Visegrád GroupThe Visegrád Group (also known as the Visegrád Four, the V4, or the European Quartet) is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-operation in military, economic, cultural and energy affairs, and to further their integration with the EU. All four states are also members of the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Bucharest Nine (B9).
Single marketA single market, sometimes called common market or internal market, is a type of trade bloc in which most trade barriers have been removed (for goods) with some common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of production (capital and labour) and of enterprise and services. The goal is that the movement of capital, labour, goods, and services between the members is as easy as within them. The physical (borders), technical (standards) and fiscal (taxes) barriers among the member states are removed to the maximum extent possible.
Schuman DeclarationThe Schuman Declaration, or Schuman Plan, was a proposal to place French and West German production of coal and steel under a single authority that later became the European Coal and Steel Community, made by the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, on 9 May 1950 (now celebrated in the EU as Europe Day), the day after the fifth anniversary of the end of World War II. The alliance would later be opened to other European countries.
GaullismGaullism (Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withdrew French forces from the NATO Command Structure, forced the removal of Allied bases from France, as well as initiated France's own independent nuclear deterrent programme. His actions were predicated on the view that France would not be subordinate to other nations.
European Court of Human RightsThe European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a contracting state has breached one or more of the human rights enumerated in the convention or its optional protocols to which a member state is a party. The European Convention on Human Rights is also referred to by the initials "ECHR". The court is based in Strasbourg, France.
Erasmus ProgrammeThe Erasmus Programme ("EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students") is a European Union (EU) student exchange programme established in 1987. Erasmus+, or Erasmus Plus, is the new programme combining all the EU's current schemes for education, training, youth and sport, which was started in January 2014. In 1989, the Erasmus Bureau invited 32 former Erasmus students for an evaluation meeting in Ghent, Belgium.
Luxembourg francThe Luxembourg franc (F or ISO LUF, Frang), subdivided into 100 centimes, was the currency of Luxembourg between 1854 and 2002, except from 1941 to 1944. From 1944 to 2002, its value was equal to that of the Belgian franc. The franc remained in circulation until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The conquest of most of western Europe by Revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the French franc's wide circulation, including in Luxembourg. However, incorporation into the Netherlands in 1815 resulted in the Dutch guilder becoming Luxembourg's currency.
Enhanced cooperationIn the European Union (EU), enhanced cooperation (previously known as closer cooperation) is a procedure where a minimum of nine EU member states are allowed to establish advanced integration or cooperation in an area within EU structures but without the other members being involved. As of October 2017, this procedure is being used in the fields of the Schengen acquis, divorce law, patents, property regimes of international couples, and European Public Prosecutor and is approved for the field of a financial transaction tax.
Community of Democratic ChoiceThe Community of Democratic Choice is an intergovernmental organization established on 2 December 2005, by nine states of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was mainly signed by countries from the region between the Baltic, Black Sea and Caspian Sea ("The three Seas"). Its main task is to promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law throughout the region.
Belgian francThe Belgian franc (Belgische frank, Franc belge, Belgischer Franken) was the currency of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1832 until 2002 when the Euro was introduced. It was subdivided into 100 subunits, each known as a centiem in Dutch, centime in French or a Centime in German. The gulden (guilder) of 20 stuivers was the currency of present-day Belgium from the 15th to 19th centuries until its replacement in 1832 by the Belgian franc. Its value differed from the gulden of the Dutch Republic during the latter's separation from Belgium from 1581 to 1816.
