Euro signThe euro sign ⟨⟩ is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by two lines instead of one. Depending on convention in each nation, the symbol can either precede the value (for instance, €10), or follow the value (for instance, 10 €), often with an intervening space.
Member state of the European UnionThe European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are party to the EU's founding treaties, and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of membership. They have agreed by the treaties to share their own sovereignty through the institutions of the European Union in certain aspects of government. State governments must agree unanimously in the Council for the union to adopt some policies; for others, collective decisions are made by qualified majority voting.
Right of initiative (legislative)The right of (legislative) initiative is the constitutionally defined power to propose a new law (bill) in a legislature. The right of initiative is usually given to both the government (executive) and individual legislators. However, some systems may restrict this right to legislators acting alone or with others (such as in the United States) or to the government (such as in the European Union).
IntergovernmentalismIn international relations, intergovernmentalism treats states (and national governments in particular) as the primary actors in the integration process. Intergovernmentalist approaches claim to be able to explain both periods of radical change in the European Union because of converging governmental preferences and periods of inertia because of diverging national interests. Intergovernmentalism is distinguishable from realism and neorealism because it recognized the significance of institutionalisation in international politics and the impact of domestic politics upon governmental preferences.
EurobarometerEurobarometer is a series of public opinion surveys conducted regularly on behalf of the European Commission and other EU institutions since 1973. These surveys address a wide variety of topical issues relating to the European Union throughout its member states. The Eurobarometer results are published by the European Commission's Directorate-General Communication. Its database since 1973 is one of the largest in the world.
Director generalA director general or director-general (plural: directors general, directors-general, director generals or director-generals ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmental, statutory, NGO, third sector or not-for-profit institution. The term is commonly used in many countries worldwide, but with various meanings. In most Russian states, the director-general is the most senior civil servant in any government department, reporting only to the democratically elected minister representing that department.
Founding fathers of the European UnionThe founding fathers of the European Union are men who are considered to be major contributors to European unity and the development of what is now the European Union. The number and list of the founding fathers of the EU varies depending on the source. In a publication from 2013 the European Union listed 11 men. All but one (Winston Churchill from the United Kingdom) were from the Inner Six of the European Union. Some sources list only a subset of the 11 men as founding fathers.
European political partyA European political party, known formally as a political party at European level and informally as a Europarty, is a type of political party organisation operating transnationally in Europe and within the institutions of the European Union. They are regulated and funded by EU Regulation No. 1141/2014 on European Political Parties and European Political Foundations and their operations are supervised by the EU Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations.
