Europe organising together!
Date: 2019-01-15
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communication
Subjects: Community budget, EU Member State, EU budget, EU institution, EU law, European Union, European citizenship, euro, euro area, promotion of the European idea, single market, young person

EUROPE 
Organising together!

EN

2

CONTENTS

EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS 
Taking decisions together   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 4

RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP 
Respecting our differences  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 6

YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 
Listening to young people  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 7

SINGLE MARKET 
Cooperating with our neighbours  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 8

SINGLE CURRENCY AND EURO AREA 
Making it easy to trade  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 9

EU BUDGET 
Investing in our future  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 11

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE 
Quiz time!  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 14

3

EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS 
Taking decisions together

The European Union isn’t a state like Bulgaria, 
Italy or Spain. It’s a voluntary association of 
European states that have decided to carry out 
projects together.

It has strong institutions to which the European 
countries have transferred some of their 
powers. Each institution has a role and is led by 
a president.

How does the European Union work?
: 
The European Council   
1
the meeting of the leaders 
of the European countries

The European Council brings together the Heads 
of State or Government of the EU Member 
States. In principle, they meet four times 
a year. These meetings are called ‘European 
summits’ and are used to discuss everything 
that is happening in Europe and to decide on the 
EU’s broad political guidelines.

The Council is based in Brussels (Belgium).

The European Commission 

2

The Commission is the European Union’s 
government. It proposes new laws and ensures 
that they are respected.

It consists of 28 Commissioners (one per country) 
and each Commissioner is responsible for one or 
more issues (e.g. environment, transport, education).

It is based in Brussels.

The European Parliament 

3

The European Parliament is the voice of the 
European people. It has 751 Members and they 
are elected by the people in European elections.

It adopts the EU’s laws and budget along with 
the Council of the European Union.

It is based in Strasbourg (France), Brussels and 
Luxembourg.

The Council of the European Union,  
or Council of Ministers 

1

The Council is composed of ministers from the 
EU Member States. There is one minister per 
country. But it’s not always the same minister as 
it depends on the issue being discussed.

For example, if it is the Agriculture Council the 
agriculture minister will take part.

It adopts the EU’s laws and budget along with 
the European Parliament.

The Council of the European Union is based in 
Brussels.

2

1

3

4

The European 
Council

sets out the 
EU’s goals

The European 
Commission

The EU’s 
institutional 
triangle

Implements 
the budget

ensures that 
the laws, 
treaties and  
programmes 
are respected

adopts the laws 
and budget

proposes laws

adopts the laws 
and budget

The Council 
of Ministers

discusses and 
takes decisions

The European 
Parliament

What is a democracy?
A democracy is a political system in 
which power belongs to all of the people 
in the country. In a democracy the 
people are called ‘citizens’. Every citizen 
of voting age has the right to vote in 
elections.

5

 
RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP 
Respecting our differences

In the European Union every citizen of voting age 
has the right to vote for politicians who stand in 
elections (1). The citizens’ right to vote is an 
essential feature of any democracy.

The right to vote ... and to be protected.

All EU citizens have rights and freedoms. These 
rights and freedoms are gathered together 
in a single document called the ‘Charter of 
Fundamental Rights of the European Union’. 
Everyone has to respect this Charter.

Specific rights of the child
Children are European citizens in their own right. 
They represent a fifth of the population of 
the European Union.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights is essential 
because it gives children a whole range of 
specific rights: the right to go to school, the right 
to express themselves, the right to protection 
and to healthcare, etc.

(1) In Austria and Malta you can actually vote from the age 
of 16, and in Greece you can vote when you turn 17.

1/5

EU POPULATION

The Court of Justice
The role of the Court of Justice of the 
European Union is to ensure that EU laws 
are respected and applied everywhere 
in the same way. It has one judge from 
each EU country and it is based in 
Luxembourg.

6

YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 
Listening to young people

Because young Europeans are citizens in 
their own right, they have the right to express 
themselves. And they do! In many EU countries 
young people can make their voices heard 
through, for example, the ‘Youth Parliament’.

