European Union

Political centres: Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg

Commission: José Manuel Barroso (EPP) 
Parliament: Hans-Gert Pöttering (EPP) 
European Council: Janez Janša (EPP)

European Commissioner for Science and Research: Janez Potočnik

Geography: The territory of the EU is not the same as that of Europe, as parts of the continent are outside the EU, such as Switzerland, Norway and European Russia. Some parts of member countries are not part of the EU, despite forming part of the European continent (for example the Channel Islands and Faroe Islands). Several territories associated with member states that are outside geographic Europe are also not part of the EU (such as Greenland, Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles and all the non-European territories associated with the United Kingdom). Some overseas territories are part of the EU even if they are not geographically part of Europe, such as the Azores, the Canary Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Madeira, Martinique, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin.

Turkey became a founding member of the Council of Europe in 1949, applied for associate membership of the European Economic Community (EEC; predecessor of the European Union) in 1959 and became an associate member in 1963. After decades of political negotiations, Turkey applied for full membership of the EEC in 1987. In 1995 Turkey reached a Customs Union agreement with the EU. Official formal accession negotiations with the EU began on October 3rd, 2005. The accession process will presumably take several years due to Turkey's size and the depth of open questions to be clarified over certain issues.

Source: Wikipedia

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  Background

  The European Union (EU) is a treaty-based community of originally six and currently twenty-seven Member States which is the result of many decades of European integration policy. The EU has the aim of establishing a lasting and structured partnership between its Member States in order to promote peace, prosperity and security in Europe. However, it is important to keep in mind that the European Union is in a state of constant flux.
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  Research structure and research policy

  For several decades, the European Union has supported research, science and technology by means of political measures in order to encourage cooperation between all those involved in European research and take better advantage of the European Union’s potential in the areas of industry and innovation. Sharing technological knowledge and forward-looking ideas will strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. That is why research policy plays a central role in the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Employment in Europe (2000).
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  News

  This link provides information services about research and innovation. The platform CORDIS (Community Research & Development Information Service) offers regular, detailed and up-to-date information and news.
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  Events

  Find out about current events related to Information Exchange from and into the Eastern European and Central Asian Countries in Science and Technology.
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  Documents

  This section offers a general overview of European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). You will also find important strategy papers, ENP Action Plans and Country Reports.
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  Calls

  Here you can get an general view of current EU related calls.
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  Programmes/ Projects

  Here you can find out more information and details about the variety and spectrum of important EU programmes and EU projects concerning higher education and training, the promotion of lifelong learning, existing frameworks to promote collaborative research, networking and dissemination, support actions for transnational coordination of national research activities etc. Many of these initiatives are not only limited to EU Member States but are also open for co-operation activities with partners in Eastern Europe, Central Asia or other regions of the world.
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