General EU Data

EU data

• 1951 treaty of Paris: Coal & Steel community

• 1957 treaty of Rome: EEC: Belgium, Germ, Lux,

Neth, Italy & France

EU data

• 1973 UK, Denmark + Ireland joined

• 1981 Greece, 1986- Spain & Portugal

• 1995; Austria, Finland Sweden

EU data

• May 2004 AC 10 join: Slovenia, Slovak, Pol, Cyprus,

Czech Reb, Esto, Lat, Lith, Malta, Hungary

• Bring EU members to 25

• Pop = 451 mill

EU data

• Land area 4 mill km2

• USA - 9.3mill Km2 pop only 274 mill

• Aim of EU: promote harmonious economic

development > Q of life ^

EU data

• 1973 UK, Denmark + Ireland joined

• 1981 Greece, 1986- Spain & Portugal

• 1995; Austria, Finland Sweden

Regional development

Mezzogiorno- Southern Italy

Mezzogiorno

• Italy- Social & Economic dualism- Rich North (Po

basin) Poor south

• Mezz contains 20,500,000 people (36% pop)

• Only contributes 25% GDP

Mezzogiorno

• V catholic area> high pop growth

• Agriculture based: More than half of Italy’s farming pop

• Out migration: wages in south 40% of North

Mezzogiorno

• Reasons for poverty:

• History of Invasion

• Mediterranean climate- anticyclones in summer-

unreliable rain at wrong time- not growing season

Mezzogiorno

• Crap topography- only 1/8 region flat & ideal for cultivation

• Geology mostly dolomitic limestone or claylands- created

by geosyncline (tectonics)

Mezzogiorno

• Latifundia system: near feudal - land owned by landlords often in North

• Peasants work land and pay a % of their crop as rent

Mezzogiorno

• Farmers don’t own land so have little incentive to invest in

it

• “Ecology of backwardness”

• Land reform abolished this system

Mezzogiorno

• Land reform:• by 1965: 535,000 hectares

redistributed to 91,000 households of labourers

• Farm co-operatives created

Mezzogiorno

• Solution: Casa per il Mezzogiorno - spent £1,000

mill between 1955-1970

• Money from ERDF (for areas below 90% EU average development) and ESF

Mezzogiorno

• First thing to improve was agriculture via:

• Land reform, Irrigation, infrastructure (roads also

help industry), & subsidy of agricultural industries

Mezzogiorno

• Tried to Industrialise area based on growth pole

strategy; multiplier affect• Develop S industrial triangle:

Taranto, Brindisi & Bari

Mezzogiorno

• Encourage factories to Move: Fiat plant > Melfi

• by subsidies and taxes in original locations

• New plants eg Taranto steel works

Mezzogiorno

• Successes: employment^ eg: T steel wrks employs 6,000

• produced 10.5mill tonnes of steel in 1974 (heavily subsidised unfair?)

Mezzogiorno

• Multiplies effect not happened significantly;

• Many factories flopped > “Museums in the desert”

• Centralised control; locals didn’t have a say

Mezzogiorno• However Quality of life has

increased in south:• More phone lines, better water supply> irrigation> 15% increase in

agric output• illiteracy rate 1951 25%, 1981 <5%

Ruhr

Regional Development

West Germany

Ruhr

• Was once the heavy industry (coal&steel) centre of

Germany

• Essen- Europe's largest coal mining city, and with pop of

5.4 mill

Ruhr

• In second world war area badly damaged by firestorm

bombing

• After war globalisation> competition from S Korea etc

Ruhr

• Most accessible coal reserves were exhausted>

• Unemployment, this & pollution> Out migration

• “sick man of Europe”

Ruhr• ERDF & ESF stepped in to

diversify areas industry

• Lose secondary industry + develop tertiary Ind eg:

• Power, environmental tech, telecoms, medical tech etc

Ruhr

• Eg Geloenkirchen- worlds largest solar cell producer

• ESF promoted further education> create skilled

workforce>

• Attract high tech industry

Ruhr

• Infrastructure improved + universities promoted

• Several imp projects eg: Emscher landscape park; a 320km2 green corridor on

Emscher river

Ruhr• At Oberhausen a disused

gasometer has been converted to the largest exhibition hall in

Europe• At Zentrum old coal mine buildings> Europe’s 1st large

shopping centre

Ruhr

• Duisberg- worlds largest inland harbour

• Using Imagination and Innovation the area has

turned around its economic misfortune

Ruhr

• 71% of employment is now in the tertiary sector

• Air pollution has fallen on average by 50%

• employment in coal 450 K 1975> 50K 1999

Fishing facts + Figs


• Fishing is <1% EU GDP

• Employs < 250,000 people

• But many communities eg in NE Scotland; Peterhead, completely

dependant on fishing


• Fishing supports other industries eg Ship building in UK employs

50,000

• CFP introduced in 1983 to regulate fishing via quotas,

decommissioning & support for communities

Fishing facts + Figs• Fish stocks seen serious decline:

• 1985-1999 white fish stocks (eg cod, haddock) declined by 43%

• June 2000 all 9 commercial stocks outside safe biological limits


• Especially bad in certain areas eg Grand Banks of

Newfoundland, once worlds most productive cod fishery,

1992 closed.

