European Union (EU): An economic and political union which aims for total co-operation among all its member countries on all economic, political and monetary matters.
Euro: A single currency in 19 EU countries, known as the eurozone. It makes trading within this zone easier as you don’t have to worry about currency fluctuations.
Eurozone: A union of 19 countries in which the euro is used as currency.
CE mark: This symbol indicates that European manufacturers have complied with certain standards.
European Central Bank (ECB): This is the central bank for the eurozone. It issues the notes and currency for Europe. It also sets the interest rates for Europe.
Social benefit of the EU: Employment equality for all workers.
Economic benefit of the EU: Monetary/financial gain, e.g. funding for infrastructure.
Economic challenge of the EU: Increased competition.
Social challenge of the EU: Losing Ireland’s sovereignty.
Regulations: These apply immediately across the EU without the need for a law to be passed in each member state, e.g. the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was brought in to protect the rights of people and their privacy in 2018.
Directive: These must be applied in each country but it is up to each member state to decide on how and when to implement it, e.g. consumers now have the right to cancel online purchases when purchasing from the EU.
Decisions: These can be applied to an individual, an organisation or a particular country. These are binding, e.g. a decision by the EU resulted in Google being fined €50 million for breaking privacy laws (GDPR).