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Source: http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/cig/g4000.htm

Qualified majority: Maggioranza qualificata.
It is the number of votes required in the Council for a decision to be adopted. The threshold for the qualified majority is set at 62 votes out of 87 (71%). Member States' votes are weighted on the basis of their population and corrected in favour of less-populated countries as follows: France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom 10 votes each; Spain 8 votes; Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal 5 votes each; Austria and Sweden 4 votes each; Denmark, Ireland and Finland 3 votes each; Luxembourg 2 votes.

Recommendations: Raccomandazioni.
Views and preferences expressed by EU institutions on desired actions, but not binding on the Member States.

Regional policy: Politica regionale.
A major policy concern, concentrating on reducing the differences in economic strength between the different regions of the EU, concentrating on aid for less developed regions and restructuring aid for those in economic decline.

Regulations: Regolamenti.
The most rigorous form of legislation, detailed instructions applicable throughout the EC and directly binding upon the Member States.

Reinforced qualified majority: Maggioranza qualificata rafforzata.
The idea of a reinforced qualified majority stems from the conviction shared by several Member States and the European Commission that if the unanimity requirement is maintained in an enlarged Union it will all too often result in stalemate. Unanimity might therefore be replaced in certain cases by a reinforced qualified majority, larger than the 71% of the votes generally required for majority voting. Several proposals have been put forward as to the areas where such a majority would apply and the exact level of the threshold.

Research and development policy: Politica di ricerca e sviluppo.
It is based on provisions in the three founding. The Single European Act introduced the concept of technology into Community law and the EU Treaty then developed the Community's objectives in this field. Supporting the competitiveness of European industry and promoting research to help it face technological challenges are the Community's priorities.

Resolutions: Risoluzioni.
Statements of principle adopted by the Council of Ministers on the recommendation of the Commission, but not legally binding upon the Member States.

Revenue: Entrate.
The income of the EC, coming from several sources, and regarded as the EU own resources.

Right of initiative: Diritto di iniziativa.
So that it can play its role as guardian of the Treaties and defender of the general interest the Commission has been given a right of initiative which empowers and requires it to make proposals on the matters contained in the Treaty, either because the Treaty expressly so provides or because the Commission considers it necessary.

Schengen (Agreement and Convention): Accordo e Convenzione di Schengen.
By the Agreement signed at Schengen on 14 June 1985, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands agreed that they would gradually remove their common frontier controls and introduce freedom of movement for all individuals who were nationals of the signatory Member States, other Member States or third countries. The Schengen Convention was signed by the same five States on 19 June 1990. It lays down the arrangements and guarantees for implementing freedom of movement. It amends the relevant national laws and is subject to parliamentary ratification. Italy, Spain and Portugal, Greece, Austria, Sweden, Finland and Denmark have since joined the Convention.

Secretariat-General: Segreteria generale.
The senior central bureaucratic agency of the Commission, and the major administrative link between the various EU agencies.

Sectoral Integration: Integrazione differenziata.
The process of integrating national economies in stages, by taking one economic sector at a time, and held to typify the strategy of the 1950s.

Security policy: Politica sociale.
Formally listed as a EC objective in the Single European Act (SEA), and institutionalised in the Treaty on European Union, but not yet established in practice. Single European Act (SEA). A 1987 amendment to the founding treaties dealing primarily with the internal market, European Political Co-operation (EPC), and institutional reform of the EC.

Single institutional framework: Contesto istituzionale unico.
The single institutional framework is the practical expression of the principle that there is only one set of institutions. It presupposes that Member States wishing to integrate and co-operate still further will agree to act through shared institutions. It also requires the other non-participating Member States to accept that shared institutions can be used for such operations to knit the Union closer together without involving all the Member States.

