Foreword
In the assignment that we are doing now,we have to creating an informative and educational booklet which includes at least 6 chapters about the EU. 1: History and member states, 2: Structure, 3: Facts/figures/topics. 4: Relevance (pro and cons membership/ main achievements) 5: Current challenges, 6: Quiz, 7: Wordbank and 8: Bibliography. We are doing this assessment to discover the importance and relevance of the European Union, we will learn about the trans boundary cooperation and inspire students of year 1 with the booklet that we have made. The goal of the book is to inform the students in year 1 about the situation in Europe and how Europe is formed. This is important because situations in Europe are in the news a lot lately because of the situation with North Korea, Russia and The United States of America. With this booklet we discover more about Europe and the history and future, we learn how to process this data into a booklet for children younger than us and inspire the students in year 1 with our book. In the booklet some difficult language is used, that is why at the end of the booklet you can find a wordbank, all the words marked in bold will be explained there.
Planning
To do this project and succeed I have created a planning which I will try to keep by so that I will succeed in handing the project in on the due date. When the plan fails it will be evaluated in the evaluation.
When?
What?
Where?
Succeeded?
24-03-2017
Create planning and assignment description
At home
No, the planning and assignment description were eventually made on 29-03-2017
29-03-2017
Create a historical timeline of all the major events in the History of Europe
In class
Yes, the timeline was finished
30-03-2017
Research about the history of Europe and political institutions in the EU
At home
Yes, the research has been done.
01-04-2017
Start the project with a front page, introduction and chapter 1
At home/ in class
Yes, they have been finished.
03-04-2017
Finish chapter 1 and 2
At home/ in class
Yes, they have been finished
06-04-2017
Start on chapter 3 and 4
At home / in class
Yes, they have been finished
07-04-2017
Finish chapter 3 and 4
At home / in class
Yes, they have been finished
10-04-2017
Start on chapter 5 and 6
At home / in class
No, the chapters were not started on due to difficulties and an extended stay at school due to rehearsals
12-04-2017
Finish chapter 5 and 6
At home / in class
No, the chapters were not finished because I was at school performing during 80db.
14-04-2017
Start on chapter 7
At home / in class
No the chapter was not started on because family came over.
15-04-2017
Finish chapter 7
At home / in class
No the chapter was not started on because it was easter family came over.
17-04-2017
Give finishing touches to the project
At home / in class
No the chapter was not started on because it was easter family came over.
Timeline
I have created a timeline to show the biggest events that have been taking place during the history of the European Union. This timeline shows the date and a short and easy summary of what has been taking place.
1950 – The European Coal and Steel Community begin to unite European countries economically and politically in order to make sure there is everlasting peace. The six founding countries are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
1956 – Protests in Hungary against the Communists regime are put down by Soviet tanks
1956 – The Treaty of Rome creates the European Economic Community (EEC), or ‘Common Market’.
1960 – 1969 – Good period for the economy because European countries stop charging custom duties when they trade with each other. They also agree joint control over food production, so that everybody now has enough to eat.
1973 – Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the European Union
1974 – The last right-wing dictatorships in Europe come to an end with the overthrow of the Salazar regime in Portugal
1975 – Death of General Franco of Spain
1979 – All citizens in the European Union can, for the first time, elect their members directly.
1981 – Greece becomes the 10th member of the European Union
1986 – Spain and Portugal join the EU, the Single European Act is signed
1989 – The Berlin Wall is pulled down and the border between East and West Germany is opened for the first time in 28 years.
1990 – Both East and West Germany are united
1993 – The Single Market is completed with the ‘four freedoms’ of: movement of goods, services, people and money.
1995 – The European Union gains three more new members: Austria, Finland and Sweden.
2001 – Important date for both Europe and The United States of America as a hijacked air force crashes into the twin towers causing terror and loss all over. This date is known as 9/11
2007 – Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union
2008 – A financial crisis hits the global economy
2012 – The European Union is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
2013 – Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union
2014 – European elections are held
Chapter 1
In this chapter I will explain the History of Europe and will tell more about the Member States. I will explain why the European Union was formed and why the Member States decided to join.
Member states
The European Union has 28 different member states, all joined at different times which can be seen in the timeline.
Austria
Finland
Germany
France
Britain
Estonia
The Netherlands
Greece
Belgium
Ireland
Spain
Latvia
Portugal
Lithouania
Italy
Luxembourg
Bulgaria
Malta
Cyprus
Poland
Croatia
Romania
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Denmark
Slovenia
Hungary
Sweden
The European Union was formed after the second world war by the founding countries which were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands to end the bloody wars between the neighboring countries. They wanted to promote greater social, political and economic harmony. The stars on the flag of Europe do not represent the countries because as we now know, Europe has 28 countries but the European flag counts 12 stars. The stars represent the people of Europe in a circle, living in Unity and Harmony. The number of 12 stars are chosen because the number 12 symbols completeness and perfection.
Chapter 2
In this chapter I will discuss the structure of the European Union which are the institutions, the institutions help Europe function like it does today.
The European Union has 4 major political institutions; European Council, European Commision, European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
European Council -> The heads of state from each country, right now this is Donald Tusk. He sets the general guidelines for the EU policy.
European Commission -> The European Commission are independent members, each country has one member in the European Commission. They propose new legislation and manage business and budget.
European Parliament -> 736 members of the European Parliament from all countries, they also decide on legislation.
Council of the European Union -> They adopt the European Union’s laws and their policies. It was established in 1958.
Chapter 3
In this chapter I will give some facts and figures about the European Union.
There are around 507 million citizens living in the EU, about 7% of the world’s population.
There is a Europe day and it is celebrated on the 9th of May
There is an European Anthem called ‘Ode to Joy’ which is of course sung on the Europe Day 😉 It is originally composed by Beethoven.
