TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The short history of European union 2

2. EU – Lithuania relationship 3

3. The advantages of EU 4

4. The disadvantages of EU 5

5. Literature 7

6. Vocabulary 8

THE SHORT HISTORY OF EUROPEAN UNION

European integration has delivered half a century of stability,

peace and economic prosperity. It has helped to raise standards of living,

built and internal market, launched the euro and strengthened the Union’s

voice in the world.

The European Union (EU) was set uup after the 2nd World War. The

process of European integration was launched on 9 May 1950 when France

officially proposed to create “the first concrete foundation of a European

federation “. Six countries (Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxemburg and

Netherlands) joined from the very beginning. T

Today, after four waves of accessions (1973: Denmark, Ireland and the

United Kingdom; 1981: Greece; 1986:Spain and Portugal; 1995: Austria,

Finland and Sweden) the EU has 15 Member States and is preparing for the

accession of 13 eastern and southern European countries. In the nearest

future we hope Lithuania will join this union, too.

The EU is based on the rule of law and democracy. It is neither a

new State replacing existing ones nor it is comparable to other

international organizations. Its Member States delegate sovereignty to

common institutions representing the interests of the Union as a whole on

questions of joint interest. All decisions and procedures are derived from

the basic treaties ratified by the Member States.

Principle objectives of the Union are:

• Establish European citizenship (Fundamental rights; Freedom of

movement; Civil and political rights);

• Ensure freedom, security and justice (Cooperation in the field

of Justice and Home Affairs);

• Promote economic and social progress (Single market; Euro, the

common currency; Job creation; Regional development;

Environmental protection);

• Assert Europe’s role in the world (Common foreign and security;

The EU in the world).

The EU is run by five institutions, each playing a specific role:

• European Parliament (elected by the peoples of the Member

States);

• Council of the Union (composed of the governments of the Member

States);

• European Commission (driving force and executive body)

• Court of Justice (compliance with the law);

• Court of Auditors (sound and lawful management of EU budget).

EU – LITHUANIA RELATIONSHIP

Official relationship and cooperation between Lithuania and European

Community started on 27 August 1991 when the European Community decided to

recognize the independence of Lithuania.

On 11 May 1992, Lithuania and the European Community signed the

Agreement on Trade and Commercial and Economic Cooperation, which came into

force on 1 February 1993, and adopted the Declaration on a Political

Dialogue between EC and the Republic of Lithuania.

On 21 – 22 June 1993, the European Summit Meeting was held in

Copenhagen where the EC for the first time clearly formulated its position

on the membership of the Central and East European countries in the EU.

However, this term was applied to the countries, which had signed Europe

Agreements. The Baltic States were mentioned in a separate paragraph. There

the European Commission was obligated to present proposals on the

development of trade agreements with the Baltic States that were in effect

at that time into Free Trade Agreements.

On 18 July 1994, a Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Lithuania

was signed. At the end of the same year, i.e. on 16 December 1994,

negotiations on the Europe Agreement started. The said negotiations came to

an end in April. The Europe Agreement was signed on 12 June 1995.

On 8 December 1995, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania

submitted an official membership application. In the Opinion of the

Commission announced in July 1995 a conclusion was drawn that the current

level of readiness for the EU membership allowed to maintain that in five

years only the following five associate Central and East European countries

would be ready for the EU membership: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,

Poland and Slovenia.

Lithuania was invited to start negotiations in 1999 together with

other countries belonging to the so–called Group Two of the Candidate

Countries. Such a decision was recommended by the European Commission in

its 1999 Regular Report on the progress made by the Candidate Countries. In

December 1999, the European Council approved of this recommendation and

decided about the start of the negotiations. On 15 February 2000, Lithuania

started negotiations for the EU membership.

What are the negotiations about?

The negotiations determine the conditions under which Lithuania will

join the EU. On joining the Union, Lithuania is expected to accept the

“acquis” , i.e. the detailed laws and rules adopted on the basis of the EU

founding treaties, mainly the treaties of Rome, Mastricht and Amsterdam.

