The European NAvigator website - hereinafter "ENA" is designed and developed by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (Virtual Resource Centre for Knowledge about Europe — CVCE). Its aim is to provide scholarly information on the historical and institutional aspects of European integration from 1945 to the present day.
European navigator is the first digital library on the history of Europe
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Welcome to the European Youth Portal. If you are thinking of going to another European country to study or work, or on holiday... if you are looking for activities or opportunities in Europe... if you have something to say, or ask, about European issues, this portal could be a good place to start! It offers you information, news and discussions - all about Europe and relevant to young people.
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Welcome to Visiteurope, the gateway to the hospitality of the 36 member countries of the European Travel Commission. Let this website be your personal guide for exploring the beauty and interesting diversity these countries have to offer.
All the countries have joined together on visiteurope.com to provide you with a wonderful resource to obtain all the information you need to make your trip to Europe the trip of a lifetime.
While browsing through Visiteurope or the map of Europe you will find many interesting articles about the countries, their exciting cities and the regions of Europe, as well as a list of events taking place during your stay. Discover a broad range of practical tourist information and a series of useful tools, such as weather conditions, the currency converter, brochure downloads or the opportunity to send e-cards of various countries to your friends and family.
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Discovering the heart of a story in the European Union is difficult. Cutting through the red tape of Brussels can be even more difficult - especially from afar.
The European Neighbourhood Journalism Network (ENJN) can help.
The foremost aim of the ENJN is to help journalists from southern Mediterranean, Eastern European and southern Caucasus countries make sense of the EU. At the same time, the ENJN will facilitate networking between journalists from these regions with the goal of building bridges within the neighbourhood.
The ENJN portal contains background information on the European Neighbourhood Policy as well as the networking effort. It will continue to develop and offer tools to help network participants reach a better understanding of newsworthy neighbourhood issues. Journalists can also use it to connect with colleagues, trainers, schools and the key people involved in the network.
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The European Commission
 is one of the most original features of European integration. Initially, each of the European Communities had its own institution:
– the High Authority, created by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), signed in Paris on 18 April 1951(expired on 23 July 2002), – the Commission, created by the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), signed in Rome on 25 March 1957, and – the Commission, created by the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), signed in Rome on 25 March 1957.
However, these three institutions merged under the Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities, dated 8 April 1965 (the Merger Treaty), which came into force on 1 July 1967. From that date, the Single Commission would exercise the powers and responsibilities conferred upon the ECSC High Authority, the EEC Commission and the Euratom Commission.
The Commission has the task of representing the interests of the European Communities independently of those of the Member States. It has many powers and responsibilities: it is the driving force and the guardian of the treaties; it has the right to propose legislation; it is the executive body, and it represents the Communities and negotiates agreements in the field of external relations.
The Treaty on European Union (TEU) of 7 February 1992 extended its role beyond the strict Community context. Since 1 November 1993, when the Treaty entered into force, the Commission has been called upon to act under the common foreign and security Policy (CFSP) and to cooperate in the fields of justice and home affairs (JHA).
The Treaty of Amsterdam of 2 October 1997 retained most of the provisions concerning the Commission and introduced some changes aimed at reinforcing and increasing the institution’s efficiency.
The Treaty of Nice of 26 February 2001 strengthened the powers of the President and modified the procedure for appointing the President and the members of the Commission.
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The European Parliament
is the only directly-elected body of the European Union. The 785 Members of the European Parliament are there to represent you, the citizen. They are elected once every five years by voters right across the 27 Member States of the European Union on behalf of its 492 million citizens.
In this part of our website, you can find information on how the Parliament organises its work, through a system of specialised committees. The work of the European Parliament is important because in many policy areas, decisions on new European laws are made jointly by Parliament and the Council of Ministers, which represents Member States.
Parliament plays an active role in drafting legislation which has an impact on the daily lives of its citizens: For example, on environmental protection, consumer rights, equal opportunities, transport, and the free movement of workers, capital, services and goods. Parliament also has joint power with the Council over the annual budget of the European Union.
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The Economic and Social Committee (ESC)
is a consultative body serving the Council, the Commission and, since the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997, the European Parliament. It represents the various categories of economic and social activity in organised civil society.
Its advisory capacity enables it to take part in the Community decision-making process and to respond to the need for a more democratic approach when implementing European Union policies. Established by the 1957 Rome Treaties, it is an institution which is common to the European Community (EC) and to the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
The specific nature of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) justified the maintenance of the Consultative Committee, whose role was to assist the Commission until expiry of the ECSC Treaty in July 2002 (Articles 18 et 19 of the ECSC Treaty).
The ESC was created in order to involve representatives of the various spheres of economic and social activity in the establishment of the common market. The aim was to enable representatives of organised categories of economic and social activity to participate in the Community decision-making process. Originally, the ESC would meet only at the request of the Council or of the Commission.
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The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
was set up in 1973 to promote the interests of working people at European level and to represent them in the EU institutions.
The process of European integration, with the euro, the European Constitution, and the growing impact of EU legislation on daily life, has changed the setting in which trade unions operate. To defend and bargain for their members effectively at national level, they must coordinate activities and policies across Europe. To influence the economy and society at large, they need to speak with a single voice and act collectively at European level. This is the challenge that the European Trade Union Confederation has taken up.
The ETUC’s objective is an EU with a strong social dimension that safeguards the wellbeing of all its citizens. Committed to building a unified European trade union movement, it already had a large number of new trade union affiliates in Central and Eastern Europe before EU enlargement in May 2004.