The first country to become an associate member of the European Union is Greece
Approximately one third of MPs are women
The budget of the EU Parliament for 2012 is 1.7 billion euros
The maximum number of members of the European Parliament, as set by the Treaty of Nice, is 732.
Chapter 4
In this chapter I will explain the pro’s and cons of the European Union and the relevance of The European Union.
Pro’s
Strong economic ties -> Since more and more people join it is easier to trade
Free movement -> People can move freely from one European country to another
Good global environment -> The European Union pays close attention to Global Warming and the environment
Con’s
Economic costs -> A country in the European Union pays high bills
No common language -> Communication within countries is hard since they all speak different languages
Necessities -> It is hard to get into the European Union and to hold up to their standards.
Chapter 5
In this chapter I will explain some current challenges and how they influence the European Union.
Brexit
Recently the UK decided that they wanted to leave the European Union, this sounds really simple but that is not the case. To decide whether they would leave or not, an election was held. There was a party which was for leaving brexit and one party against. In the chapter above we have explained pros and cons, these were of course very important to Britain as well. The party which was for leaving Europe was mostly looking at the economic change it would bring while the other party was looking at the unity and trading of the European Union.
After the elections were held the result was close, 52% voted to leave the EU as to which the decision was made. Their plan is to leave Europe on March 2019 because of Article 50 in the Lisbon treaty. Some people believe that the Brexit was the beginning of the end of Europe but this is unlikely. It will have a big influence on the economy and it might cause other countries to leave as well. As Geert Wilders said “Brexit is Nexit” with this he proclaims that when Britain leaves, it’s time for The Netherlands to leave the EU as well.
Chapter 6
In this chapter there will be a small quiz on the information you have been taught in the previous chapters. The answers can be found in small print on the bottom of the page, but don’t cheat 😉 Good luck!
Question 1:
How many member states does the EU have?
Question 2:
What are the founding countries of the EU?
Question 3:
Who is the head of the European Council?
Question 4:
When is Europe Day celebrated?
Question 5:
Name one pro of the European Union
Question 6:
What was the percentage of people who voted yes to leaving Europe during the Brexit?
1: 28, 2: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands, 3: Donald Tusk, 4: 9th of May, 5: Strong Economic Ties, Free movement or Good Global Environment
Chapter 7
In this chapter you can find the word bank for difficult words used in the booklet
Wordbank
The European Coal and Steel Community = An international organisation to unite certain countries, creating Europe
Founding countries = Countries that were the first to unite Europe, the ones who started it.
Regime = A government
Soviet tanks = Army tanks of the Soviet Union
Custom duties = A sort of tax on imported goods
Joint control = Control of items that make up an estate
Right-wing dictatorships =When a government is controlled by the army or church officials, for example Hitler and the Nazi’s.
Chapter 8
In this chapter I will evaluate on my project and on the planning
I really enjoyed doing this project, it taught me a lot about Europe and it’s history which is important to know since I live in Europe.
Writing down some facts for kids was more difficult than I had expected, since we make so many projects in difficult language it is hard to change that mindset and place yourself in the shoes of a 12 year old kid. I did try my best to use easy language and explain hard terms in the word bank. I did not go in much detail and did not put too much text to read because I know that kids that age do not enjoy reading that much and would rather just scan the text.
The planning sadly was not successful, that is because two weeks before the due date I was very busy. I had rehearsals of 80db till late which I could not cancel, I had 80db itself and after school I also helped with The Bergstichting and had to practice with reading names since on Thursday the 20th of April I had the honor to read out the names of the deceased children in the Bergstichting on stage in front of 400 people, this of course made a lot of impact and was a very emotional day.
That day we stayed at school till 11 pm also doing catering. The weekend before that was Easter and during Easter family came over and we hung out with the family which made me unable to work.
Overall I missed some essential dates to finish chapters as to which I was not able to finish on time. We did make an appointment with Ms. Janssen, who helped organize The Bergstichting and she helped us get a one-day extension which helped a lot.
Overall even though the planning did not work out, I think everything went pretty well and really enjoyed doing the assignment.
Chapter 9
Bibliography:
“Homepage – EUROPA – Teachers’ Corner.” Teachers Corner. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2017. <http://europa.eu/teachers-corner/>.
“Het Belang Van De EU.” Charles Montesquieu. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2017. <https://www.montesquieu-instituut.nl/id/vjmfbk2bp1nu/het_belang_van_de_eu>.
“EU Lesson Plans and Teaching Material – EU.” Delegation of the European Union to the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <http://www.euintheus.org/resources-learning/academic-resources/eu-lesson-plans-and-teaching-material/>.
“Teaching Resources.” Latest News, Events and Information about the European Parliament. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <http://www.europarl.org.uk/en/education-youth/teaching-resources>.
The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <http://teachers.theguardian.com/resources.aspx?q=european%2Bunion&pageName=Homepage.aspx&pos=top>.
Lombardo, Crystal, Marc Zorn, and Andrew Gazdecki. “Pros and Cons of the European Union.” Vision Launch. N.p., 14 Jan. 2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <http://visionlaunch.com/pros-and-cons-of-the-european-union/#>.
Apecsecadmin. “Apecsec.org.” Apecsecorg. N.p., 20 Mar. 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <http://apecsec.org/european-union-pros-and-cons/>.
“Brexit Explained Like You’re a Kid.” The Hustle. N.p., 07 July 2016. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <https://thehustle.co/brexit-explained>.
Wheeler, Alex Hunt & Brian. “Brexit: All You Need to Know about the UK Leaving the EU.” BBC News. BBC, 30 Mar. 2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887>.