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It is the largest artificial object in space and the largest satellite in low Earth orbit, regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth’s surface. The Russian segment includes six modules. The US segment includes ten modules, whose support services are distributed Roscosmos had previously [19] [20] endorsed the continued operation of ROS through , [21] having proposed using elements of the segment to construct a new Russian space station called OPSEK.

The first ISS component was launched in , and the first long-term residents arrived on 2 November after being launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 31 October The latest major pressurised module, Nauka , was fitted in , a little over ten years after the previous major addition, Leonardo in Development and assembly of the station continues, with an experimental inflatable space habitat added in , and several major new Russian elements scheduled for launch starting in In January , the station’s operation authorization was extended to , with funding secured within the United States through that year.

The ISS consists of pressurised habitation modules, structural trusses, photovoltaic solar arrays , thermal radiators , docking ports , experiment bays and robotic arms. The Dragon spacecraft allows the return of pressurised cargo to Earth, which is used, for example, to repatriate scientific experiments for further analysis.

As of April [update] , astronauts, cosmonauts, and space tourists from 20 different nations have visited the space station, many of them multiple times. In early , science ministers from the European Space Agency ESA countries approved the Columbus programme, the most ambitious effort in space undertaken by that organisation at the time.

The plan spearheaded by Germany and Italy included a module which would be attached to Freedom , and with the capability to evolve into a full-fledged European orbital outpost before the end of the century. The space station was also going to tie the emerging European and Japanese national space programmes closer to the US-led project, thereby preventing those nations from becoming major, independent competitors too.

The ISS was originally intended to be a laboratory, observatory, and factory while providing transportation, maintenance, and a low Earth orbit staging base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars, and asteroids.

However, not all of the uses envisioned in the initial memorandum of understanding between NASA and Roscosmos have been realised. The ISS provides a platform to conduct scientific research, with power, data, cooling, and crew available to support experiments. Small uncrewed spacecraft can also provide platforms for experiments, especially those involving zero gravity and exposure to space, but space stations offer a long-term environment where studies can be performed potentially for decades, combined with ready access by human researchers.

The ISS simplifies individual experiments by allowing groups of experiments to share the same launches and crew time. Research is conducted in a wide variety of fields, including astrobiology , astronomy , physical sciences , materials science , space weather , meteorology , and human research including space medicine and the life sciences.

If follow-on experiments are necessary, the routinely scheduled launches of resupply craft allows new hardware to be launched with relative ease. However, a considerable amount of crew time is taken up by station maintenance.

Perhaps the most notable ISS experiment is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer AMS , which is intended to detect dark matter and answer other fundamental questions about our universe. Currently docked on station, it could not have been easily accommodated on a free flying satellite platform because of its power and bandwidth needs. The space environment is hostile to life.

Unprotected presence in space is characterised by an intense radiation field consisting primarily of protons and other subatomic charged particles from the solar wind , in addition to cosmic rays , high vacuum, extreme temperatures, and microgravity.

Medical research improves knowledge about the effects of long-term space exposure on the human body, including muscle atrophy , bone loss , and fluid shift. These data will be used to determine whether high duration human spaceflight and space colonisation are feasible.

In , data on bone loss and muscular atrophy suggested that there would be a significant risk of fractures and movement problems if astronauts landed on a planet after a lengthy interplanetary cruise, such as the six-month interval required to travel to Mars. Prominent among these is the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity study in which astronauts perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts.

The study considers the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions in space. Usually, there is no physician on board the ISS and diagnosis of medical conditions is a challenge. It is anticipated that remotely guided ultrasound scans will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations where access to a trained physician is difficult. In August , scientists reported that bacteria from Earth, particularly Deinococcus radiodurans bacteria, which is highly resistant to environmental hazards , were found to survive for three years in outer space , based on studies conducted on the International Space Station.

These findings supported the notion of panspermia , the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe , distributed in various ways, including space dust , meteoroids , asteroids , comets , planetoids or contaminated spacecraft. Remote sensing of the Earth, astronomy, and deep space research on the ISS have dramatically increased during the s after the completion of the US Orbital Segment in Throughout the more than 20 years of the ISS program researchers aboard the ISS and on the ground have examined aerosols , ozone , lightning , and oxides in Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the Sun , cosmic rays, cosmic dust , antimatter , and dark matter in the universe.

Researchers are investigating the effect of the station’s near-weightless environment on the evolution, development, growth and internal processes of plants and animals. In response to some of the data, NASA wants to investigate microgravity ‘s effects on the growth of three-dimensional, human-like tissues and the unusual protein crystals that can be formed in space. Investigating the physics of fluids in microgravity will provide better models of the behaviour of fluids.

Because fluids can be almost completely combined in microgravity, physicists investigate fluids that do not mix well on Earth.

Examining reactions that are slowed by low gravity and low temperatures will improve our understanding of superconductivity. The study of materials science is an important ISS research activity, with the objective of reaping economic benefits through the improvement of techniques used on the ground. These findings may improve knowledge about energy production and lead to economic and environmental benefits.

The ISS provides a location in the relative safety of low Earth orbit to test spacecraft systems that will be required for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. This provides experience in operations, maintenance as well as repair and replacement activities on-orbit. This will help develop essential skills in operating spacecraft farther from Earth, reduce mission risks, and advance the capabilities of interplanetary spacecraft.

In , noting the value of the partnership framework itself, Sergey Krasnov wrote, “When compared with partners acting separately, partners developing complementary abilities and resources could give us much more assurance of the success and safety of space exploration. The ISS is helping further advance near-Earth space exploration and realisation of prospective programmes of research and exploration of the Solar system, including the Moon and Mars. The ISS crew provides opportunities for students on Earth by running student-developed experiments, making educational demonstrations, allowing for student participation in classroom versions of ISS experiments, and directly engaging students using radio, and email.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA aims to inspire children to “pursue craftsmanship” and to heighten their “awareness of the importance of life and their responsibilities in society”. Cultural activities are another major objective of the ISS programme. Amateur Radio on the ISS ARISS is a volunteer programme that encourages students worldwide to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, through amateur radio communications opportunities with the ISS crew.

In areas where radio equipment cannot be used, speakerphones connect students to ground stations which then connect the calls to the space station. First Orbit is a feature-length documentary film about Vostok 1 , the first crewed space flight around the Earth.

By matching the orbit of the ISS to that of Vostok 1 as closely as possible, in terms of ground path and time of day, documentary filmmaker Christopher Riley and ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli were able to film the view that Yuri Gagarin saw on his pioneering orbital space flight. This new footage was cut together with the original Vostok 1 mission audio recordings sourced from the Russian State Archive. These were the first content made in space specifically for Wikipedia. Since the International Space Station is a multi-national collaborative project, the components for in-orbit assembly were manufactured in various countries around the world.

Beginning in the mid s, the U. Zvezda was initially manufactured in as a component for Mir-2 , but was never launched and instead became the ISS Service Module.

The mobile base system, a connecting framework for Canadarm2 mounted on rails, was built by Northrop Grumman. The assembly of the International Space Station, a major endeavour in space architecture , began in November It provided propulsion, attitude control , communications, and electrical power, but lacked long-term life support functions.

On 12 July , the Zvezda module was launched into orbit. Onboard preprogrammed commands deployed its solar arrays and communications antenna. Zvezda then became the passive target for a rendezvous with Zarya and Unity , maintaining a station-keeping orbit while the Zarya — Unity vehicle performed the rendezvous and docking via ground control and the Russian automated rendezvous and docking system.

Zarya ‘s computer transferred control of the station to Zvezda ‘s computer soon after docking. Zvezda added sleeping quarters, a toilet, kitchen, CO 2 scrubbers, dehumidifier, oxygen generators, and exercise equipment, plus data, voice and television communications with mission control, enabling permanent habitation of the station. At the end of the first day on the station, astronaut Bill Shepherd requested the use of the radio call sign ” Alpha “, which he and cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev preferred to the more cumbersome ” International Space Station “.

Referencing a naval tradition in a pre-launch news conference he had said: “For thousands of years, humans have been going to sea in ships. People have designed and built these vessels, launched them with a good feeling that a name will bring good fortune to the crew and success to their voyage. These two flights each added segments of the station’s Integrated Truss Structure , which provided the station with Ku-band communication for US television, additional attitude support needed for the additional mass of the USOS, and substantial solar arrays to supplement the station’s four existing arrays.

A Soyuz-U rocket delivered the Pirs docking compartment. The Space Shuttles Discovery , Atlantis , and Endeavour delivered the Destiny laboratory and Quest airlock , in addition to the station’s main robot arm, the Canadarm2, and several more segments of the Integrated Truss Structure.

The expansion schedule was interrupted in by the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and a resulting hiatus in flights. As a result of the major expansion of the station’s power-generating capabilities, more pressurised modules could be accommodated, and the Harmony node and Columbus European laboratory were added.

