operate for the welfare of the people of African countries.
ii) To maintain the sovereignty, unity, integrity and independence of African countries.
iii) End all forms of colonialism.
iv) Protection of human rights.
v) Improving the living standards of the people through economic and social development. vi) Dispute between members.
i) African countries were becoming independent from the colonies, but were found in the clutches of incompetent local leaders. Therefore, the work of the African Union did not make sense.For these reasons, the African Union came to be known as the Dictator's Club.
ii) The above conversion was done with the objective of accelerating the resolution of economic, social and political issues and integrating the African continent into the global economy.
3) The African Union consists of 55 African countries. In 1984, Morocco withdrew from the African Union. On 30 January 2017, Morocco became a member of the New African Union.
4) The African Union has the following pillars -
African Parliament
African Union Commission
Court of Justice of African Union
Peace & Security Council
Security Council Economic,
Social & Cultural Council
African Central Bank, Nigeria
African Monetary Fund
Cameroon vili African Investment Bank Bank
African Commission on Human and People's Rights
4) African Energy Commission
5) The African Union is not a trade union. But on March 21, 2018, an African Continental Free Trade Agreement was signed between the 27 members of the African Union. As of July 2019, the agreement has been signed by 54 countries. In the future, the agreement will boost trade within the African continent.
6) India-Africa Forum -
i) Movements for enhancing trade relations between the African Union and India The 3rd India-Africa Forum Conference 2019 started in the last 10 years. India-Africa Forum Summit is being organized to enhance this relationship.
ii) 3 conferences like 2008, 2011 and 2015 have been held so far.
iii) The third conference was held in October 2015 in New Delhi. The conference included two important declarations between India and Africa, the Delhi Declaration and the India-Africa Strategic Cooperation Framework. These declarations have created a framework for long-term cooperation between India and African countries. This cooperation will include political, economic, social, scientific, technical, cultural, defense, agriculture and other areas. The conference was attended by 41 delegates from 12 countries on behalf of the African Union.
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