Democratic values in theEuropean Union

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Democratic values in theEuropean Union
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Index

• 1. The European Union
• 1.1 What is the European Union?
• 1.1.1 Countries in the European Union
• 1.1.2 Symbols of the EU
• 1.1.3 Aspects that the European Union
  countries have in common
• 1.2 Why and how was it created?
• 1.3 Most important institutions of the EU
• 2. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• 2.1 Human Rights in the EU
• 2.1.1 European Union Convention on Human
  Rights
• 2.1.2 European Court of Human Rights
• 3. The democratic values
• 3.1 What do they mean?
• 3.2 The diversity of values
• 3.3 The democratic values in the EU
• 3.3.1 What values does the EU promote?
• 3.3.2 How does the EU promote the
  democratic values and the diversity of values?
• 4. Comparision of the rules of Josefina Aldecoa
  highschool with the EU
• 4.1 The different common aspects that Josefina
  Aldecoa and EU share

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1. The European Union

1.1 What is the European Union?

• The European Union is an economical and political
  organization which was founded after the ending
  of the Second World War by six European
  countries. At the beginning it was called
  European Economic Community and its aim was the
  economical colaboration of the before named
  countries establishing other two
  suborganizations the EURATOM and the European
  Coal and Steel Comunity. Nowadays the EU is a
  really important organization and the richest
  economical potency in the world, highlighting
  that its principal aim is to promote the human
  rights all over the world.

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1.1.1 Countries in the European Union

1.1.2 Symbols of the EU
1.1.3 Aspects that the European Union countries
have in common
Regarding to economics, the European Union
countries have the same rules in agriculture,
transport, industry... Regarding to politics all
citizens have the right to study, live or work in
other countries which belong to the European
Union. Also, the different countries have taken
measures to protect the environment, fight
against crime and respect all democratic values
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1.2 Why and how was it created?

• In 1945 after the Second World War ended, some
  European countries decided to cooperate with each
  other to prevent more wars and to improve the
  development of the European economy. In 1957,
  Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, the
  Netherlands and France signed the Treat of Rome
  and created the European Economic Community. Some
  years later, in 1992, the members of the European
  Economic Community signed the Treat of Mastritch,
  with this the European Community changed it's
  name to the European Union. From that moment and
  on, more countries have joined the European Union
  until reaching the formation of a Union of 28
  countries as we know of today.

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1.3 Most important institutions of the EU

• The European Parlament
• The European Parliament is one of the main
  institutions of the European Union. It's formed
  by the Euro Mps and the president. The Parliament
  is in charge of taking the most important
  decisions, like aproving laws and the budgets.
• The European Union Council
• This is where the ministers of each country from
  the European Union meet to take care of the most
  important decisiones like aproving laws with the
  Parliament, coordinating economic laws and
  controlling exterior politics.
• The European Comitte
• Is the European Union's government. They are in
  charge of proposing laws to the Parliament and
  the European Council.
• The Court of Justice
• The Court of Justice is in charge of guaranteeing
  that the laws are respected and aplaid equally
  too all the European members. It also solves
  legal conflicts between the governments and
  institutions of the EU.

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2. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Is a declaration adopted by the United Nations
  Assembly on 10th December 1948 at the Palais de
  Chaillot, in Paris. The Declaration arose
  directly from the experience of the Second World
  War, which vastly knocked down the people rights,
  only leaving destruction, chaos, and millions of
  deaths. It represents the first global expression
  of rights to which all human beings are
  inherently entitled and this is an important
  fact, because all the countries which are members
  of the United Nations, have to commit this
  Declaration and doing that is a global way of
  promoting this rights. The Declaration consist of
  thirty articles.

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2.1 The Human Rights in the EU
2.1.1 European Union Convention on Human Rights
2.1.2 European Court of Human Rights

• The European Convention on Human Rights was
  established on the 4th of November of 1950 by the
  European Council. It established a system of
  international proteccion of the Human Rights,
  where people acquired the benefit of judicial
  control over their rights. The Convention,
  ratified by all the members of the Union,
  established different control systems situated in
  Strasbourg
• The Commission, in charge of studying the demands
  of the States, or sometimes individual people.
• The European Court of Human Rights, where, in the
  case of judicial solution, turn to the
  Commission.
• The Committee of Ministers of the Council of
  Europe, that are in charge of guarding the
  European Court of Human Rights and their
  intervention is needed to obtain a solution when
  the case hasn't been sent to the Court.
• Each time there were more problems so there was a
  reformation in the Court, on the 1st of November
  og 1998 all these organizations formed the
  European Court of Human Rights.