By June , the station consisted of 15 pressurised modules and the Integrated Truss Structure. Russia’s new primary research module Nauka docked in July , [] along with the European Robotic Arm which will be able to relocate itself to different parts of the Russian modules of the station.

The gross mass of the station changes over time. The total launch mass of the modules on orbit is about , kg , lb as of 3 September [update]. Hydrogen gas is constantly vented overboard by the oxygen generators. The ISS is a modular space station. Modular stations can allow modules to be added to or removed from the existing structure, allowing greater flexibility.

Diagram structure of International Space Station after installation of solar arrays as of September Below is a diagram of major station components. The blue areas are pressurised sections accessible by the crew without using spacesuits.

The station’s unpressurised superstructure is indicated in red. Planned components are shown in white, non installed, temporarily defunct or non-commissioned components are shown in brown and former ones in gray. Other unpressurised components are yellow. The Unity node joins directly to the Destiny laboratory. For clarity, they are shown apart.

Similar cases are also seen in other parts of the structure. With the launch and assembly in orbit of other modules with more specialized functionality, Zarya, as of August , is primarily be used for storage, both inside the pressurized section and in the externally mounted fuel tanks. The name Zarya “Dawn” was given to the FGB because it signified the dawn of a new era of international cooperation in space.

Although it was built by a Russian company, it is owned by the United States. The Unity connecting module, also known as Node 1, is the first U. It connects the Russian and U. The module is cylindrical in shape, with six berthing locations forward , aft , port , starboard , zenith , and nadir facilitating connections to other modules.

 
 

 

International Space Station – Wikipedia.

 

The European Council gives political direction to the EU. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the president of the European Council presently Charles Michel , the president of the European Commission and one representative per member state either its head of state or head of government. The high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy presently Josep Borrell also takes part in its meetings. It has been described by some as the union’s “supreme political authority”.

The European Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreements over controversial issues and policies.

It acts externally as a ” collective head of state ” and ratifies important documents for example, international agreements and treaties. Tasks for the president of the European Council are ensuring the external representation of the EU, [] driving consensus and resolving divergences among member states, both during meetings of the European Council and over the periods between them.

The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe , an international organisation independent of the EU and based in Strasbourg. The European Commission acts both as the EU’s executive arm , responsible for the day-to-day running of the EU, and also the legislative initiator , with the sole power to propose laws for debate. One of the 27 is the president of the European Commission presently Ursula von der Leyen for — , appointed by the European Council , subject to the Parliament’s approval.

After the President, the most prominent commissioner is the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy, who is ex-officio a vice-president of the European Commission and is also chosen by the European Council. The 27 commissioners as a single body are subject to approval or otherwise by vote of the European Parliament. The Council of the European Union also called the Council [] and the “Council of Ministers”, its former title [] forms one half of the EU’s legislature.

It consists of a representative from each member state’s government and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed.

Notwithstanding its different configurations, it is considered to be one single body. In addition to the legislative functions, members of the council also have executive responsibilities, such as the development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy and the coordination of broad economic policies within the Union.

Beginning on 1 January , the position is held by France. In some policies, there are several member states that ally with strategic partners within the union. The European Parliament is one of three legislative institutions of the EU, which together with the Council of the European Union is tasked with amending and approving the European Commission’s proposals. MEPs are elected on a national basis and they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality.

Each country has a set number of seats and is divided into sub-national constituencies where this does not affect the proportional nature of the voting system. In the ordinary legislative procedure , the European Commission proposes legislation, which requires the joint approval of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to pass.

This process applies to nearly all areas, including the EU budget. The parliament is the final body to approve or reject the proposed membership of the commission, and can attempt motions of censure on the commission by appeal to the Court of Justice.

The president of the European Parliament carries out the role of speaker in Parliament and represents it externally. The president and vice-presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years.

In , the budget of the European Community was 0. The Court of Auditors is legally obliged to provide the parliament and the council specifically, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council with “a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions”. The European Court of Auditors has signed off the European Union accounts every year since and, while making it clear that the European Commission has more work to do, has highlighted that most of the errors take place at national level.

In November , two members of the union, Hungary and Poland , blocked approval to the EU’s budget at a meeting in the Committee of Permanent Representatives Coreper , citing a proposal that linked funding with adherence to the rule of law. The budget may still be approved if Hungary and Poland withdraw their vetoes after further negotiations in the council and the European Council. Member states retain all powers not explicitly handed to the European Union. In some areas the EU enjoys exclusive competence.

These are areas in which member states have renounced any capacity to enact legislation. In other areas the EU and its member states share the competence to legislate. While both can legislate, member states can only legislate to the extent to which the EU has not.

In other policy areas the EU can only co-ordinate, support and supplement member state action but cannot enact legislation with the aim of harmonising national laws. That a particular policy area falls into a certain category of competence is not necessarily indicative of what legislative procedure is used for enacting legislation within that policy area.

Different legislative procedures are used within the same category of competence, and even with the same policy area. The distribution of competences in various policy areas between member states and the union is divided in the following three categories:.

The European Union is based on a series of treaties. These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislation [p] which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants. Under the principle of supremacy , national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, and thus the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and within limits even constitutional provisions.

The direct effect and supremacy doctrines were not explicitly set out in the European Treaties but were developed by the Court of Justice itself over the s, apparently under the influence of its then most influential judge, Frenchman Robert Lecourt [].

The General Court mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU’s courts, [] and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal adjudicates in disputes between the European Union and its civil service. The treaties declare that the European Union itself is “founded on the values of respect for human dignity , freedom , democracy, equality , the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities The charter is a codified catalogue of fundamental rights against which the EU’s legal acts can be judged.

It consolidates many rights which were previously recognised by the Court of Justice and derived from the “constitutional traditions common to the member states. The EU is independent from the Council of Europe, although they share purpose and ideas, especially on the rule of law, human rights and democracy. The EU has also promoted human rights issues in the wider world.

The EU opposes the death penalty and has proposed its worldwide abolition. Abolition of the death penalty is a condition for EU membership. On 19 October , the European Union revealed new plans to create a legal structure to act against human rights violations worldwide. The new plan was expected to provide the European Union with greater flexibility to target and sanction those responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses around the world.

The main legal acts of the European Union come in three forms: regulations , directives , and decisions. Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures, [v] and automatically override conflicting domestic provisions.

The details of how they are to be implemented are left to member states. Decisions offer an alternative to the two above modes of legislation. They are legal acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a particular member state. They are most often used in competition law , or on rulings on State Aid, but are also frequently used for procedural or administrative matters within the institutions. Regulations, directives, and decisions are of equal legal value and apply without any formal hierarchy.

The European Ombudsman was established by the Maastricht Treaty. The ombudsman is elected by the European Parliament for the length of the parliament’s term, and the position is renewable. Since the creation of the European Union in , it has developed its competencies in the area of justice and home affairs; initially at an intergovernmental level and later by supranationalism. Accordingly, the union has legislated in areas such as extradition , [] family law, [] asylum law, [] and criminal justice.

The EU has also established agencies to co-ordinate police, prosecutorial and immigrations controls across the member states: Europol for co-operation of police forces, [] Eurojust for co-operation between prosecutors, [] and Frontex for co-operation between border control authorities. This co-operation had to particularly be developed with the advent of open borders through the Schengen Agreement and the associated cross border crime.

The borders inside the Schengen Area between Germany and Austria. Foreign policy co-operation between member states dates from the establishment of the community in , when member states negotiated as a bloc in international trade negotiations under the EU’s common commercial policy.

The aims of the CFSP are to promote both the EU’s own interests and those of the international community as a whole, including the furtherance of international co-operation, respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The unanimity and difficult issues treated under the CFSP sometimes lead to disagreements, such as those which occurred over the war in Iraq. The coordinator and representative of the CFSP within the EU is the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy who speaks on behalf of the EU in foreign policy and defence matters, and has the task of articulating the positions expressed by the member states on these fields of policy into a common alignment.

The high representative heads up the European External Action Service EEAS , a unique EU department [] that has been officially implemented and operational since 1 December on the occasion of the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Besides the emerging international policy of the European Union, the international influence of the EU is also felt through enlargement. The perceived benefits of becoming a member of the EU act as an incentive for both political and economic reform in states wishing to fulfil the EU’s accession criteria, and are considered an important factor contributing to the reform of European formerly Communist countries.

The predecessors of the European Union were not devised as a military alliance because NATO was largely seen as appropriate and sufficient for defence purposes. Since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, France is the only member officially recognised as a nuclear weapon state and the sole holder of a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

France and Italy are also the only EU countries that have power projection capabilities outside of Europe. Following the Kosovo War in , the European Council agreed that “the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and the readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO”.

To that end, a number of efforts were made to increase the EU’s military capability, notably the Helsinki Headline Goal process.

