The current NDP is unlike its two predecessors in that it is not primarily designed to draw down EU Structural and Cohesion Funds, these Funds continue to perform a very valuable, although declining, source of funding. The EU will play in vital role in the NDP's Regional Operational Programmes through its various funds:

The European Union is a family of democratic European countries group of countries that share their efforts, ideas and resources to help achieve peace and prosperity in Europe. The EU Member States have decided between themselves, by way of a number of legally-binding treaties, to cooperate to achieve certain goals. These include: to promote economic and social progress; to assert the EU identity on the international scene; and to develop an area of freedom, security and justice.

I think everyone was taken by surprise at the speed with which it happened, even those who were campaigning for just such an outcome. The cane, slipper or strap were still in fairly full swing in a majority of British schools at the beginning of the 1980s, yet by mid-1987, in state schools at least, they were gone forever. However, this is not to say that nobody thought abolition would happen sooner or later.

The "European Union Copyright Directive", or, more properly, the Directive on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society establishes in European law a number of changes which are, broadly, intended to bring European copyright law into line with the provisions of the various World Intellectual Property Organisation treaties, including the WIPO copyright treaty.

IAS operates an international selection of depots located within Great Britain and the USA. Due to the restrictive regulations surrounding the status of medicines and “unapproved products”, we carefully decide which products are shipped from which depot to ensure conformity to local laws etc. However, the majority of our medicines are currently located with GB and due to EU legislation there are many regulations that make the area very unclear.

The following countries are joining the European Union from May 1st 2004: Czech Republic, Cyprus (Greek area)*, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Applies to the Greek area of Cyprus only, please check with your local Customer Service for more details.

Under the provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the budget is decided by the budgetary authority on a proposal from the Commission. What is original in this procedure in that the budgetary authority is made up of two separate institutions: the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

The 2004 budget amounted to â?¬ 109.052 million in commitment appropriations and â?¬ 97.476 million in payment appropriations. The first cover the commitments which the institutions are authorised to make during the budgetary year without necessitating a transfer of money during that year, while the second relate to expenditure proper for the budgetary year.

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Additional countries that have expressed interest in joining the EU include: Czech Republic, Hungry, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and Turkey.

The new member states - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are EFTA countries which apply EU Directives. Switzerland adopts many EU measures and allows free movement of EU15 citizens.

the heart of the European Union are a number of legally-binding treaties. Under these treaties, the Member States of the Union delegate some of their national sovereignty to institutions they share and that represent not only their national interests but also their collective interests. They are important as they form the foundation upon which the EU is built and detail how, and in which areas, the Member States integrate their activities. For more information on the treaties see http://europa.

The Council is the EU's main decision-making body. It is the embodiment of the Member States, whose representatives it brings together regularly at ministerial level. According to the matters on the agenda, the Council meets in different compositions: foreign affairs, finance, education, telecommunications, etc. For more information on the Council see http://ue.eu.int/en/summ.htm

No. Although academics in English studies in all current EU countries have, or soon will have, access to associations affiliated to ESSE, we are not in any way linked to the EU, and we welcome Associations from the whole of Europe in the geographical sense, from Portugal to Russia, from Norway to Armenia. See the current list of the 33 National Associations that are part of ESSE.

Yes. Since 1 st May 2004 Cyprus entered the EU. The occupied northern side of the island is still not internationally recognised as an independent state by any other country except Turkey. Hopefully in the not so distant future there will be a solution to this problem. There are strong beliefs that very soon both Greek and Turkish Cypriots will overcome their differences and be able to enjoy all the benefits of a united country.

The EU’s regional policy consists of making payments from its budget to disadvantaged regions to boost development. Between 2000 and 2006 it paid out 213 million euro. There are three objectives: Objective 1, which is used to help regions where the GDP is less than 75 per cent of the EU average, and includes parts of West Wales and the Valleys, while Objective 2 and 3 help less disadvantaged areas.

the Council of the European Union, which represents the member states and is the main decision-making institution; the European Commission, a politically independent body that upholds the collective European interest.

The following countries have joined the European Union from January 1st 2007: Bulgaria & Romania.

Ireland's National Development for the period 2000-2006 was submitted to the Commission in November 1999 as the basis for the Community Support Framework negotiations. Unlike the two previous Plans, which were drafted exclusively for the purpose of securing E.U. Structural Funds, the N.D.P.

It was a resolution passed by the European Parliament which triggered the resignation of the Commissioners, but before too much credit is given for this, the EP's record should be studied carefully. The fact is that the EP has tolerated and accepted standards of inefficiency and corruption for years which it should never have allowed. It has accepted flawed accounts. It has agreed budgets which it knew were never going to be carried out.

No, switzerland is NOT a part of european union, and swiss people never wanted to join European Union and let their currency sink.

Established by a Directive of the European Council, the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) creates the framework for an EU-wide cap and trade program for greenhouse gases. The EU ETS requires member countries to develop national allocation plans which result in GHG reduction at facilities with specific GHG emitting activities. These facilities are identified as "installations.

Customers can expect to get even faster transit times for intra-EU shipments through DHL's extensive network and the elimination of customs clearance procedures. This means that they can get later pick-up time (DHL already provides some of the latest pick-up times possible) and earlier delivery for certain areas.

Corruption and fraud are much more prevalent across the EU than they are in Britain for three main reasons. First, despite some mostly well publicised failings, the standards of probity and honesty in pub]ic affairs are much higher here than they are in many other West European countries. Second, the administrative and financial arrangements in the EU lend themselves to misappropriation and misuse.