Transcript Diapositiva 1

EUROPE:
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND CULTURAL UNITY
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This project is about the public institutions and the cultural unity of
Europe.
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The Roman Empire kept Europe
united for centuries. It relied
over a region that today is
occupied by more than twenty
countries.
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People used a single currency
and had a common language,
Latin; there was a single
system of laws, the Roman
Law.
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There weren’t any frontiers; men, goods and money circulated freely
along the Roman road network.
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However, historians think that the Roman Empire can’t be considered
the origin of modern Europe, because it included many African and
Asian regions.
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The word “European” appeared
for the first time during the
battle of Poitiers, in 732 A.D. .
The Arabs were ruling Spain,
trying to invade France and
threatening Istanbul. Charles
Martel led the army that
defeated the Arabs and blocked
their way to Europe.
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A reporter of this battle appointed the word “European” in his
description of the final fight: “The Europeans, as they left their tents,
saw the Arab camps in front of them.”
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The first attempt to create an
European area was
Charlemagne’s Holy Roman
Empire (800 A.D.), that extended
from Spain to the Rhine and the
Black Sea.
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Charlemagne promoted
culture with his “Schola
Palatina”, a network of
educational institutions.
Christianity became very
important, and the scribes
copied a lot of important
texts in the monasteries using
a new type of writing, the
“Minuscola Carolina”.
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However, when Charlemagne
died (814 A.D.) this unified
vision dissolved and the
European countries suffered
from wars and conquests.
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UE is a supranational and
intergovernmental political
subject that includes 27
indipendent and democratic
countries.
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The European institutions
are:
The European Parliament
The Council of Ministers
The European Commission
The European Council
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The Court of Justice
The Court of Accounts
The European Central Bank
“The European Federation is not intended to color in this way or
that an existing power. It was the sober proposal to create
a democratic European power.”
(Altiero Spinelli)