After much discussion, the most concrete result was the EU Battlegroups initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about personnel. EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from middle and northern Africa to the western Balkans and western Asia. It directs all military activities in the EU context, including planning and conducting military missions and operations in the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy and the development of military capabilities, and provides the Political and Security Committee with military advice and recommendations on military issues.

Frontex is an agency of the EU established to manage the cooperation between national border guards securing its external borders. It aims to detect and stop illegal immigration, human trafficking and terrorist infiltration.

In the European Commission presented its proposal for a new European Border and Coast Guard Agency having a stronger role and mandate along with national authorities for border management. In an EU consisting of 27 members, substantial security and defence co-operation is increasingly relying on collaboration among all member states. Humanitarian aid is financed directly by the budget 70 per cent as part of the financial instruments for external action and also by the European Development Fund 30 per cent.

In , the average among EU countries was 0. The European Union uses foreign relations instruments like the European Neighbourhood Policy which seeks to tie those countries to the east and south of the European territory of the EU to the union. These countries, primarily developing countries, include some who seek to one day become either a member state of the European Union , or more closely integrated with the European Union. The EU offers financial assistance to countries within the European Neighbourhood, so long as they meet the strict conditions of government reform, economic reform and other issues surrounding positive transformation.

This process is normally underpinned by an Action Plan, as agreed by both Brussels and the target country. International recognition of sustainable development as a key element is growing steadily. The SDGs recognise that all countries must stimulate action in the following key areas — people, planet , prosperity, peace and partnership — in order to tackle the global challenges that are crucial for the survival of humanity. Partnership and cooperation agreements are bilateral agreements with non-member nations.

The European Union is the largest exporter in the world [] and in was the largest importer of goods and services. In the eurozone , trade is helped by not having any currency differences to deal with amongst most members. The European Union Association Agreement does something similar for a much larger range of countries, partly as a so-called soft approach ‘a carrot instead of a stick’ to influence the politics in those countries.

When the EU negotiates trade related agreement outside the WTO framework, the subsequent agreement must be approved by each individual EU member state government. The European Union has concluded free trade agreements FTAs [] and other agreements with a trade component with many countries worldwide and is negotiating with many others. The currency union represents million EU citizens. Of the top largest corporations in the world measured by revenue in , had their headquarters in the EU.

Two of the original core objectives of the European Economic Community were the development of a common market, subsequently becoming a single market , and a customs union between its member states.

The single market involves the free circulation of goods, capital, people, and services within the EU , [] and the customs union involves the application of a common external tariff on all goods entering the market. Once goods have been admitted into the market they cannot be subjected to customs duties, discriminatory taxes or import quotas , as they travel internally.

The non-EU member states of Iceland , Norway , Liechtenstein and Switzerland participate in the single market but not in the customs union. Free movement of capital is intended to permit movement of investments such as property purchases and buying of shares between countries. Post-Maastricht there has been a rapidly developing corpus of ECJ judgements regarding this initially neglected freedom. The free movement of capital is unique insofar as it is granted equally to non-member states.

The free movement of persons means that EU citizens can move freely between member states to live, work, study or retire in another country. This required the lowering of administrative formalities and recognition of professional qualifications of other states.

The free movement of services and of establishment allows self-employed persons to move between member states to provide services on a temporary or permanent basis. While services account for 60 per cent to 70 per cent of GDP, legislation in the area is not as developed as in other areas. This lacuna has been addressed by the Services in the Internal Market Directive which aims to liberalise the cross border provision of services.

A EEA national identity card German version pictured. A European driving licence card Croatian version pictured. A European passport , displaying the name of the member state, the national arms and the words “European Union” given in their official language s.

Irish version pictured. A European vehicle registration plate , consisting of a blue strip on the left side with the EU flag symbol, along with the country code of the member state in which the vehicle is registered. Slovak version pictured. The creation of a European single currency became an official objective of the European Economic Community in In , having negotiated the structure and procedures of a currency union, the member states signed the Maastricht Treaty and were legally bound to fulfil the agreed-on rules including the convergence criteria if they wanted to join the monetary union.

The states wanting to participate had first to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. In , the currency union started, first as an accounting currency with eleven member states joining. In , the currency was fully put into place, when euro notes and coins were issued and national currencies began to phase out in the eurozone, which by then consisted of 12 member states. The eurozone constituted by the EU member states which have adopted the euro has since grown to 19 countries.

It is at the centre of the European System of Central Banks , which comprehends all EU national central banks and is controlled by its General Council, consisting of the President of the ECB , who is appointed by the European Council, the vice-president of the ECB, and the governors of the national central banks of all 27 EU member states. To complement this framework, there is also a European Systemic Risk Board under the responsibility of the central bank.

The aim of this financial control system is to ensure the economic stability of the EU. To prevent the joining states from getting into financial trouble or crisis after entering the monetary union, they were obliged in the Maastricht treaty to fulfil important financial obligations and procedures, especially to show budgetary discipline and a high degree of sustainable economic convergence, as well as to avoid excessive government deficits and limit the government debt to a sustainable level.

The European Commission working sectors are: aeronautics, automotive, biotechnology, chemicals, construction, cosmetics, defence, electronics, firearms, food and drink, gambling, healthcare, maritime, mechanics, medical, postal, raw materials, space, textile, tourism, toys and social economy Societas cooperativa Europaea. In , the EU had a gross inland energy consumption of 1, million tonnes of oil equivalent toe. The EU has had legislative power in the area of energy policy for most of its existence; this has its roots in the original European Coal and Steel Community.

The introduction of a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was approved at the meeting of the European Council in October , and the first draft policy was published in January The EU has five key points in its energy policy: increase competition in the internal market , encourage investment and boost interconnections between electricity grids; diversify energy resources with better systems to respond to a crisis; establish a new treaty framework for energy co-operation with Russia while improving relations with energy-rich states in Central Asia [] and North Africa; use existing energy supplies more efficiently while increasing renewable energy commercialisation ; and finally increase funding for new energy technologies.

In , EU countries as a whole imported 82 per cent of their oil, 57 per cent of their natural gas [] and The three largest suppliers of natural gas to the European Union are Russia, Norway and Algeria , that amounted for about three quarters of the imports in It is expected to target Russian oil, Russian and Belarusian banks, as well as individuals and companies.

According to an article by Reuters, two diplomats stated that the European Union may impose a ban on imports of Russian oil by the end of In the estimated network covers: 75, kilometres 46, mi of roads; 78, kilometres 48, mi of railways; airports; maritime harbours; and internal harbours.

Rail transport in Europe is being synchronised with the European Rail Traffic Management System ERTMS , an initiative to greatly enhance safety, increase efficiency of trains and enhance cross-border interoperability of rail transport in Europe by replacing signalling equipment with digitised mostly wireless versions and by creating a single Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems. The developing European transport policies will increase the pressure on the environment in many regions by the increased transport network.

In the pre EU members, the major problem in transport deals with congestion and pollution. After the recent enlargement, the new states that joined since added the problem of solving accessibility to the transport agenda.

Mobile communication roaming charges are abolished throughout the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The Galileo positioning system is an EU infrastructure project. The Galileo project was launched partly to reduce the EU’s dependency on the US-operated Global Positioning System , but also to give more complete global coverage and allow for greater accuracy, given the aged nature of the GPS system. Until the s, the policy accounted for over 60 per cent of the European Community’s annual budget, and in accounted for around 34 per cent.

The policy’s price controls and market interventions led to considerable overproduction. These were intervention stores of products bought up by the community to maintain minimum price levels. To dispose of surplus stores, they were often sold on the world market at prices considerably below Community guaranteed prices, or farmers were offered subsidies amounting to the difference between the community and world prices to export their products outside the community.

This system has been criticised for under-cutting farmers outside Europe, especially those in the developing world. Since the beginning of the s, the CAP has been subject to a series of reforms. Initially, these reforms included the introduction of set-aside in , where a proportion of farm land was deliberately withdrawn from production, milk quotas and, more recently, the ‘de-coupling’ or disassociation of the money farmers receive from the EU and the amount they produce by the Fischler reforms in Agriculture expenditure will move away from subsidy payments linked to specific produce, toward direct payments based on farm size.

This is intended to allow the market to dictate production levels. The EU operates a competition policy intended to ensure undistorted competition within the single market. In the commission for the first time prevented a merger between two companies based in the United States General Electric and Honeywell which had already been approved by their national authority.

The EU seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6. The European Union has long sought to mitigate the effects of free markets by protecting workers’ rights and preventing social and environmental dumping. To this end it has adopted laws establishing minimum employment and environmental standards.

The EU has also sought to coordinate the social security and health systems of member states to facilitate individuals exercising free movement rights and to ensure they maintain their ability to access social security and health services in other member states. The European Social Charter is the main body that recognises the social rights of European citizens.

A European unemployment insurance has been proposed among others by the commissioner of Jobs Nicolas Schmit. Since there has been a European commissioner for equality and the European Institute for Gender Equality has existed since Housing, youth, childhood, Functional diversity or elderly care are supportive competencies of the European Union and can be financed by the European Social Fund.

