Unit 4 Business Environment
Explore the significance of international trade and the European dimension for UK businesses
The importance of international trade: to the UK economy, businesses, balance of payments, patterns and trends in international trade, UK trade with the EU, USA and other countries, trading blocs throughout the world, UK membership of the EU, enlargement of EU, direct/indirect exporting methods, trading opportunities, importance of global markets, implications for businesses of emerging markets, cultural diversity and clusters, TNCs, the economies of Europe EMU, EU budget import duties and levies, agricultural levies, VAT, competitor policy, European Single Market Act, social policy, The Social Chapter, tax harmonisation, CAP, regional policy
EU institutions
European
Parliament is the directly-elected democratic expression
of the political will of the peoples of the European Union, the
largest multinational Parliament in the world.
Council of
the European Union is usually known as the Council of Ministers,
and has no equivalent anywhere in the world. Here, the Member States
legislate for the Union, set its political objectives, co-ordinate
their national policies and resolve differences between themselves
and with other institutions.
European
Commission has three distinct functions: initiator of proposals
for legislation, guardian of the Treaties, and the manager and executor
of Union policies and of international trade relations.
Court of
Justice provides the judicial safeguards necessary to ensure
that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of
the Treaties and, generally in all of the activities of the Union.
Court of Auditors is the taxpayers'
representative, responsible for checking that the European Union
spends its money according to its budgetary rules and regulations
and for the purposes for which it is intended.
European Investment Bank is
the European Union's financing institution, it provides loans for
capital investment promoting the Union's balanced economic development
and integration.
Economic and Social Committee in
accordance with the Treaties, the Committee advises the Commission,
the Council and the European Parliament. The opinions which it delivers
(either in response to a referral or on its own initiative) are
drawn up by representatives of the various categories of economic
and social activity in the European Union.
Committee of the Regions is
the European Union's youngest institution whose birth reflects Member
States' strong desire not only to respect regional and local identities
and prerogatives but also to involve them in the development and
implementation of EU policies.
European Ombudsman every citizen
of each Member State is both a national and a European citizen.
One of the rights of all European citizens is to apply to the European
Ombudsman if they are victim of an act of "maladministration" by
the EU institutions or bodies.
