The United Kingdom general characters and the European union - tesi

The United Kingdom general characters and the European union    

THE UNITED KINGDOM

The country's name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the name given to England Scotland and Wales only

GEOGRAPHY:

Britain is part of the continent of Europe, but it is separated from the mainland by the Northern sea and the English channel.

The British isles are situated in the north temperate zone between the hot lands of the south and the cold northern sea.

The climate is temperate and this means that it is never very hot and never very cold. Winter are mild and the British do not suffer, for examples, the disastrous hurricanes which form the united kingdom

The most important British lakes are situated in Scotland and in the lake district

The highest mountain of great Britain is situated in Scotland and it's the BEN NEVIS.

The Thames is the most important river of Britain and it's flows into the north sea. The Severn is the longest river and it flows into the Irish sea.

England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are the four countries which form the united kingdom Each country is divided into counties, the largest units of local government

THE CAPITALS

England and the U.K

LONDON is the political, cultural and main tourist centre of Great Britain. It is the most important city of the British Commonwealth and one of the largest city in the world. London is a great urban complex with six million people. It is situated on both banks of the River Thames. The Tower Bridge is the most important bridge that joins the two parts of the city. The name London comes from the Romans.

Every year, more than nine million people come from all over the world to visit London. They go to the theatres, museums and they look at interesting buildings. Million people can visit St.Paul's cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Westminster abbey, the Tower of London, the Bank of England. St. Paul's Cathedral is in the middle of the city and the Bank of England has interesting museum to visit. In the city there is also a very tall building called The Monument and it stands on the place where the Fire of London began in 1666.

Tourists can also go to Oxford Street to look at the shops, or to Harrods. London is a very big and beautiful city with lots to see and do.

There are three ways to travel around London: the Underground or 'tube', the taxi and the bus. The tube goes to every part of London. It is cheap and quick, but perhaps a little too noisy for some.

If you do not like the crowds, taxis are reasonably cheap. The taxi driver will probably talk about the weather and the heavy traffic. London taxis are called black cabs.

One of the most famous English features is the double-decker bus. In London the buses are red, but the colours change in other towns. The bus service is well organized and buses run frequently.

. The most beautiful parks are Hyde Park, St. James's Park  and Regent's Park.

Scotland

EDINBURGH is situated in the south-east of Scotland on the Firth of Forth. Some of its famous sights are Edinburgh Castle, which stands on a rock above the city, the Forth Bridge and Edinburgh University. The city is also famous for the Edinburgh Festival, an annual festival of music and drama.

Wales

CARDIFF is situated on the south coast of Wales on the Bristol Channel. Some interesting places to see are the new Cardiff Bay area, the City Centre with its museum and university, and Llandaff Cathedral.

Northern Ireland

BELFAST is situated on the north-east coast of Ireland. Some interesting places to see are Belfast Port, Queen's university and the parliament buildings.

English is the language predominantly spoken in Great Britain

In Scotland a large number of people speaks Gaelic and in Wales a lot of people speak Welsh.

London is the political, cultural, and main tourist centre of great britain. It's the most important city of British Commonwealt and one of the largest city in the world. London is a great urban complex with six million people. The tower bridge is the most important bridge that joins the two parts of  the city. the name London comes from the Romans.

THE GOVERNMENT IN UK:

The united Kingdom is a democracy and the head of state is a hereditary sovereign

The UK is governed by three bodies

1)The Monarchy

2)The house of Commons

3)The house of Lord

The monarchy:

The queen is the head of state. All new laws must have her signature.

Each year she opens parliament with a speech. She is also the head of many Commonwealth countries including Canada , New Zealand Grenada and Jamaica.

In fact she has a little power, and her role is purely symbolic

She can can nominate the prime minister and other ministers of the government including ambassadors

The house of commons

It is elected, there are 650 Mps in the house of  commons

These mps come from different political parties

They debate possible new laws. The commons are presided over by the speaker who is elected by the house.

They receive a salary for their work.

The house of lords:

It isn't elected and has 1000 members and they not receive a salary because they're people with titles like duke, marques, earl, viscount and baron

Members of the house of lords discuss new laws too but they cannot change the laws themselves, but they can ask the house of commons to change them. The house of lords also has the function of acting as the supreme court of appeal

Another power in the UK is the prime minister and his tasks are:

Make law

Control the financial affairs of the realm

Control the foreign policy of the realm

The UK is a member of the European union.

The E.U. consist of a group of countries in Europe which have decided to join forces for their mutual benefit the objective of the European Union include :

The defence of freedom, democracy, respect for  human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law

The creation of an economic and monetary union, including a stable, single currency

Solidarity between the union peoples

The promotion of social and economic progress

The establishment of a common citizenship

The development of a common foreign and security policy

Cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs

The member states :

1957 The Rome treaty : France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the       Netherlands and Luxemburg sign this treaty and form the European Economic Community with the purpose of removing barriers to trade and services

1985 The Schengen treaty : Belgium France Germany Luxembourg and the Netherlands decide that they want to remove the frontier controls between them at roads and airports and introduce freedom of movement for people between their countries

1992 The Maastricht treaty : an important innovation is the free movement of persons: union citizens can travel, reside, study and work wherever they wish in the union.

Another most importantly innovation is the EU's becomes a single market free of any trading restrictions between its member states - is introduced the free movement of goods, capital, services and people. The treaty also aims to bring about monetary union in the EU the replacement of individual national currency with a single monetary union in the EU  The replacement of individual national currencies with a single European currency. Therefore the member states decide to introduce a single currency.

1997 The Amsterdam treaty: For the first time it introduces an employment chapter which enables Europe to create more jobs. It encourages the member states  to coordinate their strategies on employment, by benefiting from exchange of experience, information and best practice on job creation.

The states create an area of freedom, security and justice working for example together on the status of refugees to combat terrorism and drug-trafficking.

THE MONETARY UNION:

On January 1^st 1999  11 European countries (all except the UK, Sweden and Denmark ) formed an economic and monetary union and started to use a single currency the EURO

THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTION:

The European parliament

626 members

Elected for five years by direct universal suffrage

The parliament normally meets in Strasbourg

Powers:

Legislative power

Budgetary powers

Supervision of the executive

The European council : 

Called the European summit

Composed of the heads of state and government

Meets twice a year

Sets the general guidelines for Europe's development and activities

The Council of Ministers :

Principal decision-making institution of the EU

Shares executive power with the commission

Made up of member states government ministers for each specific area

Has the final say over whether Union legislation is adopted or not

The European commission :

The executive institution

Made up of twenty members appointed for five years

Powers :

To ensure that the treaties are observed

To propose European legislation

To administer union policies and international trade relations

The Court of justice:

Made up of fifteen judges

Ensures that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of the treaties and generally in all of the activities of the union

The Court of auditors:

Made up of fifteen members appointed for a six year term

Responsible for checking that the EU spends its money according to its budgetary rules and regulations and for the purposes for which it is intended.