The European Pillar of Social Rights contains a preamble and 3 chapters with target values for 20 fields:. Chapter I: Equal opportunities and access to the labour market general education, professional training and lifelong learning, gender equality, equal opportunities, active support for employment. Chapter II: Fair working conditions secure and adaptable employment, wages, information about employment conditions and protection in the event of dismissals, social dialogue and involvement of workers, work-life balance, healthy, safe and well-adapted working environments and data protection.

Chapter III: Social protection and inclusion childcare and support for children, social protection, unemployment benefits, minimum income, old age income and pensions, healthcare, inclusion of people with disabilities, long-term care, housing and assistance for the homeless, access to essential services. The EPSR is intended to act as a reference document of sorts, by means of which the labour markets and social standards in the Member States may approach the standards defined in the Pillar in the long term.

Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds are supporting the development of underdeveloped regions of the EU. Such regions are primarily located in the states of central and southern Europe. Demographic transition to a society of ageing population, low fertility-rates and depopulation of non-metropolitan regions is tackled within this policies. In , when the European Economic Community was founded, it had no environmental policy.

European policy-makers originally increased the EU’s capacity to act on environmental issues by defining it as a trade problem. The legal basis for EU environmental policy was established with the introduction of the Single European Act in Initially, EU environmental policy focused on Europe. More recently, the EU has demonstrated leadership in global environmental governance, e. This international dimension is reflected in the EU’s Sixth Environmental Action Programme, [] which recognises that its objectives can only be achieved if key international agreements are actively supported and properly implemented both at EU level and worldwide.

The Lisbon Treaty further strengthened the leadership ambitions. Mitigating climate change is one of the top priorities of EU environmental policy. In , member states agreed that, in the future, 20 per cent of the energy used across the EU must be renewable , and carbon dioxide emissions have to be lower in by at least 20 per cent compared to levels.

The EU has adopted an emissions trading system to incorporate carbon emissions into the economy. In the elections to the European Parliament , the green parties increased their power, possibly because of the rise of post materialist values. Proposals to reach a zero carbon economy in the European Union by were suggested in — Almost all member states supported that goal at an EU summit in June The pledge is considered as a big achievement for climate change mitigation.

In , the EU emitted 9. Basic education is an area where the EU’s role is limited to supporting national governments. In higher education, the policy was developed in the s in programmes supporting exchanges and mobility. The most visible of these has been the Erasmus Programme , a university exchange programme which began in In its first 20 years, it supported international exchange opportunities for well over 1.

There are similar programmes for school pupils and teachers, for trainees in vocational education and training , and for adult learners in the Lifelong Learning Programme — These programmes are designed to encourage a wider knowledge of other countries and to spread good practices in the education and training fields across the EU.

Scientific development is facilitated through the EU’s Framework Programmes , the first of which started in The aims of EU policy in this area are to co-ordinate and stimulate research. The EU has no major competences in the field of health care and Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union affirms that “A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities”.

The European Commission ‘s Directorate-General for Health and Consumers seeks to align national laws on the protection of people’s health, on the consumers’ rights, on the safety of food and other products.

All EU and many other European countries offer their citizens a free European Health Insurance Card which, on a reciprocal basis, provides insurance for emergency medical treatment insurance when visiting other participating European countries.

The EU has some of the highest levels of life expectancy in the world, with Spain, Italy, Sweden, France, Malta, Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Greece all among the world’s top 20 countries with the highest life expectancy. The overall life expectancy in the EU in was Cultural co-operation between member states has been an interest of the European Union since its inclusion as a community competency in the Maastricht Treaty. Sport is mainly the responsibility of the member states or other international organisations, rather than of the EU.

There are some EU policies that have affected sport, such as the free movement of workers, which was at the core of the Bosman ruling that prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with European citizenship.

The Treaty of Lisbon requires any application of economic rules to take into account the specific nature of sport and its structures based on voluntary activity. The flag of Europe consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background. Originally designed in for the Council of Europe, the flag was adopted by the European Communities , the predecessors of the present European Union, in The Council of Europe gave the flag a symbolic description in the following terms, [] though the official symbolic description adopted by the EU omits the reference to the “Western world”: [].

Against the blue sky of the Western world, the stars symbolise the peoples of Europe in a form of a circle, the sign of union. The number of stars is invariably twelve , the figure twelve being the symbol of perfection and entirety. United in Diversity was adopted as the motto of the union in , having been selected from proposals submitted by school pupils. The anthem of the EU is an instrumental version of the prelude to the Ode to Joy , the 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven ‘s ninth symphony.

The anthem was adopted by European Community leaders in and has since been played on official occasions. Known from the myth in which Zeus seduces her in the guise of a white bull, Europa has also been referred to in relation to the present union. Statues of Europa and the bull decorate several of the EU’s institutions and a portrait of her is seen on the series of euro banknotes.

The bull is, for its part, depicted on all residence permit cards. The commission has named one of its central buildings in Brussels after Charlemagne and the city of Aachen has since awarded the Charlemagne Prize to champions of European unification. Media freedom is a fundamental right that applies to all member states of the European Union and its citizens , as defined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.

It provides support for the development, promotion and distribution of European works within Europe and beyond. The European Union has had a significant positive economic effect on most member states. The largest winners were the new member states, in particular unskilled labour in the new member states.

The European Union has contributed to peace in Europe, in particular by pacifying border disputes, [] [] and to the spread of democracy, especially by encouraging democratic reforms in aspiring Eastern European member states after the collapse of the USSR. Daniel Kelemen argues that the EU has proved beneficial to leaders who are overseeing democratic backsliding , as the EU is reluctant to intervene in domestic politics, gives authoritarian governments funds which they can use to strengthen their regimes, and because freedom of movement within the EU allows dissenting citizens to leave their backsliding countries.

At the same time, the union provides an external constraint that prevents soft authoritarian regimes from progressing into hard dictatorships. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Redirected from European union. Political and economic union of 27 European states. For other uses, see EU disambiguation. This article is about the European Union. For the various levels of integration within European countries including EU member states, see European integration.

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Main article: Common Agricultural Policy. Less developed regions. Transition regions. More developed regions. Main article: Sport policies of the European Union. Further information: European Heritage Label. European Union portal Europe portal. PwC was found to be unethically favored by the World Bank in a bid to privatize the water distribution system of Delhi , India, an effort that was alleged as corrupt by investigators.

The effort at privatization fell through when an investigation was conducted by Arvind Kejriwal and the non-governmental organization NGO Parivartan in The Delhi Jal Board DJB , which administers the water system of Delhi, was first approached by Parivartan in November , following a report by the newspaper The Asian Age , where the scheme was revealed to the public for the first time.

The documents revealed that the project began in , in complete secrecy within the DJB administration. When PwC was in 10th place, the World Bank said that at least one company should be from a developing country, and since PwC made the bid from its Kolkata office, it was dubbed an “Indian” company, and its rank was raised to 6th. Only one company succeeded in the new round that was not PwC, and the World Bank had the lowest marks from an evaluator thrown out.

The contract was awarded to PwC in In , Cattles plc brought a legal action against PwC in the UK in respect of and audits, claiming that PwC had failed to carry out adequate investigations. PwC disputed this legal claim. PwC admitted their “conduct fell significantly short of the standards reasonably to be expected of a member firm” in respect of the financial statements.

The administrators alleged that PwC should have identified a material understatement of QIL’s provisions for claims. Connaught plc , a UK former FTSE Index outsourcing company operating in property maintenance for the social housing and public sector, was put into administration in after reporting material losses.

In , the Financial Reporting Council FRC severely reprimanded PwC and its audit partner following an investigation of their conduct in respect of the audit of Connaught. The Financial Reporting Council started an investigation into accounting practices at Tesco and into the conduct of PwC in carrying out its audits in , and The firm helped multinational companies obtain legal tax rulings in Luxembourg between and The rulings provided written assurance that the multinational companies’ tax-saving plans would be seen favorably by the Luxembourg authorities.

The companies saved billions of dollars in taxes with these arrangements. Some firms paid less than one percent tax on the profits they shifted to Luxembourg. Employees or former employees of PwC provided documentation of the rulings to journalists. He told the committee the financing, investments, and tax structure is legal and well known to the British government.

The revelations later led to a series of EU-wide measures aimed at regulating tax avoidance schemes and tax probes into several EU companies. In , PwC initiated charges against the two whistleblowers that revealed the LuxLeaks tax controversy, and they were convicted and sentenced with suspended prison sentences and fined. In March , a Luxembourg appeals court upheld the convictions of the two whistleblowers, but with reduced sentences.

The filings also alleged that PwC’s Brazil affiliate, PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditores Independentes, played a significant role by attesting to Petrobras financial statements and ignoring warnings.