 ‣ What do you want to say?

Set up a mini-parliament in your class and 
talk about issues that directly affect you. For 
example:

—  better ways of living together in our day-

to-day lives;

—  better ways of applying and protecting 

children’s rights.

7

SINGLE MARKET 
Cooperating with our neighbours

Europe is a vast territory of almost 
4.3 million km 2 in which different cultures exist 
side by side. To make the lives of Europeans 
easier, most Member States have done away with 
passport checks at their borders. So everyone 
who lives in a Member State is free to move, live 
and find work in any other EU Member State.

Young people too!
Young people can also move around Europe 
thanks to a programme called Erasmus+. This 
programme allows pupils and students to go and 
experience another country and study there.

Travelling allows us to learn one or more 
languages. One of the other main assets of 
our European Union is the large number of 
languages spoken here. The more we talk, the 
more we understand one another and the 
better organised we are.

 ‣ Do you know how many official languages 

there are in Europe?

Did you know?
The Schengen area is an area of free 
movement of people between the 
countries that have signed the Schengen 
Agreement (Schengen is a town in 
Luxembourg). In 2018 the Schengen area 
covered 26 countries: 22 EU Member 
States and 4 non-members. Within the 
Schengen area any person from the 
European Union (or anywhere else) can 
cross the borders of the other member 
countries without having to show their 
passport.

— 12?

— 24?

— 60?

8

PASSPORT

* See the table on page 15 for the answers.

 ‣Can you name any of the EU’s official languages?*SINGLE CURRENCY AND EURO AREA 
Making it easy to trade

A single currency
Since 1 January 2002, following on from the 
1992 Maastricht Treaty, 19 EU countries have 
shared a common currency: the euro (Austria, 
Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, 
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, 
Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, 
Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain).

Together they form the ‘euro area’. The other 
countries — Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, 
Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the 
United Kingdom — still use their national 
currencies.

Did you know?
The euro symbol (€) was inspired by 
the Greek letter epsilon and refers to 
the first letter of the word ‘Europe’. 
The parallel lines crossing it are similar 
to the lines used in the symbols of two 
other well-known currencies: the dollar 
and the yen.

9

‣ Which countries do these coins 
come from?

1

2

3

4

● PORTUGAL ●

● AUSTRIA ●

● CYPRUS ●

● BELGIUM ●

● ITALY ●

● NETHERLANDS ●

● FRANCE ●

● GERMANY ●

5

6

7

8

 ‣ Answers
6 Germany – 7 France – 8 Portugal
1 Austria – 2 Cyprus – 3 Italy – 4 Netherlands – 5 Belgium 

The European Central Bank
The European Central Bank ensures 
that the euro is working properly and 
authorises the production of euro notes 
by the euro area countries. The bank is 
based in Frankfurt (Germany).

10

 ‣ This two-euro coin is the one that is most 
sought after by collectors. Do you know 
where it comes from?

 ‣ Answer
THE VATICAN

EU BUDGET 
Investing in our future

The European Union invests in many areas: 
education, the environment, research into new 
technologies, agriculture, etc. But in order to 
invest it needs money! And it also needs to 
organise how that money is divided up: that’s 
what we call a ‘budget’.

Where does the EU’s money 
come from?
99 % of the EU’s budget comes from the 
Member States.

It’s used to finance numerous projects 
throughout Europe (building roads and 
bridges, schools and universities, scientific 
research centres, museums, hospitals and 
factories) but also to promote exchanges of 
young people and jobs in Europe.

11

Projects supported by 
the European Union
Hundreds of thousands of projects have 
received EU investment over the years. Here 
are some examples and you can find others at: 
europa.eu/investeu/projects_en

Smart playgrounds for children
Children are increasingly playing on electronic 
devices at home rather than having fun in 
playgrounds. Lack of exercise and poor diet 
mean that more and more of them are becoming 
obese. Thanks to EU funding, the Bulgarian 
company Playground Energy has developed 
playgrounds that transform kinetic energy into 
sound and light, encouraging children to move 
more and live healthier lives.

