Active Vocabulary

Bill of Rights	1) Білль про права (у Великій Британії) 2) перші десять поправок до конституції США
collective rights	права груп(и) людей
commitment to human rights	відданість правам людини
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen	Декларація прав людини і громадянина
development of human rights	розвиток прав людини
elements of human rights	елементи прав людини
equal rights	рівні права
expression of human rights	вираження прав людини
framework of human rights	основа прав людини
fundamental rights	основні права
human rights	права людини
human rights achievement	досягнення прав людини
limited rights	обмежені права
observance of human rights	дотримання прав людини
origins of human rights	походження прав людини
protection of human rights	захист прав людини
realization of human rights	втілення прав людини
recognition of human rights	визнання прав людини
respect of/for human rights	повага до прав людини
rights of indigenous people	права корінних жителів
the right of self-determination	право на самовираження
the right to life	право на життя
the right to recognition	право на визнання
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights	Загальна декларація прав людини
to be entitled to fundamental rights	мати право на основні права
to enshrine human rights	зберігати права людини
to forfeit one’s right	втрачати чиєсь право
to grant rights	надавати права
to guarantee the rights	гарантувати права
to hold certain rights	мати певні права
to uphold human rights	підтримувати права людини

Unit 4. Introduction to European Union Law

Lead-in

The European Union needs no introduction. Over half a century, it has brought political stability and economic prosperity to its citizens. It has created a frontier-free single market and a single currency, the euro. It has reunited a fractured continent. The European Union is a major economic and commercial power and the world’s biggest donor of development aid to poorer countries. Its membership has grown from six to 27 nations, bringing the EU’s population to nearly half a billion.

1. What do you think about the membership of the European Union?

2. Is it necessary to be a member of the European Union?

3. In your opinion what are the main principles of the European Union?

Reading 1: This text deals with the establishment of European Union law.

1. Read the passage Historical development and tell when the European Union began its history;

2. Read the passage What is the European Union Law and explain its essence;

3. How many member states does the European Union cover? Give the examples of candidate countries nowadays.

Task 1. Read the whole text and decide whether these statements are true (T) or false (F).

1. The EU began life in the 1950s as the European Economic Community with six founding members.

2. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia joined in 2004, followed in 2007 by Bulgaria and Romania.

3. Croatia and Turkey are the member states of the European Union.

4. European Union law has indirect effect within the EU's member states.

5. Before a candidate country can join the EU it must have a stable system of democratic government, institutions that ensure the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Glossary

political stability member states to be united in rich diverse frontier-free market single market commercial power fractured continent membership founding members economic integration to apply for historical ties ethnic diversity European Court of Justice landmark case legal order sovereign rights distinction

Historical development: The EU began life in the 1950s as the European Economic Community with six founding members — Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. They created a new way of coming together to manage their joint interests, based essentially on economic integration. They were joined by Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom in 1973, Greece in 1981, and Spain and Portugal in 1986. Unification of Germany in 1990 brought in the Länder from eastern Germany. In 1992, a new treaty gave more responsibilities to the Community institutions and introduced new forms of cooperation between national governments, thus creating the European Union as such. The EU was enlarged in 1995 to include Austria, Finland and Sweden. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia joined in 2004, followed in 2007 by Bulgaria and Romania. Three candidates, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey, have applied for membership. Europe has always been home to different peoples and cultures. Every member state includes people from other countries — usually with close historical ties to the host country. The EU sees ethnic and cultural diversity as an asset, and promotes tolerance, respect and mutual understanding.

What is the European Union Law? European Union law (historically called European Community law) is a body of treaties, law and court judgements which operates alongside the legal systems of the European Union's member states. It has direct effect within the EU's member states and, where conflict occurs, takes precedence over national law. The development of law of the European Community has been largely moulded by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In the landmark case of Van Gend en Loos in 1963, the ECJ ruled that the European Community, through the will of Member States expressed in the Treaty of Rome, "constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of which the states have limited their sovereign rights albeit within limited fields." Today the situation has changed due to the entering into force 1 December 2009 the Lisbon Treaty.

Member states of the EU: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

Task 2. Put questions to the italicized words:

For example: Six founding members such as Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were the founding members of the European Economic Community.

Question is: How many countries were the founding members of the European Economic Community?

Task 3. Answer the questions.

1. When did the European Union begin its life?

2. How many founding members established the first European Community?

3. What were the interests of founding members?

4. When was the European Union created as such?

5. Could you tell about the cultural diversity among the members of the European Union?

6. What does the European Union Law mean?

7. How many members are there in the European Union nowadays? Please list them.

Task 4. Complete the following sentences with the prepositions from the box.

of of by after on of for of from in