In , Luke Sayers , then CEO of PwC Australia, [] [] had the firm prepare a report projecting the excessive cost of a plebiscite on gay marriage. BHS collapsed the following year with a substantial deficit in its pension fund. BT reportedly sought the immediate replacement of PwC as auditors following a breakdown of trust, but had existing commercial relationships with the other Big 4 firms which would have prevented their early appointment.

PwC was responsible for tabulating the results, preparing the envelopes, and handing them to presenters. In March , the board of governors for the Academy voted to retain the services of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, despite the mix-up, saying “new protocols have been established including greater oversight from PwC’s U.

In , the U. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama held PwC liable for professional negligence in its audit of Colonial Bank , which failed in , after filing materially false financial information with the SEC.

In , PwC was accused of disproportionately hiring younger workers and fostering “an age-conscious workplace in which youth is highly valued. In March , a collective action related to the case was certified by a federal judge in San Francisco.

In , PwC Australia CEO Luke Sayers was connected to perceived conflict of interest issues on a related to a personal investment in Australian Visa Processing AVP , [] a company part-owned by PwC that was submitting a tender to redesign and run Australia’s visa processing system that is potentially worth billions of dollars, which would result in a significant financial advantage for its investors. In , the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ICIJ leaked over , internal documents revealing that PwC had facilitated multiple dealings in which Isabel dos Santos , the daughter of the former president of Angola , made a fortune while in charge of the state oil company, Sonangol.

Dos Santos established a network of over companies to facilitate tax evasion and the steering of millions of dollars of Angolan state contracts to companies under her control.

PwC is sued for conspiring against a former client; according to the suit, the company released information about the client to a competitor in the course of a takeover approach. PwC responded with a statement that “this claim [lacks] merit and [we] will be vigorously defending it. After completing their time at the Treasury Department, the staff were promoted to partner at PwC. In October , the accounting regulator in Hong Kong announced an investigation into PwC’s audit of Evergrande , a Chinese property company.

PwC had signed off the accounts of Evergrande without reference to its uncertainties as a going concern. The company itself reported concerns as to its ability to continue operating in its half-year accounts for The report found that PwC effectively enabled capture of SAA by failing to adequately audit its financial and accounting processes between and From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Multinational professional services brand. For other uses, see PWC disambiguation. Trade name. Tower , Frankfurt, Germany. Torre PwC , Madrid, Spain. Main article: Price Waterhouse v. Main article: Luxembourg Leaks.

Companies portal. Archived from the original on 10 October Retrieved 27 September Retrieved 1 October Retrieved 14 August Retrieved 14 October The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 November Retrieved 25 May Retrieved 29 April The Australian. Companies House. Retrieved 23 July Retrieved 24 January Management Today. Archived from the original on 28 May Retrieved 3 August Archived from the original on 9 December Harvard Business School Press. ISBN The British Museum.

Retrieved 17 August Los Angeles Times. New York Times. Retrieved 19 June Archived from the original on 9 August The Record. Archived from the original on 11 January Retrieved 14 December Top Consultant. Retrieved 26 October Retrieved 3 May Retrieved 15 June Retrieved 6 June Tax Pro Today. The Wall Street Journal.

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Retrieved 6 November Accounting Today. Retrieved 4 May Retrieved 16 July Retrieved 8 October Archived from the original on 27 March Retrieved 8 May The Times of India.

Archived from the original PDF on 1 November Environment Analyst. Climate Home — climate change news. The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 August Retrieved 7 May International Accounting Bulletin. Huffington Post. Retrieved 21 June Chief Executive. Crew supervise these craft, but do not intervene except to send abort commands in emergencies. Progress and ATV supply craft can remain at the ISS for six months, [] [] allowing great flexibility in crew time for loading and unloading of supplies and trash.

From the initial station programs, the Russians pursued an automated docking methodology that used the crew in override or monitoring roles. Although the initial development costs were high, the system has become very reliable with standardisations that provide significant cost benefits in repetitive operations.

Soyuz spacecraft used for crew rotation also serve as lifeboats for emergency evacuation; they are replaced every six months and were used after the Columbia disaster to return stranded crew from the ISS. Other vehicles berth instead of docking. The Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle parked itself in progressively closer orbits to the station, and then awaited ‘approach’ commands from the crew, until it was close enough for a robotic arm to grapple and berth the vehicle to the USOS.

Berthed craft can transfer International Standard Payload Racks. Japanese spacecraft berth for one to two months. Prior to a spacecraft’s docking to the ISS, navigation and attitude control GNC is handed over to the ground control of the spacecraft’s country of origin. GNC is set to allow the station to drift in space, rather than fire its thrusters or turn using gyroscopes. The solar panels of the station are turned edge-on to the incoming spacecraft, so residue from its thrusters does not damage the cells.

Before its retirement, Shuttle launches were often given priority over Soyuz, with occasional priority given to Soyuz arrivals carrying crew and time-critical cargoes, such as biological experiment materials. Orbital Replacement Units ORUs are spare parts that can be readily replaced when a unit either passes its design life or fails.

Examples of ORUs are pumps, storage tanks, controller boxes, antennas, and battery units. Some units can be replaced using robotic arms. Both kinds of pallets provide electricity for many parts that could be damaged by the cold of space and require heating. The larger logistics carriers also have local area network LAN connections for telemetry to connect experiments.

Unexpected problems and failures have impacted the station’s assembly time-line and work schedules leading to periods of reduced capabilities and, in some cases, could have forced abandonment of the station for safety reasons.

Serious problems include an air leak from the USOS in , [] the venting of fumes from an Elektron oxygen generator in , [] and the failure of the computers in the ROS in during STS that left the station without thruster, Elektron , Vozdukh and other environmental control system operations. In the latter case, the root cause was found to be condensation inside electrical connectors leading to a short circuit.

During STS in and following the relocation of the P6 truss and solar arrays, it was noted during unfurling that the solar array had torn and was not deploying properly.

Extra precautions were taken to reduce the risk of electric shock, as the repairs were carried out with the solar array exposed to sunlight. Excessive vibration and high-current spikes in the array drive motor were noted, resulting in a decision to substantially curtail motion of the starboard SARJ until the cause was understood.

Inspections during EVAs on STS and STS showed extensive contamination from metallic shavings and debris in the large drive gear and confirmed damage to the large metallic bearing surfaces, so the joint was locked to prevent further damage. In September , damage to the S1 radiator was first noticed in Soyuz imagery. The problem was initially not thought to be serious.

On 15 May the damaged radiator panel’s ammonia tubing was mechanically shut off from the rest of the cooling system by the computer-controlled closure of a valve. The same valve was then used to vent the ammonia from the damaged panel, eliminating the possibility of an ammonia leak. In the early hours of 1 August , a failure in cooling Loop A starboard side , one of two external cooling loops, left the station with only half of its normal cooling capacity and zero redundancy in some systems.

Several subsystems, including two of the four CMGs, were shut down. A first EVA on 7 August , to replace the failed pump module, was not fully completed because of an ammonia leak in one of four quick-disconnects. A second EVA on 11 August successfully removed the failed pump module. In late MBSU-1 ceased responding to commands or sending data confirming its health. While still routing power correctly, it was scheduled to be swapped out at the next available EVA.

A spare MBSU was already on board, but a 30 August EVA failed to be completed when a bolt being tightened to finish installation of the spare unit jammed before the electrical connection was secured.

On 24 December , astronauts installed a new ammonia pump for the station’s cooling system. The faulty cooling system had failed earlier in the month, halting many of the station’s science experiments. Astronauts had to brave a “mini blizzard” of ammonia while installing the new pump.

A typical day for the crew begins with a wake-up at , followed by post-sleep activities and a morning inspection of the station. The crew then eats breakfast and takes part in a daily planning conference with Mission Control before starting work at around The first scheduled exercise of the day follows, after which the crew continues work until Following a one-hour lunch break, the afternoon consists of more exercise and work before the crew carries out its pre-sleep activities beginning at , including dinner and a crew conference.

The scheduled sleep period begins at In general, the crew works ten hours per day on a weekday, and five hours on Saturdays, with the rest of the time their own for relaxation or work catch-up. The station provides crew quarters for each member of the expedition’s crew, with two “sleep stations” in the Zvezda , one in Nauka and four more installed in Harmony.

The ROS crew quarters in Zvezda include a small window, but provide less ventilation and sound proofing. A crew member can sleep in a crew quarter in a tethered sleeping bag, listen to music, use a laptop, and store personal items in a large drawer or in nets attached to the module’s walls. The module also provides a reading lamp, a shelf and a desktop.

It is possible to sleep floating freely through the station, but this is generally avoided because of the possibility of bumping into sensitive equipment. On the USOS, most of the food aboard is vacuum sealed in plastic bags; cans are rare because they are heavy and expensive to transport.

Preserved food is not highly regarded by the crew and taste is reduced in microgravity, [] so efforts are taken to make the food more palatable, including using more spices than in regular cooking.

