Portugal+-JH

Why was the European Union created?

 * The EU wanted to move Europe towards globalization.
 * The EU was originally established around the idea of having integrated steel and coal companies.
 * Easier trade and no trade barriers was a major factor in establishing the EU.
 * The EU wanted to make Europe an economic leader.
 * The EU also wanted to improve transportation systems.
 * The EU was established to prevent fighting.
 * The EU was created to have better trade with foreign nations.

Give a thorough history of the EU.

 * The first idea of uniting Europe after World War Two in 1951 by Robert Schuman.
 * In 1957 European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up and signed.
 * The European Committee was formed in 1967.
 * Denmark, Ireland, and United Kingdom agreed to treaties in 1973.
 * Greece, Spain and Portugal accept treaties in the 1980s.
 * The EU was officially established in 1992.
 * In 1995 the EU gains three more new members, Austria, Finland and Sweden.
 * Euro becomes currency of most countries in the EU in 1999.
 * Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join in 2004.

What is the purpose of the EU?

 * There are no trade barriers between countries in the EU.
 * There are EU passports and you can travel anywhere in the EU for the price of the ticket.
 * The EU is trying to stop the fighting in Eastern Europe.
 * Improve the economies of countries that turned to communism.
 * The EU would like to have Europe become move towards a more common lifestyle.
 * The EU is also trying to integrate countries in Europe.
 * The EU is trying to improve industries to help rebuild countries economies’.
 * The EU is trying to give Europeans the latest technologies.

http://europa.eu/abc/history/index_en.htm https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ee.html http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/european_union/index.html http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/emblem/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/abc/history/index_en.htm
 * You can get a European Union Passport and don’t have to go through signing in at different countries.
 * There is one currency, the euro, so you don’t have to worry about transferring money in a foreign country.
 * There are travel systems that can take you across Europe in a day.
 * There hasn’t been another conflict like World War Two in Western Europe since the founding.
 * More environmental energy sources have been discovered.
 * Each country provides healthcare and other services with taxes.
 * You can trade with more countries if you own a business because trade barriers have been removed.


 * __Portugal__ **

Is your country a member of the EU?

 * Portugal is a small country on the Iberian Peninsula that has experienced recent economic hardships, to try and straighten these problems out Portugal joined the EU. Joining the EU helped Portugal out of its economic hardships because of the billions of aid dollars that it received. The billions of dollars were used to rebuild Portugal’s business industry; the EU funds have made Portugal the fastest economic growing country.

If it is, how and when did it become a member?

 * Portugal joined the EU because it was expiring economic hardships was hoped to be helped out of them by the EU.
 * Portugal joined the EU in 1986.
 * Portugal resigned from many treaties to join the EU, including NATO, OECD, and EFTA.
 * Portugal’s attempts to rebuild its economy on its own left the country in even worse condition.
 * Portugal had many attempts at establishing a republic but all but two of three attempts failed due to disagreements about the government.
 * Military rose to power again when Dr. Marcello Caetano was failing while trying to introduce new political and economic ideas.
 * Portugal started to see hopes of a better future when the military was overthrown in the bloodless Carnation Revolution.

PROS
 ·   For Portugal there were almost no cons for joining the EU because Portugal was pulled out of its hardships and is now thriving. A possible con may be when Portugal changed its currency to the euro.
 * When Portugal joined the EU it was pulled out of its economic hardship.
 * Portugal gets a share of the EU presidency because Lisbon Treaty renewed the EU’s leadership roles.
 * When Portugal joined the EU the funds it was receiving allowed for Portugal to change to a democracy.
 * Portugal adopted the euro as its currency so its currency has a high value and used throughout Europe.
 * Portugal is able to focus on its lack of skilled jobs and education programs.
 * When Portugal was pulled out of its economic hardship it was able to use money to host popular European tournaments.
 * Cons **

How does the EU benefit your country, whether they are a member or not?
 ·  Portugal ’s economic hardships were worked on when Portugal joined the EU.  ·  Portugal  now has a well established democracy after several years of having a dictatorship.  ·  The Lisbon Treaty gives the Portuguese a say in the EU decisions.  ·  Portugal  hasn’t had to hold the colonies it established because of its recent economic recovery.  ·   Many large tournaments have been held in Portugal recently, adding to Portugal’s economic growth.  ·   Portugal has moved more towards urbanization since joining the EU.  ·   Portugal hasn’t had to worry about many large conflicts, due to the EU efforts to prevent wars.  ·    Portugal no longer has to worry about trade barriers with other countries in the EU. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107895.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal http://www.historycentral.com/NationbyNation/Portugal/History1.html http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/european-union/portugal/images/portugal-flag.gif Heale, Jay, and Angeline Koh. __Portugal__. New York: Benchmark Books, 2006.