Umoja wa Ulaya

Umoja wa Ulaya (kifupisho: EU) ni muungano wa kisiasa na wa kiuchumi wa nchi 27 za Ulaya, baada ya Ufalme wa Muungano kujitoa tarehe 31 Januari 2020, tukio la kwanza la namna hiyo. 

Ulianzishwa mwaka 1991 juu ya msingi wa Jumuiya ya Kiuchumi ya Ulaya.

Shabaha kuu zilikuwa kujenga uchumi wa pamoja, kuboresha maisha ya watu wa Ulaya na kuzuia vita kati ya nchi za Ulaya.

Nchi 19 za Umoja huo hutumia pesa moja ya Euro. 

Nchi nyingi za Umoja zimepatana kufungua mipaka yao bila vizuizi kwa wakazi wote.

Historia 
Jumuiya ya Kiuchumi ya Ulaya ilibadilisha jina lake mwaka 1992 kufuatana na mikataba ya Maastricht kuwa Umoja wa Ulaya.

Nchi wanachama zilipatana kujenga siasa ya pamoja ya kiuchumi, kifedha, kisheria na katika mambo ya nje.

Mapatano ya Schengen ilifungua mipaka ili wakazi wa nchi hizo waweze kusafiri bila pasipoti wala vibali.

Nchi 10 tena zilijiunga na Umoja wa Ulaya mwaka 2004. Mbili zaidi ziliingia 2007 na Kroatia mwaka 2013.

Wakazi
Jumla ya wakazi ni milioni 447 (mwanzoni mwa 2020), sawa na 5.8% za watu wote duniani. Kuna miji 15 yenye watu zaidi ya milioni moja kila mmojawapo, kuanzia Paris ambayo inazidi milioni 10. 

Upande wa lugha, lugha rasmi ni 24, lakini lugha inayotumika zaidi ni Kiingereza, kinachoweza kuzungumzwa na 51% za wakazi wote, ingawa ni lugha ya kwanza ya 1% tu. Lugha nyingine ambazo ni za kwanza kwa wananchi wengi ni: Kijerumani (18%), Kifaransa (13%) na Kiitalia (12%). Pia kuna lugha 150 hivi za kieneo.

Upande wa dini, wakazi wengi ni Wakristo (71.6%), hasa Wakatoliki (45.3%), Waprotestanti 11.1% na Waorthodoksi 9.6%. Waislamu ni 1.8%. Wafuasi wa dini nyingine ni 2.6%. Wengine 24% hawana dini au ni Wakanamungu.

Uhuru wa kuhama 
Kila mtu mwenye uraia wa nchi ya Umoja anaruhusiwa kuhamia nchi yoyote nyingine na kufanya kazi au biashara huko bila vibali vya pekee.

Vilevile bidhaa zote zinazotengenezwa kote katika Umoja wa Ulaya zinaweza kuuzwa katika kila nchi. Hii ni sababu ya kuwa na sheria za pamoja zinazotawala masharti ya bidhaa na uzalishaji.

Vyombo vya Umoja

Halmashauri ya Ulaya 
Halmashauri hii ni mkutano wa viongozi wa serikali za nchi wanachama. Wanakutana mara mbili kwa mwaka na kutoa maazimo muhimu.

Nafasi ya uraisi hubadilika kila baada ya miezi 6. Ufini ilishika uraisi kati ya Julai 2006 hadi Desemba 2006, ikafuatiliwa na Ujerumani tangu Januari hadi Juni 2007.

Baraza za mawaziri 
Katika baraza hizi mawaziri ya Kilimo, Sheria, Mambo ya Nje hukutana na kupanga siasa ya pamoja.

Kamati ya Ulaya 
Hii ni kamati ya utawala inayotekeleza maazimio ya Halmashauri na bunge. Kuna makamishna 24 na mwenyekiti. Inaelekea kuwa serikali lakini haina madaraka ya serikali bado.

Bunge la Ulaya 

Bunge la Ulaya lina wabunge 751 wanaochaguliwa na wananchi kila baada ya miaka mitano.

