>>>In short, EU = the political aspects, EC the technical ones. >>>BTW, our passports bear the mention "European Community".
>>I renewed my passport a couple of weeks ago. The old one said >>"European Community", whereas the new one says "European Union". >>The old one also had my height as 174 cm, the new one didn't >>have my height at all. >I suspect there's a good reason to leave out your height >(while still retaining it in the passport database). > >It makes it harder for people to use stolen passports. >They can alter their appearance (to some extent), but then >be caught on the basis of a discrepancy in height. Interesting suggestion, but it can't be true (if Ireland follows UK practise). The UK also stopped printing height information on the passport (in 1988). Height information is not requested on the application form and therefore cannot be in the database. "By July 1988, a new format blue passport, which had no provision for the inclusion of a spouse, was being issued by all United Kingdom Passport Offices. The distinguishing marks and height were also omitted from page 2 of the passport." http://www.ukpa.gov.uk/_history/history_09.htm The UK government has a big initiative to put most things online and you can see lots of interesting stuff at: www.ukonline.gov.uk. You can get from there to the online application form: https://www.passport-application.gov.uk/main.asp Here is something about EC versus EU. "The introduction of a new style of British passport came about as a result of two things. The first was the decision of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to promote a new international standard for passports. The main feature of the standard was that passports were to be machine-readable. This was to speed up passage through frontier controls. The second was the decision of the Council of Ministers of the European Community to introduce a Common Format Passport (CFP) for Member States. The cover of the CFP bore the words 'European Community' and certain information inside the passport was translated into the official languages of The European Community. (In 1994 the Italians and Dutch proposed a change to the cover of the common format passport. This involved amending 'European Community' to European Union'. The updating of the passport was agreed by supplementary Resolution on 22 June 1995. The UK passport with the EU references started to appear in December 1997.)" http://www.ukpa.gov.uk/_history/history_10.htm "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Is it EC or EU? In most everyday contexts, the terms "EC" and "EU" (or "European Community" and "European Union") are inter-changeable; so it is not important which you use. The term "European Union" is of more recent vintage and is progressively replacing "European Community" in popular parlance. Hence, if you want to keep abreast of the times, it is better to use "European Union" in everyday speech. The "European Community" and the "European Union" are not exactly the same thing from a strict legal point of view. But it is only when you need to be precise - for legal or technical reasons, or when discussing with specialists in European integration - that it is necessary to worry about the subtle distinction between the two. For those with an irresistible urge to know the difference, the term "European Union" was introduced in the Maastricht Treaty or Treaty on European Union, which was signed in 1992 and came into effect in November 1993. It broadened the powers and activities (or "competences") of the European Community beyond the economic arena, to encompass foreign policy and co-operation in justice and home affairs. However, the European Union did not replace the European Community; it absorbed it. Thus the European Union is the European Community (dealing mostly with economic issues) plus foreign policy plus justice and home affairs. In other words, the European Community is an important part of the European Union. So it remains correct from a strict legal viewpoint to talk about the European Community when dealing with certain (mostly economic) issues. However, unless it is really necessary to make a subtle legal distinction, it is simpler to use the term "European Union" all the time. NB -Just to confuse matters further, "EC" sometimes stands for "European Commission" as well as "European Community". The European Commission is one of the main institutions of the European Union (and the European Community!). The Commission's role - in simple terms - is an executive one. It proposes legislation, manages the budget and checks that EU law is being properly applied. Other institutions include the EU Council of Ministers (composed of representatives of national governments from the 15 Member States) and the directly-elected European Parliament, the European Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors." http://www.eudelcan.org/english/6A2.cfm -- Terry Simpson Human Factors Consultant [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.connected-systems.com Phone: +44 7850 511794
