Conquest Joint LessonThe European

Union

Student Outcomes:

An understanding of the overall role and functions of

the EU, and the range of opinions people have of it.

500 million people live in the European Union

Lesson 1 - Starter

• The European Union has 25 member countries, the biggest are the UK, Germany, Spain, Poland, Italy, France and Greece.

• It is based in Brussels in Belgium.

• The picture shows the European Parliament in Brussels

Q1 As a grouptry to listall 25 EUcountries.

Follow this link to find out the actual 25 EU countries

• http://www.eurunion.org/states/home.htm

Or see the list on the next slide.

EU Member States:•  Austria • Belgium • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary

• Ireland• Italy• Latvia• Lithuania• Luxembourg• Malta• The Netherlands• Poland • Portugal• Slovakia• Slovenia• Spain • Sweden• United Kingdom

Main Activity 1- What does the EU do?

• In your groups research what you think the EU does and be ready to tell the class.

• Use the links below and the next few slides for help.

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_2130000/newsid_2138900/2138993.stm

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

Which of these does the EU control for us?

• Farming? True

• Defence? Not true

• Taxes? Not true

• Fishing? True

• Trade? True

• Police? Not true

• Travel? True

• Energy? True

• How do we control the EU?

• We elect Members of the European Parliament and our Prime Minister sits on the Council of Ministers.

Government of the EU

• The European Parliament – We elect Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who vote on European law.

• The Council of Ministers – Our elected UK Government ministers go to Brussels and decide what they want the EU to do.

• The European Commission – this is the civil service that makes the European Laws which are called Directives. Once they are agreed by the European Parliament the UK must implement them.

You could use this table to help you answer:

Role of European Union Details of that role

e.g. Controls farming Pays farmers to grow food.

Plenary

• Present your findings about what the EU does to the class.

Homework• What is the difference between the UK

and the EU?• How do British people have a say in

the running of the UK and the EU?

Lesson 2 Starter

Look at the European Union jokes on your worksheet and in your groups answer the questions.

Main ActivityThe European

Debate

Are you pro-Europe Union or anti-European Union? Do you

care either way?

Follow these two links. What stories do they tell about the feelings of the people of Europe about the European Union?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3806503.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3820607.stm

Views on Europe can generally be divided into two camps:

• Pro-European Union (Europhile)

• This view says that the 25 countries of the EU work better together to survive in the modern world.

• They say we need a European currency, the Euro, and a European Constitution to make sure we work together properly and well so that we all get richer.

• Anti-European Union (Eurosceptic)

• This view says that its OK to trade together but that we shouldn’t do anything else together and instead should retain our historic independence.

• They say we should keep the pound and not have the Euro and that having a European Constitution would make the European Union sound like a country which they don’t want it to be.

The UK and the EU are democracies. This means

you have the right to have any opinion and to express it non-

violently.Work as a group to decide your opinion on

the EU. Are you for or against? Or do you feel it doesn’t matter? Find evidence to back up your view. Be ready to present it to the class in any format you like e.g. playlet, speech, powerpoint etc

These links might help

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_2940000/newsid_2949800/2949864.stm

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3826341.stm

• http://www.euro.gov.uk/eurobanknotes.asp• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2001/uk_a

nd_the_euro/default.stm• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/

3750207.stm

Or look at the word worksheet ‘the euro debate.’

Plenary

• Debate the issue as a class, present each groups arguments and then vote:

Eurosceptics VersusEurophiles

Extension

• Do we have to be for or against?

• Can you take a pragmatic view, liking some bits of the European Union but rejecting other bits?