I have never been so scared in my entire life

The term “Brussels” is often used in the media to refer to the EU institutions, most
of which are located in the city of Brussels.
EU laws are proposed by the European Commission but it is the Council of the
European Union (ministers from the national governments) and the European
Parliament (elected by the European citizens) that debate, amend and ultimately
decide whether to pass these proposed laws.

When the EEC was founded in 1957, it was based on a 'common market'. In other
words, people, goods and services should be able to move around freely between
the member states as if they were all one country, with no checks carried out at the borders and no customs duties paid. However, this took a while to achieve: customs duties between the EEC countries were not completely abolished until 1 July 1968.
Other barriers to trade also took a long while to remove, and it was not until the
end of 1992 that the 'Single Market' (as it became known) was in place.

There are three different European bodies with the word 'council' in their names:

1. The European Council This is the meeting of heads of State and government (i.e. presidents and/or prime ministers) of all the EU countries, plus the President of the European Commission. The European Council meets, in principle, four times a year to agree overall EU policy and to review progress. It is the highest-level policy-making body in the European Union, which is why its meetings are often called “summits”.
2. The Council of the European Union Formerly known as the Council of Ministers, this institution consists of government ministers from all the EU countries. The Council meets regularly to take detailed decisions and to pass European laws.
3. The Council of Europe This is not an EU institution. It is an intergovernmental organization based in Strasbourg and it aims (amongst other things) to protect human rights, to promote Europe's cultural diversity and to combat social problems such as xenophobia and intolerance.

An international organisation in Strasbourg which comprises 47 countries of Europe. It was set up to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe.

The European Police College (Cepol) is a European Union Agency established in 2005 based in Bramshill, England. Its mission is to bring together senior police officers from police forces in Europe and form a network for them as well as encouraging cross-border cooperation in the fight against crime, public security and law and order by organising training activities and research findings.

If a violation against the European Social Charter has occurred a collective complaint can be filed. EuroCOP, as a NGO with participatory status at the Council of Europe, is one of the actors that may do so.

Based in Luxembourg and ensures compliance with the law in the interpretation and application of the European Treaties of the European Union. 

The staff of the main EU institutions (Commission, Council and Parliament) are organised into a number of distinct departments, known as “Directorates- General” (DGs), each of which is responsible for specific tasks or policy areas. The administrative head of a DG is known as the 'Director-General' (a term sometimes also abbreviated to 'DG

The directorate general is one of 36 departments of the European Commission which mission is to make sure that the European Union is an area of freedom, security and justice. Deals among other with EU legislation on terrorism, organised crime and police cooperation. Also handles the “Stockholm Programme” on the future plans within this area.
The Commissioner in charge is Jacques Barrot (May 2008-)
He took over from Franco Frattini (2004-2008)

This abbreviation refers either to the 'European Community' or to the 'European Commission'. The European Community Is the present name for what was originally called the 'European Economic Community' (EEC): see below.

Is the politically independent institution that represents and upholds the interests of the European Union as a whole. It proposes legislation, policies and programmes of action and it is responsible for implementing the decisions of Parliament and the Counc

This abbreviation refers to the European Economic Area – which consists of the European Union and all the EFTA countries except Switzerland.

This is the abbreviation for the European Economic Community – one of three European Communities set up in 1957 to bring about economic integration in Europe. There were originally six member countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In 1993, when the Treaty of Maastricht came into force, the EEC was re-named the European Community (EC) and it forms the basis of today's European Uni

This is the abbreviation for the European Free Trade Association. Today the EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

In the 1950s, the EU began with just six member states. It now has 27. Growth in EU membership is known as 'enlargement', and it has happened several times:

1950

• Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands

1973

• Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom

1981

• Greece

1986

• Portugal, Spain

1995

• Austria, Finland, Sweden

2004

• Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

2007

• Bulgaria, Romania

The European Trade Union Confederation, founded in 1973 based in Brussels. It operates at a cross-border level with other European social partners (trade unions and the employers or their representative organisations) to develop employment, social and macroeconomic policies.

The European Code of Police Ethics adopted in 2001 by the Council of Europe.
It enshrines the basic principles that should apply to police services in democratic societies governed by the rule of law. It is more than a traditional code of ethics; it provides a general organisational framework for the police, their place in the criminal justice system, their objectives, performance and accountability. Some parts of the text are intended to serve as model provisions for national legislation and codes of conduct as well as principles for ethical policing.

The executive organ of the European Union, based in Brussels, which monitors the proper application of the Union treaties and the decisions of the Union institutions.