The crew looks forward to the arrival of any spacecraft from Earth as they bring fresh fruit and vegetables. Care is taken that foods do not create crumbs, and liquid condiments are preferred over solid to avoid contaminating station equipment. Each crew member has individual food packages and cooks them using the on-board galley.

The galley features two food warmers, a refrigerator added in November , and a water dispenser that provides both heated and unheated water.

Any food that floats away, including crumbs, must be collected to prevent it from clogging the station’s air filters and other equipment.

Showers on space stations were introduced in the early s on Skylab and Salyut 3. Crews are also provided with rinseless shampoo and edible toothpaste to save water. Astronauts first fasten themselves to the toilet seat, which is equipped with spring-loaded restraining bars to ensure a good seal. Solid waste is collected in individual bags which are stored in an aluminium container. Full containers are transferred to Progress spacecraft for disposal.

The diverted urine is collected and transferred to the Water Recovery System, where it is recycled into drinking water. Several long-lasting changes were observed, including those related to alterations in DNA and cognition , when one twin was compared with the other.

In November , researchers reported that astronauts experienced serious blood flow and clot problems while on board the ISS, based on a six-month study of 11 healthy astronauts. The results may influence long-term spaceflight, including a mission to the planet Mars, according to the researchers. The ISS is partially protected from the space environment by Earth’s magnetic field. From an average distance of about 70, km 43, mi from the Earth’s surface, depending on Solar activity, the magnetosphere begins to deflect solar wind around Earth and the space station.

Solar flares are still a hazard to the crew, who may receive only a few minutes warning. In , during the initial “proton storm” of an X-3 class solar flare, the crew of Expedition 10 took shelter in a more heavily shielded part of the ROS designed for this purpose. Subatomic charged particles, primarily protons from cosmic rays and solar wind, are normally absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere. When they interact in sufficient quantity, their effect is visible to the naked eye in a phenomenon called an aurora.

Outside Earth’s atmosphere, ISS crews are exposed to approximately one millisievert each day about a year’s worth of natural exposure on Earth , resulting in a higher risk of cancer. Radiation can penetrate living tissue and damage the DNA and chromosomes of lymphocytes ; being central to the immune system , any damage to these cells could contribute to the lower immunity experienced by astronauts.

Radiation has also been linked to a higher incidence of cataracts in astronauts. Protective shielding and medications may lower the risks to an acceptable level. Radiation levels on the ISS are about five times greater than those experienced by airline passengers and crew, as Earth’s electromagnetic field provides almost the same level of protection against solar and other types of radiation in low Earth orbit as in the stratosphere.

For example, on a hour flight, an airline passenger would experience 0. Additionally, airline passengers experience this level of radiation for a few hours of flight, while the ISS crew are exposed for their whole stay on board the station. There is considerable evidence that psychosocial stressors are among the most important impediments to optimal crew morale and performance.

NASA’s interest in psychological stress caused by space travel, initially studied when their crewed missions began, was rekindled when astronauts joined cosmonauts on the Russian space station Mir.

Common sources of stress in early US missions included maintaining high performance under public scrutiny and isolation from peers and family. The latter is still often a cause of stress on the ISS, such as when the mother of NASA astronaut Daniel Tani died in a car accident, and when Michael Fincke was forced to miss the birth of his second child.

A study of the longest spaceflight concluded that the first three weeks are a critical period where attention is adversely affected because of the demand to adjust to the extreme change of environment. The ISS working environment includes further stress caused by living and working in cramped conditions with people from very different cultures who speak a different language.

First-generation space stations had crews who spoke a single language; second- and third-generation stations have crew from many cultures who speak many languages. Astronauts must speak English and Russian , and knowing additional languages is even better.

Due to the lack of gravity, confusion often occurs. Even though there is no up and down in space, some crew members feel like they are oriented upside down. They may also have difficulty measuring distances. This can cause problems like getting lost inside the space station, pulling switches in the wrong direction or misjudging the speed of an approaching vehicle during docking.

The physiological effects of long-term weightlessness include muscle atrophy , deterioration of the skeleton osteopenia , fluid redistribution, a slowing of the cardiovascular system, decreased production of red blood cells, balance disorders, and a weakening of the immune system.

Lesser symptoms include loss of body mass, and puffiness of the face. Sleep is regularly disturbed on the ISS because of mission demands, such as incoming or departing spacecraft. Sound levels in the station are unavoidably high. The atmosphere is unable to thermosiphon naturally, so fans are required at all times to process the air which would stagnate in the freefall zero-G environment.

To prevent some of the adverse effects on the body, the station is equipped with: two TVIS treadmills including the COLBERT ; the ARED Advanced Resistive Exercise Device , which enables various weightlifting exercises that add muscle without raising or compensating for the astronauts’ reduced bone density; [] and a stationary bicycle. Each astronaut spends at least two hours per day exercising on the equipment.

Hazardous moulds that can foul air and water filters may develop aboard space stations. They can produce acids that degrade metal, glass, and rubber.

They can also be harmful to the crew’s health. Microbiological hazards have led to a development of the LOCAD-PTS which identifies common bacteria and moulds faster than standard methods of culturing , which may require a sample to be sent back to Earth. Contamination on space stations can be prevented by reduced humidity, and by using paint that contains mould-killing chemicals, as well as the use of antiseptic solutions. All materials used in the ISS are tested for resistance against fungi.

The results may be useful in improving the health and safety conditions for astronauts. Space flight is not inherently quiet, with noise levels exceeding acoustic standards as far back as the Apollo missions. When compared to terrestrial environments, the noise levels incurred by astronauts and cosmonauts on the ISS may seem insignificant and typically occur at levels that would not be of major concern to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — rarely reaching 85 dBA.

But crew members are exposed to these levels 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with current missions averaging six months in duration. These levels of noise also impose risks to crew health and performance in the form of sleep interference and communication, as well as reduced alarm audibility.

Over the 19 plus year history of the ISS, significant efforts have been put forth to limit and reduce noise levels on the ISS. During design and pre-flight activities, members of the Acoustic Subgroup have written acoustic limits and verification requirements, consulted to design and choose quietest available payloads, and then conducted acoustic verification tests prior to launch.

The acoustic environment on ISS changed when additional modules were added during its construction, and as additional spacecraft arrive at the ISS. The Acoustics Subgroup has responded to this dynamic operations schedule by successfully designing and employing acoustic covers, absorptive materials, noise barriers , and vibration isolators to reduce noise levels. Moreover, when pumps, fans, and ventilation systems age and show increased noise levels, this Acoustics Subgroup has guided ISS managers to replace the older, noisier instruments with quiet fan and pump technologies, significantly reducing ambient noise levels.

NASA has adopted most-conservative damage risk criteria based on recommendations from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the World Health Organization , in order to protect all crew members. The MMOP Acoustics Subgroup has adjusted its approach to managing noise risks in this unique environment by applying, or modifying, terrestrial approaches for hearing loss prevention to set these conservative limits.

Guidance for use of HPDs, either mandatory use or recommended, is then documented in the Noise Hazard Inventory, and posted for crew reference during their missions. The Acoustics Subgroup also tracks spacecraft noise exceedances, applies engineering controls , and recommends hearing protective devices to reduce crew noise exposures. Finally, hearing thresholds are monitored on-orbit, during missions.

An onboard fire or a toxic gas leak are other potential hazards. Ammonia is used in the external radiators of the station and could potentially leak into the pressurised modules.

The ISS is currently maintained in a nearly circular orbit with a minimum mean altitude of km mi and a maximum of km mi , [] in the centre of the thermosphere , at an inclination of After the retirement of the shuttle, the nominal orbit of the space station was raised in altitude from about km to about km. Atmospheric drag reduces the altitude by about 2 km a month on average. Orbital boosting can be performed by the station’s two main engines on the Zvezda service module, or Russian or European spacecraft docked to Zvezda ‘s aft port.

The Automated Transfer Vehicle is constructed with the possibility of adding a second docking port to its aft end, allowing other craft to dock and boost the station. It takes approximately two orbits three hours for the boost to a higher altitude to be completed. The FTCs each contain three identical processing units working in parallel and provide advanced fault-masking by majority voting.

Zvezda uses gyroscopes reaction wheels and thrusters to turn itself around. Gyroscopes do not require propellant; instead they use electricity to ‘store’ momentum in flywheels by turning in the opposite direction to the station’s movement. The USOS has its own computer-controlled gyroscopes to handle its extra mass. When gyroscopes ‘saturate’ , thrusters are used to cancel out the stored momentum. In February , during Expedition 10, an incorrect command was sent to the station’s computer, using about 14 kilograms of propellant before the fault was noticed and fixed.

The low altitudes at which the ISS orbits are also home to a variety of space debris, [] including spent rocket stages, defunct satellites, explosion fragments including materials from anti-satellite weapon tests , paint flakes, slag from solid rocket motors, and coolant released by US-A nuclear-powered satellites. These objects, in addition to natural micrometeoroids , [] are a significant threat. Objects large enough to destroy the station can be tracked, and are not as dangerous as smaller debris.

