2. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Types of international organizations:
- Political organizations: the United Nations (UN),
the Organization of American States (OAS), the
African Union (AU), the European Union (EU)
- Economic organizations: the World Trade
Organization (WTO), the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) and Mercosur.
- Military organizations: the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), the Warsaw Pact (dissolved
in 1991), the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO), the Australia, New
Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS)…
After the two world wars, many states in the world created international organizations with
different purposes to act collectively and be more powerful in the defense of their common
interests.
3. THE UNITED NATIONS
The United Nations was created in 1945 to
promote international co-operation. 193
countries belong to the UN today and
there are also two observer states (the
Holy See and Palestine).
The UN has 4 main purposes:
-To keep peace throughout the world;
- To develop friendly relations among
nations;
-To help nations work together to improve the lives
of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and
illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s
rights and freedoms;
- To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of
nations to achieve these goals.
The United Nations headquarters in New York City
5. - The General Assembly,
formed by the
representatives of all the
members.
- The Security Council,
formed by 5 permanent
members (the USA, United
Kingdom, France, China and
Russia, which have the right
of vetoing the resolutions
of the Assembly they don´t
agree with) and 10 non-
permanent members. Their
task is making decisions
related to peace and
security.
General Assembly
Security Council
6. - The Economic and Social Council,
whose task is promoting
international economic and social
co-operation and development
- The Secretariat is the executive
branch of the UN, in charge of
setting the agenda for the other
bodies of the UN and the
implementation of their
decisions. The head of the
Secretariat is the Secretary-
General, appointed by the General
Assembly. The South Korean Ban Ki-
moon is the current Secretary-
General.
- The International Court of Justice,
the main judicial organ of the UN.
Economic and Social Council
BAN KI – MOON
International Court of Justice, in
The Hague (Netherlands)
7. SOME SPECIALIZED AGENCIES OF THE UNITED NATIONS
IAEAFAO
WHO
UNESCO
WFP
WORLD BANK
The United Nations has different
agencies that work in different fields:
- WHO (World Health Organization)
- UNESCO (culture and education)
- ACNUR (Refugees)
- UNICEF (children)
- the World Food Program (WFP)
- World Bank Group (WBG)
- FAO (Food and Agriculture
Organization)
- International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA)
- International Monetary Fund (IMF),
8. The UN has a peace force,
the Blue Helmets, who are
soldiers sent to the peace
missions of the UN. These
soldiers are voluntarily
provided by the member
states when a peace
mission is launched. The
UN is financed by voluntary
contributions of its
members and punishes the
members that don´t follow
the rules of the
organization or violate
human rights.
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/current.shtml
9. It’s an association of European nations with the
purpose of achieving political and economic
integration.
The European Economic Community (EEC) was
created in 1957, with the signature of the Treaty of
Rome. Six countries (France, Germany, Belgium, the
Netherlands, Luxemburg and Italy) signed an
economic agreement that allowed the free
movement of goods, services, capitals and people
in their countries. The members of the EEC
eliminated the customs tariffs to facilitate economic
exchanges.
EUROPEAN UNION
11. - The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark
became members in 1973, Greece in 1981,
Spain and Portugal in 1986.
- In 1992 the Treaty of Maastricht was signed
and the EEC became the European Union
(EU). This change of name had the objective
of transforming the economic organization
into a political organization and the project of
a European currency, the euro.
- Sweden, Austria and Finland joined the EU in
1995.
- In 2002 the euro replaced the old currencies
of 11 countries.
- Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004:
Cyprus, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland
and Hungary.
- The last members to join the EU were
Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 and Croatia in
2013.
12. In 2005 there was a project of a
European Constitution, but the
population of some countries rejected
it and the new structure of the EU was
established in the Treaty of Lisbon in
2007.
At present 28 countries belong to the
EU and the euro is the official currency
in 19 countries.
13. EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS
The main institutions of the European
Union are the following:
- EUROPEAN COMMISSION
- EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
- COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
UNION
- EUROPEAN COUNCIL
- COURT OF JUSTICE
- COURT OF AUDITORS
- EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
http://europa.eu/about-eu/institutions-
bodies/european-commission/index_en.htm
14. It’s formed by 28 commissioners, one from each
member state. It’s the executive body of the EU
and its tasks are proposing and implementing
the EU laws and budget and monitoring the
fulfillment of the EU treaties. The Commission
can impose fines or suspend financing to the
States that don’t follow the rules. Its
headquarters is in Brussels and its current
president is Jean Paul Juncker, from Luxemburg.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The European Commission. Miguel Arias Cañete is the Spanish representative as commissioner for
Energy and Climate Action
15. It’s the only directly elected
institution of the EU and it’s formed
by 751 members. Every five years
each country elects a specific number
of deputies, depending on its
population: Germany has the highest
number (96) and the smallest
countries, like Malta, Luxemburg and
Estonia, have 6 deputies each. Spain
has 54 deputies. Its role is electing
the president of the European
Commission and they share the
legislative and budgetary power with
the Council of Ministers. It has a
double seat: the deputies attend the
plenary sessions in Strasbourg and the
additional sessions in Brussels (two
weeks in every place).
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Martin Schulz, president of
the European Parliament
16. Also called Consilium, it’s formed by
ministers of the member states, who
meet regularly according to their
policy area (for example, the ministers
of foreign affairs or the ministers of
finance). They share legislative and
budgetary power with the European
Parliament. The presidency of this
Council rotates among the members
every six months. The current
presidency corresponds to the
Netherlands (from January to June
2016).
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
http://c3639e7694de07e5fa73-f016b9572ff77a84c11597148be206c7.r87.cf3.rackcdn.com/5c778ee6-ee82-
11e4-be47-bc764e083742.mp4
17. The European Council is the
meeting of the heads of the
governments of the member
states. Their job to set the EU's
political agenda and the
European common foreign and
security policy. Its president is
the Pole Donald Tusk.
EUROPEAN COUNCIL
Meeting of the European Council in June 2015
Donald Tusk
18. - The Court of Justice, which holds the
judicial power and watches that the EU
legislation is understood in the same
way across the EU. Its headquarters is
located in Luxemburg.
- The Court of Auditors supervises the
European budget to make sure that it
has been properly spent by the
European institutions. It’s located in
Luxemburg.
European Court of Justice
European Court of Auditors
19. The European Central Bank,
located in Frankfurt, is in charge
of managing the euro, keeping
prices stable and conducting the
European economic and
monetary policy. Its current
president is the Italian Mario
Draghi.
20. Eurogroup Summit in July 2015
The Eurogroup is an informal
body where the ministers of the
euro area member states discuss
matters relating to their shared
responsibilities related to the
euro.
Its main task is to ensure close
coordination of economic
policies among the euro area
member states and promote
conditions for stronger economic
growth.
The Eurogroup is also responsible
for preparing the Euro
Summit meetings and for their
follow-up.
They meet once per month before
the Council of Ministers of
Economic and Financial Affairs.
21. The EU has had positive
effects for its members:
- the standards of living have
grown
- there is a free market with
a common currency
- the EU is an economic
power and a leader in
development aid.
- The solidarity of the most
developed countries
contributes to the
improvement of the least
developed ones.
EU POSITIVE EFFECTS
22. But there are many fields where the EU hasn´t
progressed much: political union, common
policies in international affairs, defense, social
and cultural aspects.
The main problems are:
- nationalism
- the excess of bureaucracy and the feeling of
distance of the EU from the citizens
- the difficulties of having a common position
in international affairs
- the economic differences between the
members.
- Most of the decisions are made by the most
economically powerful countries.
MAIN PROBLEMS
24. The adoption of a common currency
submitted to the authority of the
European Central Bank has also created
many problems, because the Eurozone
members have lost independence and
can’t make any decision to improve
their competitiveness (like devaluating
the currency to improve exports or
minting more money).