THE ADVANTAGES OF EU

Politically EU membership will mean the increase of stability of

Lithuania and it beyond a doubt will be felt in economy. Besides trade can

successfully develop only in that case if there is clear and varying steady

law basis. The foreign investments will always bypass that state which

can’t stand the political and economical pressure of internal and external

powers. That is why the integration to EU and EU membership is the most

real opportunity for state to successfully develop and streamline its

economy.

EU membership will give the real leverages which allow Lithuania to

run foreign policy and not stay in the backwoods of the world. After

Lithuania join in EU she will become a state which participates in

establishment of prospective Europe. Lithuanian’s participating in European

Commission, Council of the Union, European Parliament and other

institutions will vouchsafe such our “being” in Europe that Lithuania

hadn’t since the late Middle Ages.

EU membership will strengthen Lithuanian’s cultural dependence on

Europe. This cultural dependence signifies a trust among citizens, national

economy and other countries and accordingly is essential condition of

security and even the health of the economy.

The takeover of EU privilege and EU membership consolidates modern

and effective regulatory structure of economy and other branches of policy,

besides it will improve on Lithuanian’s law system very much.

EU membership is related with enlarged opportunities. First of all

that enlarged opportunities are for active and mobile set of society. The

student body will be able to study in the foreign universities and the

magistral staff and professoriate will be able to lecture there. For the

art and culture people the integration will mean enlarged

opportunities in

the programmes which are designed for EU culture.

Businessmen will be able to sell their production or purvey

facilities not only for three million their countrymen, but also for

several hundred million European habitants. Besides there will be less

snags for trade in the EU market.

EU membership will benefit farmers who purpot to EU support. This

means the further investments in economy, creation of new workplaces,

opportunity to start a new activity and sell one’s production to several

hundred million European consumers.

For vvillage’s and little town’s habitants the EU membership means

the creation of new workplaces, the vouchsafe of better life conditions,

the decrease of unemployment, opportunity to develop one’s trade. This way

economical and social development differences between Lithuanian regions

will decrease. According to expert calculation Lithuania joined the EU

would annually get the support (400-600 million Lt.) from EU structural

funds to solve economical and social problems.

In the matter of allocation (which Lithuania will get from EU

budget), the first year Lithuania should get about 1.7 bbillion Lt. and the

subscriptions to EU budget would amount about 640 million Lt., i.e. almost

three times off. Considering that all Lithuanian budget of 2001 is about

7.4 billion Lt., this support would be really touchable. 4-5 years after

Lithuanian entry to EU tthe investments from the EU budget will reach about

3.3-3.7 billion Lt., i.e. 2.8-3.3 billion Lt. clear investments. Sure the

essential condition to get that allocation is financial interest of

Lithuania. To put it simply the EU will finance about two thirds of new

road or bridge and Lithuania will finance the last one.

The improvement of life quality is conditioned by strict anti-

pollution standards, the requirements of goods and facilities quality and

attention attracted to consumer’s protection. We can hardily state that

only because integration to EU Lithuanian’s habitants will be able to drink

clearer water and breathe clearer air in the instant, not after five years.

In summary we can state that the prime advantage of EU membership is

the new opportunities. And will we use tthem or not depend only on us.

THE DISADVANTAGES OF EU

To unambiguously name the subsequences of EU membership just like

positive or negative is impossible. They are closely interdependent and for

example the transference of EU law deed has both advantages and

disadvantages (it depends on what interest groups or state institutions it

will touch, when will it happen, etc.).

But still we can state that expenditures of integration is

manifesting or will show up in the short run. These expenditures will fall

on special bbusiness and social groups. Though we must not directly refer

them as disadvantages (this probably is investments into future or

endeavour to use the benefit of integration as soon as possible), but

several danger signals we can note.

I have mentioned before that integration is also the improvement of

life quality: clearer water, fresher air, better quality goods, safer and

better workplaces. Everything, however, costs and eventually all

expenditures are transferenced to the ultimate consumer of goods and

facilities, i.e. to us. Consequently, integration and EU membership is

related with movement and, in other words, upward movement. Usually such

upward movement is compensated by the rise of wages, but society,

undoubtedly, follows that movement more strictly than rise of salaries.