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Since 1 January 1999 the European Central Bank (ECB)
has been responsible for conducting monetary policy for the euro area - the world’s largest economy after the United States. The euro area came into being when responsibility for monetary policy was transferred from the national central banks of 11 EU Member States to the ECB in January 1999. Greece joined in 2001, Slovenia in 2007 and Cyprus and Malta in 2008. The creation of the euro area and of a new supranational institution, the ECB, was a milestone in the long and complex process of European integration.
To join the euro area, the 15 countries had to fulfil the convergence criteria, as will other EU Member States prior to adopting the euro. The criteria set out the economic and legal preconditions for countries to participate successfully in Economic and Monetary Union.
The legal basis for the single monetary policy is the Treaty establishing the European Community and the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. The Statute established both the ECB and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as from 1 June 1998. The ECB was established as the core of the Eurosystem and the ESCB. The ECB and the national central banks together perform the tasks they have been entrusted with. The ECB has legal personality under public international law.
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The Europe for citizens' programme
provides the Union with instruments to promote active European citizenship. It puts citizens in the centre and offers them the opportunity to fully assume their responsibility as European citizens.
It responds to the need to improve citizen's participation in the construction of Europe and encourage cooperation between citizens and their organisations from different countries in order to meet, act together and develop their own ideas in a European environment which goes beyond a national vision, respecting their diversity.
Intercultural exchanges contribute to improving the mutual knowledge of the culture and history of the European peoples. It brings our common heritage to the fore and strengthens the basis for our common future. Mutual understanding, solidarity and the feeling of belonging to Europe are indeed the building blocks for the involvement of citizens and are reflected by the four different programme actions.
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The European Business Press (EBP)
is the association of Europe’s leading finance and economics newspapers and magazines. For many years this segment of the media world too has been confronted with the so-called ‘new media’ on the internet. EBP members appear to have held their ground particularly well with their print activities. At the same time they areall experimenting with "integrated newsrooms", in which journalists work simultaneously for internet and print, andin certain cases also business TV.
This calls for a mentality shift because the media world is evolving, the information consumer is evolving and journalists are receiving a broader brief. Advertisers are seizing the opportunities of multimedia formulas and readers appreciate the complementary informa-tion on newspaper and magazine websites. With steadily more and more sound and images, reader dialogue and interactivity are growing with discussion forums and online surveys. Internet has in the meantime become one of the best direct marketing tools.
Through the net potential readers can get to know a publication and take out a subscription.Everywhere print medium subscriptions are growing thanks to the websites.
Top EBP member employees meet twice a year at EBP seminars to exchange ideas and experience on journalismand marketing aspects. EBP has become an ideal platform for international cross-pollination and, more than that, a seedbed for concrete cooperation, with new publications and services for the business community.
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Choose your country and your preferred language and read about how to apply. The EU supports SMEs through the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme 2007 -2013 (CIP). CIP funds are used to guarantee loans to SMEs provided by a range of financial institutions involved in SME lending.
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European Economic Committee accredited european business schools for 2008 - 2012 period
The European Economic Committee looks for a balance between high academic quality and the professional relevance provided by close interaction with the corporate world. A strong interface with the world of business is, therefore, as much a requirement as a strong research potential. European Economic Committee attaches particular importance to the creation of an effective learning environment that favours the development of students’ managerial and entrepreneurial skills, and fosters their sense of global responsibility. It also looks for innovation in all respects, including programme design and pedagogy.
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The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting workers' and learners' mobility between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning.
The EQF will relate different countries' national qualifications systems to a common European reference framework. Individuals and employers will be able to use the EQF to better understand and compare the qualifications levels of different countries and different education and training systems.
The EQF was adopted by the European Parliament and Council on 23 April 2008.
The EQF encourages countries to relate their qualifications systems or frameworks to the EQF by 2010 and to ensure that all new qualifications issued from 2012 carry a reference to the appropriate EQF level.
The core of the EQF are eight reference levels describing what a learner knows, understands and is able to do – 'learning outcomes'. Levels of national qualifications will be placed at one of the central reference levels, ranging from basic (Level 1) to advanced (Level 8). It will therefore enable much easier comparison between national qualifications and should also mean that people do not have to repeat learning if they move to another country.
The EQF applies to all types of education, training and qualifications, from school education to academic, professional and vocational. The system shifts the focus from the traditional approach which emphasises 'learning inputs' such as the length of a learning experience, or type of institution. It also encourages lifelong learning by promoting the validation of non-formal and informal learning.
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The Europass is a direct service to citizens making qualifications and skills better understood throughout Europe.
People who are looking for a job – whether in their own country or abroad – need to be able present their qualifications and skills so that employers can correctly understand and appreciate them.
The Europass service, provided through a network of national centres and an internet portal, provides a number of instruments to make this process easier.
The portal – run by Cedefop and available in 26 languages – provides useful information and an interactive tool to complete the Europass CV and the Europass Language Passport with the help of online tutorials and guidelines.
The Europass CV highlights what users can do, including skills acquired outside formal education and training. Language skills are described in both documents through the widespread reference framework established by the Council of Europe. The CVs can be downloaded in several formats, including XML which can be uploaded directly onto online employment databases.
Every day on average more than 3 000 CV are created on line throughout Europe.
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Europe is becoming more culturally diverse. The enlargement of the European Union, deregulation of employment laws and globalisation have increased the multicultural character of many countries, adding to the number of languages, religions, ethnic and cultural backgrounds found on the continent. As a result, intercultural dialogue has an increasingly important role to play in fostering European identity and citizenship.

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