For over half a century, since it was created as a rather small and fairly specialized organization, the European Union has grown from the initial six member states to 25 at present and has increased its functions and powers, going from monitoring the coal and steel industries to managing the entire economies of member countries and even delving into social and cultural arenas, justice, defense, and foreign policy. This growth has not been slow and steady but rather in a series of bursts, and it was hoped that the most recent initiative, the constitutional treaty, would be well on its way to ratification by the time this book was completed. Rejection of this treaty in public referenda in France and The Netherlands, however, has stalled this process and made its future unclear. Thus the organization will have to carry on with its current rules and structure, but carry on it will. This setback, while a good opportunity for reflection, will not put an end to the processes of European integration.
The European Union is already the largest organization of its kind, with 25 member states and a population of 450 million. The A to Z of the European Union provides a glimpse of its history in the chronology, guidance through the maze of acronyms and abbreviations, and insight into its growth and operations in the introduction. The dictionary contains entries on constitutive treaties, constituent bodies, the EU’s functions and powers, member states present and future, and important figures. The appendixes provide statistics on member states, commissions, and leaders, and the bibliography is an essential resource for those who want to know more.
This volume was written by Joaquín Roy and Aimee Kanner. Dr. Roy, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, is also the founding director of the European Union Research Institute and director of the European Union Center at the University of Miami. He has written numerous articles and 25 books, many of them on European integration. Dr. Kanner, assistant professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University, lectures on the politics of the European Union. She is the former associate director of the Miami European Union Center and has written extensively on the EU. Together, Drs. Roy and Kanner have collaborated on many projects and a number of books, but this is perhaps the most ambitious. It will certainly be of considerable use to their students, as well as the many others in need of information about this exceptional and thus far successful experiment in regional integration.
—Jon Woronoff, series editor