The negative effect of integration should be felt in companies of

alimentary recast, butcheries (because of higher veterinary and

phytosanitation standards), industrial and service companies (because of

requirement to invest in the new technologies, necessity to afford more

information to state institutions), state institutions (because of

requirement to change the procedure, to retrain as concerns increase of

workload and, in a number of cases, a decimation of their functions).

Integration and preparation to EU membership can be more painful for

small business and small farmers (because of increased competition, higher

quality standards, increase of expenditures and opportunities of their

compensation).

General import duty standard will lightly increase – increase 90.2

million Lt., decrease 10.8 million Lt. Therefore consumers and importers

will feel a negative effect. On the other hand, the protection of some

local producers will enlarge. Trading with Russia the duties of elements of

nuclear fuel, natural gas, several chemical goods, manure, cars will

increase or spring up, but duty of petrol will decrease.

Looking into possible direct effect of EU is set that the consumers

who prefer cheap and mean quality goods and Lithuanian companies which

can’t finance products and technological modernization will suffer the

most. If products don’t suit the EU standards, they will be forbidden to

import.

Integration is closely related with shake–up and modernization of

Lithuanian’s economy. That’s why results of shake-up – retrainity,

necessity to change a workplace – can awhile strengthen and enlarge.

On the other hand we can’t these temporal negative effects impute to

EU integration. Anyhow Lithuania must reform its economy and this process

could be much more painful and last longer without support of EU.