12

Fighting childhood cancers
Austrian biotech firm Apeiron Biologics develops 
medicines to treat cancer, especially rare forms 
that mainly affect children. An EU loan is going 
to help the company to expand its research and 
develop new ways of fighting the disease.

Ultramodern schools
School buildings in Greece often have 
structural problems and are poorly 
maintained. And there are not enough schools 
to hold all the pupils. The 24 new state 
schools being built in the Attica region will 
help to address capacity problems, provide 
high-quality facilities and produce all of the 
energy they need.

 ‣ What about where you live? Do you know 

of any actions supported by the EU in your 
country, your region or your town?

13

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE 
Quiz time!

There are 24 official EU languages. Although 
English is often used, the EU is committed 
to preserving the richness of each one and 
encourages all Europeans to learn several 
languages so that they can better understand 
one another. To organise ourselves we have to 
understand each other better!

 ‣ Here are the words for ‘good morning’ 

and ‘thank you’ in all of the EU’s official 
languages. Can you match the words to the 
right language?

14

HelloI don’t understand - Un heladoDanke - Hola - Bitte - EntschuldigungTschüss - Thank you - Ein EisNo entiendo - Sorry - Por favor - Hallo Goodbye - Tengo hambre - Das verstehe ich nichtPerdón - Please - Ich habe Hunger How are you? - ¡Hasta pronto! - See you Adios - An ice cream - Bis bald Gracias - Wie geht’s ? - I am hungry ¿Cómo estás?Hello!

Hola!

L-għodwa t-tajba

Abrīt

Dobro jutro

Guten Morgen

Dzień dobry

Bună dimineaţa

Dia dhuit

Bom dia

Goedemorgen

Dobro utro

Dobré ráno

Labas rytas

Tere hommikust

Godmorgen

Buenos días

Bonjour

Buongiorno

Good morning

Hyvää huomenta

Dobro jutro

Kalimera

Jó reggelt

God morgon

Dobré ráno

Bulgarian

Croatian

Czech

Danish

Dutch

English

Estonian

Finnish

French

German

Greek

Hungarian

Irish

Italian

Latvian

Lithuanian

Maltese

Polish

Portuguese

Romanian

Slovak

Slovenian

Spanish

Swedish

Blagodarya

Gracias

Mulţumesc

Merci

Děkuji

Efkaristo

Tack

Hvala

Grazie

Obrigado

Ačiū

Bedankt

Paldies

Dziękuję

Danke

Tak

Thank you

Ďakujem

Go raibh maith agat

Grazzi

Aitäh

Köszönöm

Hvala

Kiitos

 ‣ Answers:

dimineata, Mulțumesc; Slovak: Dobré ráno, Ďakujem; Slovenian: Dobro jutro, Hvala; Spanish: Benos días, Gracias; Swedish: God morgon, Tack.
Paldies; Lithuanian: Labas rytas, Ačiū; Maltese: L-għodwa t-tajba, Grazzi; Polish: Dzień dobry; Dziękuję; Portuguese: Bom dia, Obrigado; Romanian: Buna 
Danke; Greek: Kalimera, Efcharistó; Hungarian: Jó reggelt, Köszönöm; Irish: Dia dhuit; Go raibh maith agat; Italian: Buongiorno, Grazie; Latvian: Labrīt, 
English: Good Morning; Thank you; Estonian: Tere hommikust, Aitäh; Finnish: Hyvää huomenta, Kiitos; French: Bonjour, Merci; German: Guten Morgen, 
Bulgarian: Dobro utro, Blagodarya; Croatian: Dobro jutro; Hvala; Czech: Dobré ráno, Děkuji; Danish: Godmorgen, Tak; Dutch: Goedemorgen, Bedankt; 

15

If you want to learn where Europe comes from and 
how it operates on a daily basis, have a look at these 
two brochures:

Published in 2018 by the:

European Commission
Directorate-General for Communication
Citizens’ Information Unit
1049 Brussels
BELGIUM

Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2018
bookshop.europa.eu

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