Social Charter: Patto sociale.
All the Member States except the United Kingdom adopted the Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, commonly known as the Social Charter, in 1989 in the form of a declaration. It is seen as a political instrument containing "moral obligations" whose object is to guarantee that certain social rights are respected in the countries concerned. These primarily relate to the labour market, vocational training, equal opportunities and the working environment. It also contains an explicit request to the Commission to put forward proposals for translating the content of the Social Charter into legislation. The Social Charter has been followed up by social action programmes.

Stabilisers: Stabilizzatori.
Introduced into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 1988, fixed ceilings on the production and processing guarantees for several agricultural products, backed by co-responsibility levies, above which the level of price support is reduced.

Structural Funds: Fondi strutturali.
The major expenditure funds of the EC: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); European Social Fund (ESF), and the Guidance section of the European Agricultural guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF). The Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund are part of the Community's structural policy, which is intended to reduce the gap in terms of development between different regions and between Member States of the European Union and thereby promote economic and social cohesion.

Subsidiarity: Sussidiarietà.
The principles that the EC can act only when they possess the legal powers to do so, that the EC should act only when an objective can be better achieved at the supranational level, and that the means employed by the EC should be proportional to the desired objective.

Subsidies: Sussidi.
Generally not permitted, whether to private or public enterprises, if the effect is likely to be contrary to competition policy.

Supra-nationalism: Sopranazionalità.
The principle that the nature of the structures and decisions of the EC are superior to the national states, and different from intergovernmental co-operation.

Sustainable development: Sviluppo sostenibile.
The concept of sustainable development refers to a form of economic growth which satisfies society's needs in terms of well-being in the short, medium and - above all - long terms. It is founded on the assumption that development must meet today's needs without jeopardising the prospects of future generations. In practical terms, it means creating the conditions for long-term economic development with due respect for the environment. The Copenhagen world summit for sustainable development (March 1995) stressed the need to combat social exclusion and protect public health.

System: Sistema.
In the EMC Directive, several items of apparatus combined to fulfil a specific objective and intended to be placed on the market as a single functional unit. This term applies only to the EMC Directive.

Target Price: Prezzo obiettivo.
The basic price set annually for each commodity within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), against which the price support to farmers is calculated.

Taxation: Imposizione fiscale.
Generally accepted as a policy field that belongs to the Member States, except where direct taxation policy is against competition policy, and in indirect taxation where the EC have an interest in harmonisation. Despite the introduction of a single market and economic and monetary union, there is still no genuine Community policy on taxation. Specific provisions are laid down in the ECU Treaty, but the decision-making procedure for taxation requires a unanimous vote in the Council. Up to now this has acted as a brake on the adoption of common rules for direct and indirect taxation.

Treaty of Amsterdam: Trattato di Amsterdam.
It was adopted at the Amsterdam European Council on 16 and 17 June 1997 and signed on 2 October 1997 by the Foreign Ministers of the fifteen Member States. It entered into force on 1 May 1999 after ratification by all the Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

Unanimity: Unanimità.
The term "unanimity" refers to the requirement for all the Member States meeting in the Council to be in agreement before a proposal can be adopted. Since the Single European Act, the unanimity requirement has applied in a much more limited area than before. In the context of the first pillar, voting by qualified majority is now the rule. The second and third pillars, however, still operate exclusively according to the intergovernmental method and the unanimity requirement.

Veto: Veto.
The right of veto possessed by each Member States in the Council of Ministers.

WEU: Unione dell'Europa occidentale.
Western European Union is an organisation which was set up in 1948 for the purposes of co-operation on defence and security. It consists of 28 countries with four different types of status. Member States, associate members, observers and associate partners. The EU countries have the status of Member State, except Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Sweden, which have observer status.

White Paper: Libro bianco.
Commission White Papers are documents containing proposals for Community action in a specific area. In some cases they follow a Green Paper published to launch a consultation process at European level. Examples include the White Papers on the completion of the internal market, on growth, competitiveness and employment and the approximation of the laws of the associated states of Central and Eastern Europe in areas of relevance to the internal market. When a White Paper has been favourably received by the Council, it can become the action programme for the Union in the area concerned.

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