LITERATURE

www.euro.lt

www.europa.eu.int

www.eudel.lt

VOCABULARY

1. Deliver [δ??λ?ϖ?] įteikti, pateikti

2. Prosperity [πρ??σπερ?τ?] (su)klestėjimas

3. Raise [ρε?ζ] (pa)kelti; iškelti

4. Market [?μα:κ?τ] rinka

5. Launch [λ?:ντ?] išleisti

6. Propose [πρ??π?υζ] (pa)siūlyti; pateikti

7. Foundation [φαυν?δε??ν] pamatas, pagrindas

8. Accession [?κ?σε?ν] prieaugis, padidėjimas

9. Base [βε?σ] pagrindas, pamatas

10. Comparable [?κ?μπ?ρ?βλ] panašus

11. Common [?κ?μ?ν] bendras

12. Represent [?ρεπρ??ζεντ] atstovauti

13. Derive [δ??ρα?ϖ] gauti; įgyti

14. Treaty [?τρι:τ?] sutartis; susitarimas

15. Objective [?β?δ?εκτ?ϖ] tikslas; siekis

16. Establish [??στ?βλ??] (į)steigti, (į)kurti

17. Citizenship [?σ?τ?ζν??π] pilietybė

18. Ensure [?ν??υ?] laiduoti, garantuoti

19. Promote [πρ??μ?υτ] skatinti

20. Single market [?σ??γλ] [?μα:κ?τ] bendra rinka

21. Assert [??σ?:τ] tvirtinti, pareikšti

22. Council [?καυνσλ] taryba

23. Force [φ?:σ] galia, jėga

24. Management [?μ?ν?δ?μ?ντ] vadovavimas, valdymas

25. Adopt [??δ?πτ priimti

26. Negotiation [ν??γ?υ???ε??ν] derybos

27. Government [?γ?ϖνμ?ντ] vyriausybė; valdžia

28. Submit [σ?β?μ?τ] pateikti, atiduoti

29. Application [??πλ??κε??ν] prašymas

30. Current [?κ?ρ?ντ] dabartinis

31. Maintain [με?ν?τε?ν] išlaikyti

32. Approve [??πρυ:ϖ] pritarti

33. Trade [τρε?δ] verslas

34. Varying [?ϖ??ρ??] daugiau ar mažiau

35. Streamline [?στρι:μλα?ν] modernizuoti, racionalizuoti

36. Leverage [?λι:ϖ?ρ?δ?] svertas

37. Participate [πα:?τ?σ?πε?τ] dalyvauti

38. Prospective [πρ??σπεκτ?ϖ] ateities

39. Vouchsafe [ϖαυτ??σε?φ] užtikrinti, garantuoti

40. Strengthen [?στρε??ν] (su)stiprinti

41. Signify [?σ?γν?φα?] turėti reikšmę

42. Accordingly [??κ?:δ??λ?] atitinkamai

43. Privilege [?πρ?ϖ?λ?δ?] teisė

44. Takeover [?τε?κ??υϖ?] perėmimas

45. Consolidate [κ?ν?σ?λ?δε?τ] (su)tvirtinti

46. Branch [βρα:ντ?] sritis, šaka

47. Regulatory [?ρεγϕυλε?τρ?] reguliavimo

48. Improve [?μ?πρυ:ϖ] (pa)gerinti, (pa)tobulinti

49. Set [σετ] sluoksnis

50. The magistral staff [μ??δ??στρ?λ] dėstytojai

51. Professoriate [?πρ?φ??σ?:ρ??τ] profesūra

52. Lecture [?λεκτ??] dėstyti

53. Designed [δ??ζαινδ] skirtas

54. Purvey [π??ϖε?] tiekti

55. Facility [φ??σ?λ?τ?] paslaugos

56. Countryman [?κ?ντρ?μ?ν] tautietis

57. Habitant [?η?β?τ?ντ] gyventojas

58. Snag [σν?γ] kliūtis

59. Purport [?π?:π?τ] pretenduoti

60. Support [σ??π?:τ] parama

61. Further [?φ?:??] papildomas

62. Eventually [??ϖεντ?υ?λ?] galiausiai

63. Ultimate [??λτ?μ?τ] galutinis

64. Consequently [?κ?νσ?κω?ντλ?] vadinasi

65. Wage [ωε?δ?] darbo užmokestis

66. Recast [?ρι:?κα:στ] perdirbimas

67. Requirement [ρ??κωα??μ?ντ] poreikis, reikalavimas

68. Procedure [πρ??σι:δ??] darbo tvarka

69. Retrain

70. Afford [??φ?:δ] teikti

71. Workload [?ω?:κλ?υδ] darbo krūvis

72. Decimation [?δεσ??με??ν] (su)mažinimas

73. Competition [?κ?μπ??τ??ν] konkurencija

74. Lightly [?λα?τλ?] truputį

75. Import duty [??μπ?:τ] importo muitas

76. Manure [μ??νϕυ?] trąšos

77. Spring [σπρ??] atsirasti

78. Look [λυκ] τιρτι

79. Suit [συ:τ] atitikti

80. Forbidden [φ??β?δν] draudžiamas

81. Fund [φ?νδ] fondas

82. Allocation [??λ??κε??ν] lėšos

83. Subscription [σ?β?σκρ?π?ν] įmoka

84. Considering [κ?ν?σ?δ?ρ??] turint omenyje

85. Entry [?εντρ?] įstojimas

86. Interest [??ντρ?στ] dalyvavimas

87. Amount [??μαυντ] sudaryti

88. Improvement [?μ?πρυ:ϖμ?ντ] pagerėjimas

89. Hardily [?ηα:δ?λ?] drąsiai

90. In the instant [??νστ?ντ] tuoj

91. Prime [πρα?μ] pagrindinis

92. Subsequence [?σ?βσ?κω?νσ] pasekmė

93. Unambiguous [??ν?μ?β?γϕυ?σ] vienareikšmis

94. IInterdependent [??ντ?δ??πενδ?ντ] tarpusavyje susiję

95. Transference [?τρ?νσφ?ρ?νσ] perkėlimas

96. Deed [δι:δ] aktas

97. Expenditure [?κ?σπενδ?τ??] išlaidos

98. Manifest [?μ?ν?φεστ] pasireikšti

99. Refer [ρ??φ?:] vadinti

100. Endeavour [?ν?δεϖ?] siekimas

101. Shake-up [??ε?κ?π] restruktūrizacija

102. Awhile [??ωα?λ] kurį laiką

103. Temporal [?τεμπ?ρ?λ] laikinas

104. Impute [?μ?πϕυ:τ] priskirti