Nchi wanachama wa Umoja wa Ulaya

Wanachama tangu 1958 (waanzilishi) 
 Ubelgiji
 Ufaransa
 Ujerumani
 Italia
 Luxemburg
 Uholanzi

Wanachama tangu 1973 
 Denmark
 Ueire
 Ufalme wa Muungano (hadi 2020 [Brexit])

Mwanachama tangu 1981 
 Ugiriki

Wanachama tangu 1986 
 Ureno
 Hispania

Wanachama tangu 1995 
 Austria
 Ufini
 Uswidi

Wanachama tangu 2004 
 Kupro
 Ucheki
 Estonia
 Hungaria
 Latvia
 Lithuania
 Malta
 Poland
 Slovakia
 Slovenia

Wanachama tangu 2007 
 Bulgaria
 Romania

Wanachama tangu 2013 
 Kroatia

Nchi zinazoomba uanachama 
 Uturuki
 Masedonia Kaskazini
 Montenegro
 Albania
 Serbia

Jeshi la Uropa/Ulaya
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/EU_PESCO_map.svg

Tazama pia
 Mkataba wa Schengen
 Umoja wa Forodha wa Ulaya

Marejeo

 
 
 
 
  The E.U.'s foreign-policy mechanisms and foreign relations, including with its neighbours.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 McAuley, James, "A More Perfect Union?" (review of Luuk van Middelaar, Alarums and Excursions:  Improving Politics on the European Stage, translated from the Dutch by Liz Waters, Agenda, 2019, 301 pp.; and Stéphanie Hennette, Thomas Piketty, Guillaume Sacriste, and Antoine Vauchez, How to Democratize Europe, translated from the French by Paul Dermine, Marc LePain, and Patrick Camiller, Harvard University Press, 2019, 209 pp.), The New York Review of Books, vol. LXVI, no. 13 (15 August 2019), pp. 46–48.  James McAuley writes:  "There was never a single moment that marked the definitive establishment of the European Union, which... has continued to define itself since World War II.  [T]he major turning points have all been quiet steps on the way to further economic integration while preserving national sovereignty.  Today there is only an incomplete monetary union without a real political contract to manage it...  [Nevertheless, the Union's] various peoples have grown remarkably closer...  The European Union now has open borders, a single market from Portugal to the Baltics, and more or less monthly meetings of member state leaders [the European Council].  What's more, those member states are now closer to each other than they are to the United States...  [T]his transformation has occurred informally and organically...  [R]obust supranational politics are taking root in Europe... Luuk van Middelaar writes:  '[W]hat unites us as Europeans on this continent is bigger and stronger than anything that divides us.'"  (pp. 47–48.)
 
 Mount, Ferdinand, "Why We Go to War", London Review of Books, vol. 41, no. 11 (6 June 2019), pp. 11–14.  "[H]istorians have tended to weave their narratives around [...] high-flown themes:  the struggle to maintain the balance of power, the struggles against fascism and communism, against the French Revolution or German militarism.  In reality, most large wars have contained within them a violent and persistent economic conflict. [p. 12.]  Not for one second do [the U.K.'s Brexiteers] pause to think how hard-won [Europe's economic integration and peace, within the European Union, have] been.  They are the feckless children of seventy years of peace." [p. 14.]
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Viungo vya nje 
Tovuti rasmi:
 EUROPA – official web portal
 Institutions
 European Council
 European Commission
 Council
  European Parliament
 European Central Bank
 Court of Justice of the European Union
 Court of Auditors
 Agencies
 EUR-Lex – Sheria
 Historical Archives of the European Union

Mandhari na data:
 Eurostat – European Union Statistics Explained
 Datasets related to the EU on CKAN
 
  British Pathé – Online newsreel archive of the 20th century
 Search EU Financial Sanctions List
 The European Union: Questions and Answers Congressional Research Service
 

Taarifa:
 Der Spiegel interview with Helmut Schmidt and Valery Giscard d'Estaing

Misaada ya kufundishia:
 European Studies Hub – interactive learning tools and resources to help students and researchers better understand and engage with the European Union and its politics.

Viungo vya nje 

 European Union online portal
  Finland's EU Council Presidency
 'Your Europe' information website
  Europedia: Guide to European policies and legislation

Siasa
 
Mashirika ya kimataifa
Brussels