The European Court of Human Rights is the highest
judicial authority for the human rights and
freedom Europe. It consists of an international
court where everyone who has had their rights
violated is recognized by the Convention for the
protection of his or her rights. This Convention
is a treaty where the 47 states of the Council of
Europe have promised to protect all human rights
and freedoms. Human freedom and rights
established in the Convention, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights from the UN and in
the European Convention of Human Rights are
basically the same.
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3. The democratic values
3.1 What do they mean?

• The democratic values are the characteristics,
  the qualities, the ideas and beliefs which are
  accepted in a society, in order to guide it to a
  democratic progress which can finally become
  stable. They are a set of principles that allow
  any society to be able to apply a democratic
  system. These etic values make democracy exist
  and justify it as the best political system.
  Values such as freedom, justice, pluralism,
  equality are the basis to build a democratic
  society.

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3.2 The diversity of values

• The diversity of values is a phenomenon given in
  our actual multicultural society. This diversity
  makes citizens learn that there is a large
  variety of values depending on the ideals and the
  opinions from each person. The diversity of
  values, as a multicultural fact, reinforces the
  cohabitation in the society nowadays and helps to
  learn to be tolerant and respect other values,
  and not only that, but all the different
  ideologies that humans have, such as religious
  beliefs, traditions

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3.3 Democratic values in the EU
3.3.1 What values does the EU promote?

• The values operate as principles, from which the
  behaviours are regulated and serve as a guide for
  individuals and the society. These values arise
  from the Second World War and they are the result
  of the evolution of modern societies, and can and
  should be rationally justified, showing why and
  how they are preferable done institutionally.

• The most important values the EU promotes are
• Freedom
• Equality
• Justice
• Respect
• Democracy
• All of them based on the human dignity and the
  Human Rights aplied to all human beings. Having
  in mind these values, the European Union tries to
  achieve a set of objectives.

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3.3.2 How does the EU promote the democratic
values and the diversity of values?

• The EU promotes the diversity of values by the
  intercultural dialogue, which is really important
  to manage the membership of multiple cultures in
  a multicultural environment. By its institutions,
  it looks for the cohesion of all the different
  values from all the european countries. The EU
  has fought for us to have the chance to live in a
  tolerant, multicultural society, with political
  plurarism.

The EU respects the freedom of all citizens and
has its basis on the human dignity. The Council
of Europe defends all the democratic values named
before in order to respect the human dignity so
the intercultural dialogue can take place. Values
such as the respect for freedom of expression are
promoted by the Council of Europe. By this way
the EU develops a culture of diversity making the
democracy to reconciles the rule of the majority
with the rights of the individuals.
The European education not only prepares young
people for the laboral market, but also promotes
their personal development as persons with a
certain dignity, and gives them knowledge.
Schools have an important role in the promotion
of the democratic values, because they have the
responsability to guide the students and teach
them how to live as free and active citizens.
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4. Comparision of the rules of Josefina Aldecoa
highschool with the EU
4.1 The different common aspects that Josefina
Aldecoa and EU share

• International regulations
• Obligations
• Rights
• Duties

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4.2 Common denominator of the internal regime of
democratic connector

• Respect for human dignity and human rights,
  freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law
  are common values, which are expressed in Article
  2 of the Treaty on EU. The compliance with these
  principles is a necessary condition of EU
  membership.
• Comparing these values of democratic Council of
  Europe with the rules, the aim is to find some
  similiraties that promote peace and coexistence
  in schools. Some keywords realted with this
  aspect are school coexistence, peace culture,
  group cohesion, emotional education, values
  education
• These are basic rules that our highschool and the
  EU have in common, as respect of human dignity
  and equality are essential for living together in
  harmony. We must ensure these points and work
  together and sanction those actiones that do not
  follow the rules.

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IES Josefina Aldecoa
Comenius Project
European Union