Despite their small size, some of these objects are a threat because of their kinetic energy and direction in relation to the station. Spacewalking crew in spacesuits are also at risk of suit damage and consequent exposure to vacuum.

Ballistic panels, also called micrometeorite shielding, are incorporated into the station to protect pressurised sections and critical systems. The type and thickness of these panels depend on their predicted exposure to damage. The US segment modules consist of an inner layer made from 1.

On the ROS, a carbon fibre reinforced polymer honeycomb screen is spaced from the hull, an aluminium honeycomb screen is spaced from that, with a screen-vacuum thermal insulation covering, and glass cloth over the top.

Space debris is tracked remotely from the ground, and the station crew can be notified. These Debris Avoidance Manoeuvres DAMs are not uncommon, taking place if computational models show the debris will approach within a certain threat distance. Ten DAMs had been performed by the end of If necessary, the altitude can also be lowered, although such a manoeuvre wastes propellant.

This partial station evacuation has occurred on 13 March , 28 June , 24 March and 16 June In November , a debris cloud from the destruction of Kosmos by an anti-satellite weapons test threatened the ISS, leading to the announcement of a yellow alert, leading to crew sheltering in the crew capsules. Radar -trackable objects, including debris, with distinct ring of geostationary satellites. The ISS is visible to the naked eye as a slow-moving, bright white dot because of reflected sunlight, and can be seen in the hours after sunset and before sunrise, when the station remains sunlit but the ground and sky are dark.

Tools are provided by a number of websites such as Heavens-Above see Live viewing below as well as smartphone applications that use orbital data and the observer’s longitude and latitude to indicate when the ISS will be visible weather permitting , where the station will appear to rise, the altitude above the horizon it will reach and the duration of the pass before the station disappears either by setting below the horizon or entering into Earth’s shadow.

In November NASA launched its “Spot the Station” service, which sends people text and email alerts when the station is due to fly above their town. Under specific conditions, the ISS can be observed at night on five consecutive orbits. Those conditions are 1 a mid-latitude observer location, 2 near the time of the solstice with 3 the ISS passing in the direction of the pole from the observer near midnight local time. The three photos show the first, middle and last of the five passes on 5—6 June Using a telescope-mounted camera to photograph the station is a popular hobby for astronomers, [] while using a mounted camera to photograph the Earth and stars is a popular hobby for crew.

Transits of the ISS infront of the Sun, particularly during an eclipse and so the Earth, Sun, Moon, and ISS are all positioned approximately in a single line are of particular interest for amateur astronomers. Involving five space programs and fifteen countries, [] the International Space Station is the most politically and legally complex space exploration programme in history.

A series of subsequent agreements govern other aspects of the station, ranging from jurisdictional issues to a code of conduct among visiting astronauts. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine , continued cooperation between Russia and other countries on the International Space Station has been put into question.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson commented on the current status of cooperation, saying “I have been broadly in favour of continuing artistic and scientific collaboration, but in the current circumstances it’s hard to see how even those can continue as normal. There’s also the chance of impact of the ton construction in India or China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect?

The ISS doesn’t fly over Russia, so all the risk is yours. Are you ready for it? On 26 July , Yury Borisov , Rogozin’s successor as head of Roscosmos, submitted to Russian President Putin plans for withdrawal from the programme after According to the Outer Space Treaty , the United States and Russia are legally responsible for all modules they have launched. The modules under consideration for removal from the current ISS included the Multipurpose Laboratory Module Nauka , launched in July , and the other new Russian modules that are proposed to be attached to Nauka.

These newly launched modules would still be well within their useful lives in At the end of , the Exploration Gateway Platform concept also proposed using leftover USOS hardware and Zvezda 2 as a refuelling depot and service station located at one of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points.

However, the entire USOS was not designed for disassembly and will be discarded. Part of Boeing’s services under the contract will relate to extending the station’s primary structural hardware past to the end of There have also been suggestions that the station could be converted to commercial operations after it is retired by government entities.

This bill was unanimously approved in the Senate, but failed to pass in the U. The ISS has been described as the most expensive single item ever constructed. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Modular space station in low Earth orbit. For other uses, see ISS disambiguation. International Space Station program insignia. Station elements as of November [update] exploded view. Main article: Scientific research on the International Space Station. Comet Lovejoy photographed by Expedition 30 commander Dan Burbank. Main article: Manufacturing of the International Space Station. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. November Learn how and when to remove this template message. Main article: Zarya ISS module.

Main article: Unity ISS module. Main article: Zvezda ISS module. Main article: Destiny ISS module. Main article: Quest Joint Airlock. Main article: Poisk ISS module. Main article: Harmony ISS module. Main article: Tranquility ISS module. Main article: Columbus ISS module.

Main article: Cupola ISS module. Main article: Rassvet ISS module. Main article: Leonardo ISS module. Main article: Nanoracks Bishop Airlock. Main article: Nauka ISS module. Main article: Prichal ISS module. Commander Volkov stands on Pirs with his back to the Soyuz whilst operating the manual Strela crane which is holding photographer Oleg Kononenko.

Dextre , like many of the station’s experiments and robotic arms, can be operated from Earth, allowing tasks to be performed while the crew sleeps. Main article: Pirs ISS module. Main article: Axiom Orbital Segment. Main article: B Main article: Nautilus-X. See also: List of International Space Station expeditions. Zarya and Unity were entered for the first time on 10 December Soyuz TM being prepared to bring the first resident crew to the station in October See also: Space tourism.

Main article: List of human spaceflights to the International Space Station. See also: Docking and berthing of spacecraft. Main article: International Space Station maintenance. See also: Space food. The space toilet in the Zvezda module in the Russian segment. The main toilet in the US Segment inside the Tranquility module. Main article: Effect of spaceflight on the human body. See also: Coronal mass ejection. See also: Microbiological environmental hazards on the Mir space station. Earth is not shown.

Main article: Space debris. Further information: Satellite watching and Satellite flare. The ISS on its first pass of the night passing nearly overhead shortly after sunset in June The ISS passing north on its third pass of the night near local midnight in June The ISS passing west on its fifth pass of the night before sunrise in June But usually it means “dawn”. Cabana would not allow training to begin, and the commander returned with his crew to their hotel.

Retrieved 17 July Retrieved 21 May Archived from the original PDF on 29 October Retrieved 19 June Retrieved 27 February Reference Guide to the International Space Station. Apogee Books Space Series. Canada: Apogee Books. ISBN ISSN Retrieved 17 January Retrieved 21 February Retrieved 17 February Archived from the original on 23 January Archived from the original on 8 December This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Archived from the original on 13 February Russian Federal Space Agency. Retrieved 26 September Archived from the original on 5 September Retrieved 1 May Retrieved 29 May Archived from the original on 25 December Retrieved 28 January CBS News.

Retrieved 26 July Space News. Retrieved 26 February The Moscow Times. Retrieved 3 March European Space Agency. This is an exciting bill that will help create jobs and keep rockets roaring from the Cape. It also extends the International Space Station to ! Retrieved 9 May Retrieved 2 August Archived from the original on 9 April Government Accountability Office. Retrieved 3 November Archived from the original on 16 November Retrieved 12 April Retrieved 18 April S2CID Retrieved 19 April Retrieved 20 July Retrieved 6 March World Book Online Reference Center.

Retrieved 3 April Archived from the original on 22 July Retrieved 12 March Science in School. Retrieved 8 October AMS Collaboration 3 April Physical Review Letters.

Bibcode : PhRvL. PMID AMS Collaboration. Archived from the original on 8 April Associated Press. Archived from the original on 10 May BBC News. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 August March Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. American Society for Microbiology. Bibcode : MMBR PMC Archived from the original PDF on 30 August Retrieved 4 June Space Physiology. New Scientist. Retrieved 8 January Archived from the original on 29 October Retrieved 1 October May Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Michael; et al. February CNN News.

 
 

List – Wikipedia.Microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free

 
 

The European Union EU is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Fere. An internal single market has been established through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states pous those matters, and only those matters, where the states have agreed to act as one.

EU policies microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market; [7] enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade[8] agriculture[9] fisheries and regional development. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity without precedent or comparison with the characteristics of either a federation or confederation.

The union and EU citizenship were established when dree Maastricht Treaty came into force in The communities and their successors have grown in size by download microsoft office professional plus 2013 full version free download accession of 21 microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free member states profeessional in errod by the addition of policy areas to their remit. The latest major amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisboncame into force in Inthe United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU.

There are several other countries that are negotiating to join the European Union. Containing 5. It maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nationsthe World Trade Organizationthe G7 and the G Due to its global influence, the European Union has been described by some scholars as an emerging superpower. Microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free Allied Powers decided during the war at the Moscow Conference to establish professiojal European Advisory Commission inwhich resulted with the end of the war in the Allied Control Council.