• Cod have still not returned


• Reasons: pollution (agric runoff)> eutrophication, &

habitat destruction by deep sea trawlers

• But mostly due to overfishing

Fishing facts + Figs• Too many ships: 97,000

vessels in 1999

• Ships too efficient: use sonar + GPS to pinpoint shoals of fish,

• largest ships can land 50 tonnes of fish per hour


• CFP set quotas eg UK N sea cod: 34,400 tonnes in 2000- slashed to 18,900 tonnes in

2001

• Scrap ships: 7% scrapped 45% tied up & not used


• FIFG (Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance)

helps areas like Peterhead (Scotland) by diversifying

economy, re-training workforce etc

Fishing facts + Figs• CFP has not been highly successful; fish stocks have continued to fall as scientists ignored to compromise with

industry

• More fisheries had to be closed eg Irish sea cod


• Level of Hypocrisy:• CFP gave UK subsidy of £70

mill to build new vessels• Argue it protects 50,000 ship

builder’s jobs


• Fishing in EU not sustainable

• Policy making may be more effective if devolved to

national level, this successful in Iceland for past 25 years

Trans-national problems

Acid rain

Acid Rain

• 1979: convention on long range Trans boundary air

pollution• In Sweden 10,000 of 85,000

lakes acidified> dead fishes

Acid Rain

• Also pine forests stressed:

• Acid rain leaches nutrients from podzol

• Toxic Aluminium builds up: Stunted trees, needle loss

Acid Rain

• Acid rain exported downwind by prevailing wind from

industrial areas eg N UK & N Germany

• Caused by Sulphur dioxide & Nitrous oxides

Trans-national probs

North sea pollution

North sea pollution• Major rivers eg Rhine discharge

into N sea:

• Nitrates(agric) and sewage sludge>

• eutrophication> low O2 in water > fish die, esp benthic fish (bottom

feeders)

North sea pollution• Toxic chemicals (heavy

metals, organic pollutants eg pcbs

• Chemicals move up food chain> humans

• 1980 N sea conference

North sea pollution• Conference set up holistic

management system:• Agricultural controls- fertiliser use• Industrial controls> limit chemical

dumping• Banning of sewage dumping

North sea pollution

• Aim to: improve biodiversity and sustainability

• (Problem had previously been made worse by oil & gas exploitation in N sea)

Trans-national problems

Pollution in the Rhine


• Rhine: 1320Km long• Discharge 69.3 cubic km

• 50mill people live in its basin• Pop density of Basin: 270

people/km2

Pollution in the Rhine• > 6 bordering countries inc: France, Germany, Switzerland,

Netherlands

• Tributaries include: Neckar, Main, Rhur, Moselle.

• Canal links to Danube & Rhone


• Busiest waterway in world: worlds two largest ports, sea

port: Rotterdam Inland: Duisberg

• Mid 20th century “Cess Pitt” of Europe

Pollution in the Rhine• 1970s O2 levels <4 mg/l: too low for

most life

• High levels of metals; mercury, cadmium, zinc

• & organics; PCBs, Atrazine

• 20% worlds chem industry by the Rhine

Pollution in the Rhine• Problem bought to light by Sandoz chemical plant Fire at

Basle 1st November 1986• 30 tonnes herbicides, fungicides,

dyes etc washed into river• All life killed 100miles N

Pollution in the Rhine• Investigation revealed that as

well as the fire: Ciba-Geigy: dumped 1500 gallons atrazine,

• BASF 1100kg herbicide,

• Lonza “lost” 4,500 L of chemicals


• ICPR (international convention on protection of Rhine)

started in 1950, given real powers to protect Rhine:

• RAP(1986)(action plan): tax pollution, build purification plants,

permits required for dumping


• Eg Frange Germany spent $38 bn on water purification

plants

• Pollution alarm system; every 1/2 km

• Try to restore river ecology


• RAP has been a great success

• Fish have returned, in 1996 Salmon found at Iffezheim, passageways been built at

cost of $6mill

General EU Data

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