In the 1950s, six European countries decided to pool their economic resources and set up a system of joint decisionmaking on economic issues. To do so, they formed three organizations:

• The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC),
• The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom),
• The European Economic Community (EEC).

Treaty by which the member states of the Council of Europe undertake to respect fundamental freedoms and rights.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Adopted by the United Nations in 1948 in order to strengthen the protection of human rights at international level.

Regular meeting (at least twice a year) of the heads of state or government from the member states of the European Union for the purpose of planning European Union policy.

Based in Strasbourg, this is the only truly judicial organ established by the European Convention on Human Rights. It is composed of one Judge for each State party to the Convention and ensures, in the last instance, that contracting states observe their obligations under the Convention. Since November 1998, the Court has operated on a full-time basis. 

The parliamentary body of the European Union which comprises 785 European Members of Parliament of the 27 European Union countries, elected by universal suffrage.

The EU currently has 27 members that have delegated some of their sovereignty so that decisions on specific matters of joint interest can be made democratically at European level.

The European Social Charter guarantees social and economic human rights and covers a broad range of individual rights for example fair working conditions and equality at the work place. It was adopted in 1961 and revised in 1996. The implementation of the Social Charter is monitored on an annual basis through national reports. If a violation against the charter has occurred a collective complaint can be filed.

The European Police Office (Europol) based in The Hague has a very different task from EuroCOP, even thought its names sound similar. Established in 1992 Europol provides investigative support to member states’ police services on cross-border crimes and assists them during national operations. It enables information exchanges between European Union countries, provides expertise and support and works to fight terrorism.
Europol deals with very hands-on fighting crime across the border, whereas EuroCOP represents police unions and staff organisations in Europe and deals with police officers ability to perform their tasks properly, among other things.

One of the great achievements of the EU has been to create a frontier-free area within which (I) people, (2) goods, (3) services and (4) money can all move around freely. This four-fold freedom of movement is sometimes called “the four freedoms”.

The Fundamental Rights Agency is an agency of the European Union established to provide assistance and expertise as far as human rights matters go. The agency, founded in 2007 is based in Vienna.

The external border security agency of the European Union established in 2005 in Warsaw. It was created to integrate national border security systems of EU member states against all kind of threats that could happen on or through the external border of the EU.

Judicial body of the United Nations, which is based in The Hague.

An intergovernmental organization in Lyon which works for international police cooperation. It was set up in 1923 to make it easier for international police co-operation to work.

Non-Governmental Organisation.

Established in 1994 in Bilbao, Spain, to deal with occupational safety and health issues. Its task is to bring together and share EU’s pool of knowledge and information on safety and health related issues, particularly good prevention practices.

The deliberative body of the Council of Europe, composed of 318 representatives (and the same number of substitutes) appointed by the 47 member states’ national parliaments. 

The European Union takes decisions in three separate 'domains' (policy areas),
also known as the three 'pillars' of the EU.

• The first pillar is the 'Community domain', covering most of the common
• policies, where decisions are taken by the 'Community method' (see above) involving the Commission, Parliament and the Council.
  The second pillar is the common foreign and security policy, where decisions are taken by the Council alone.
  
• The third pillar is 'police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters', where – once again – the Council takes the decisions.

In 1985, five EU countries (France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the
Netherlands) agreed to abolish all checks on people travelling between them. This
created a territory without internal borders which became known as the Schengen
area. (Schengen is the town in Luxembourg where the agreement was signed).
The Schengen countries introduced a common visa policy for the whole area and
agreed to establish effective controls at its external borders. Checks at the internal borders may be carried out for a limited period if public order or national security make this necessary. The Schengen area includes every EU country plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. However, Ireland and the United Kingdom do not take part in the arrangements relating to border controls and visas.

This is jargon for the two sides of industry
– i.e. employers and workers. At EU level
they are represented by three main organisations:

• The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), representing workers;
• The Union of Industries of the European Community (UNICE), representing private sector employers;
• The European Centre for Public Enterprise (CEEP), representing public sector employers. The European Commission consults them when drawing up proposals for social and employment legislation.

It replaces the Hague Programme and set the priorities for the area of Justice and Home Affairs in the EU for the next five years. It will define the framework for the EU police and customs cooperation, rescue services, criminal and civil law cooperation, asylum, migration and visa policy for the period 2010-2014.

The Working Time Directive is a collection of regulations designed by the European Union to regulate working hours and to protect the health and safety of workers.

One of the key features is to limit the number of working hours per week to 48 hours. However, currently (May 2010) member states are able to ‘opt out’ from this, which means that employers can agree with individual workers to not apply this rule.