A pivotal moment in European integration was the Hague Congress of Mayas it led to the creation of the European Movement Internationalthe College of Europe [29] and most importantly to the founding of the Council of Offce on 5 May today its Europe day. The Council of Europe was the first institution to bring the sovereign nations of Europe miceosoft, raising great hopes нажмите чтобы узнать больше fevered debates in the following two years for further European integration.

The developing bloc prompted the Soviet Union to form the Warsaw Pact inallowing it to enforce its standing in Eastern Europe. Assessing the progress of European integration the Messina Conference was held inordering the Spaak reportwhich in microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free the next significant steps of European integration.

Any download free latest version also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community Euratom for co-operation in developing nuclear power. Both treaties came into force in Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear power while the EEC would develop a customs union p,us members. During the s, tensions http://replace.me/636.txt to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power.

Nevertheless, in an agreement was reached, and on 1 July the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities. Inthe communities were enlarged to microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free Denmark including Greenlandwhich later left the Communities infollowing a dispute over fishing rightsIreland, and the United Kingdom.

Inthe first direct elections to the European Parliament were held. Greece joined inPortugal and Spain following in Inafter the fall of the Eastern Blocthe former East Germany became part of the communities as part of a reunified Germany.

With further enlargement planned to include the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Cyprus and Maltathe Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the EU were agreed upon на этой странице June Microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free expansion of the EU introduced a new level of complexity and discord.

Ineuro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. Since then, the eurozone has increased to encompass 19 countries. The euro currency became the second-largest reserve currency in the world. InBulgaria and Romania became EU members. Later that year, Slovenia adopted the euro, [47] followed by Cyprus and Malta inSlovakia inEstonia inLatvia inand Lithuania in In particular, it changed the legal structure of the European Union, merging the EU three pillars system into a single legal entity provisioned with a legal personalitycreated a permanent president of the European Councilthe first of which was Microsof Van Rompuyand strengthened the position progessional the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and professionao policy.

Inthe EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for having “contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe”. From the beginning of the s, professiobal cohesion of the European Union has been tested by several issues, including a debt crisis in some of the Eurozone countriesincreasing migration from Africa and Feeand the United Kingdom’s pgofessional from the EU. Professionql 1 Januarythe population of the European Union was about million people 5.

Inplhs This corresponds to 9. Of these, The largest ссылка на страницу numbers of people born outside the EU were in Germany 6.

The EU contains about 40 urban areas with populations of over 1 million. With a population of over 13 million, [65] Paris is the largest metropolitan area and the only megacity in the EU. Important documents, such as legislation, are translated into every official language and the Erdor Parliament provides translation for documents and plenary sessions. Due to the high number of official languages, most of the institutions use only a handful of working languages.

The European Commission conducts its internal business in three procedural languages : English, French, and German [76] Similarly, the Plua of Justice of the European Union uses French as the working language, [77] while the European Central Bank professoinal its business primarily in English.

Even though language policy is the responsibility of member states, EU institutions promote multilingualism among its citizens. However, following the UK’s exit from the bloc in earlythe percentage of the EU population who spoke English as their native language fell from 13 per cent to 1 per cent. In addition, both are official languages of several EU member states.

More than half 56 per cent of Microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free citizens are able to engage in a conversation microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free a language other than their professionxl tongue.

Microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free total of twenty official profesisonal of the EU belong to the Indo-European language familyrepresented by the Balto-Slavic[h] the Italic[i] the Germanic[j] the Hellenic[k] and the Celtic [l] branches. Frfe in Luxembourg and Turkish in Cyprus are the only two national languages that are not official languages of the EU.

On 26 Februaryit was made public that Cyprus has asked to make Turkish an official EU language, in pofessional “gesture” that could help solve the division of the country. Besides the 24 official languages, there are about regional and minority languagesspoken by up to 50 million people.

The European Day of Languages is held annually on 26 September and is aimed at encouraging language learning across Europe. The EU has no formal connection to any religion. Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [90] recognises microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free “status under national law of churches and religious associations” as well as that of “philosophical and non-confessional organisations”.

The preamble to the Treaty on European Union mentions the “cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe”. Christians in the European Microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free are errir among members of Catholicism both Roman and Eastern Ritenumerous Protestant denominations AnglicansLutheransand Reformed forming the bulk of this categoryand the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Inthe EU had an estimated Muslim population of 13 million, [93] and an estimated Jewish population of over a million. According to new polls about religiosity officd the European Union in by EurobarometerChristianity is the largest microaoft in the European Union, accounting for Catholics are the largest Christian group, accounting for Eurostat ‘s Eurobarometer opinion polls showed in that 52 per cent of EU citizens believed in a god, 27 per cent in “some sort of spirit or life force”, and 18 per cent had no form of belief.

Across the EU, belief was higher among women, older people, those with religious upbringing, those who left school at 15 or 16, and those “positioning themselves on the right of the political scale”. Through successive enlargements professioal, the European Union has grown from the six founding states Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands to 27 members.

Countries accede to the union by becoming party to the founding treatiesthereby subjecting themselves to the privileges and obligations of EU membership. Offic entails a partial delegation of sovereignty to the institutions in return for representation within those institutions, a practice often referred to as “pooling of sovereignty”.

To become a member, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteriadefined at the meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen. These require a stable proressional that respects human rights and the rule of law ; a functioning market economy ; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. Evaluation of a country’s источник статьи of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council.

Two territories have left the union: Greenland an autonomous province of Denmark withdrew in ; [] the United Kingdom formally invoked Article 50 of the Consolidated Treaty on European Union inand became the only sovereign state to leave when it withdrew from the EU microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free There are seven countries that are recognised as candidates for membership : AlbaniaMoldovaMontenegroNorth MacedoniaSerbiaTurkeyand Ukraine.

In response to the Russian invasion of UkraineUkraine formally submitted an application for EU membership in Http://replace.me/13687.txt The По этому адресу Union’s member states cover an area of 4, square kilometres 1, sq mi. Including the overseas territories of France which are located outside the continent of Europe, but which are members of the union, the EU experiences most types of climate from Arctic north-east Europe to tropical French Guianarendering meteorological averages for the EU as a whole meaningless.

The majority of the population lives in areas with a temperate maritime errlr North-Western Europe iffice Central Europea Mediterranean climate Southern Europeor a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate Northern Balkans and Central Europe. The EU’s population is highly urbanised: some 75 per cent of inhabitants lived in urban areas in Cities are largely spread out across the EU with a large grouping in and around the Benelux. Several overseas territories and dependencies of various member states are also formally part of the EU.

The European Union operates through a hybrid system http://replace.me/29996.txt supranational and intergovernmental decision-making, [] [] and according to the principles of conferral which professkonal that offkce should act only within the limits of the competences conferred on it by the treaties and of subsidiarity which says that it should act only where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states acting alone.

Laws made by the EU institutions are passed in a variety of forms. Constitutionally, the EU bears some resemblance to both a confederation and a federation[] [] but has not formally defined itself as either.

It does not have a formal constitution: its status is professoonal by the Treaty of European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It is more integrated than a traditional confederation of states because the general level of government widely employs qualified majority voting in some decision-making among the member states, rather than relying exclusively on unanimity.

This is reflected in the fact that the pus states remain the ‘masters of the Treaties’, errir control over the allocation of competences to the union through constitutional change thus retaining so-called Kompetenz-kompetenz ; in that they retain control of the use of armed force; they retain control of taxation; and in 135 they retain a right of unilateral withdrawal under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

In addition, the principle of subsidiarity requires that only those matters that need to be determined collectively are so determined. Competence in scrutinising and amending legislation is shared between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, while executive tasks are performed by the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of the European Union. The monetary policy of the eurozone is determined by the European Central Bank.

Offive interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are miccrosoft by the Court of Justice of the European Union. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area.

EU policy is in microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free promulgated by EU directiveswhich are then implemented in the domestic legislation of its member statesand EU regulationswhich are immediately enforceable in all member states. Lobbying at EU level by special wrror groups is regulated to try to balance the aspirations of private profwssional with public interest decision-making process.

The European Council gives political direction to the EU. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the president of the European Council presently Charles Michelprofessionap president of professsional European Pluus and one representative per member state either its head of state or head of government. The high representative of micrpsoft union for foreign affairs and security policy presently Josep Borrell also takes part in progessional meetings.

It has been described by some as the union’s “supreme political authority”. The Vree Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreements over controversial issues and policies. It acts externally as a ” collective head of state ” assasins creed pc free ratifies important documents for example, international agreements and treaties.

Tasks for the president of the European Нажмите чтобы увидеть больше are ensuring the external representation of the EU, [] driving consensus and microsoft office professional plus 2016 error 1935 free divergences among member states, both during meetings of the European Council and over the periods between them.