Northern Ireland

Population: 1.799.000 (2011)

Under 2/5^th of the population live in the Belfast Metropolitan Area.

Major cities: Belfast & Londonderry.

In the west the population is more rural & centres of settlement are more widely dispersed. In addition, although soils are poorer, there is a greater dependence on agriculture, with food processing also being relatively more important.

The economy of NI is the smallest of the 4 countries in the UK. It has been generally compared to the economy of the rest of the UK (in 1990 incomes were 31 % lower in NI than the rest of the UK).

But NI economy is advanced compared to the economy of the Irish Republic.

Industrialization in the region began later than in the rest of the UK (in the 19^th c.) & was largely concentrated in the urban areas of Belfast & Derry City.

Linen production gave rise to the development of a large textiles industry, while the location of Belfast was conductive to the growth of shipbuilding.

Many of the world’s finest ships were built in NI. Harland & Wolff is one of the world known shipyards as TITANIK was built there in 1912.

In recent yy. shipbuilding & textiles have experienced considerable difficulties, with a number of clothing & textiles companies having to close down.

Gov-t efforts to attract new industry to the region have had some success. The increasing importance of the services sector, including public services, is evident.

As a consequence of this, unemployment in the eastern part of the province has been, on the whole, lower & incomes higher.

Consequently, the countries of the west fare worse than Belfast.

The region’s reliance on GB as a source of materials & a market for finished products led to the growth of non-agricultural industry in the port of Belfast & its hinterland.

Today heavy industry is concentrated in & around Belfast.

Machinery & equipment manufacturing, food processing, textiles & electronics are the leading industries.

NI is renowned for its fine linens.

The land in the area is mountainous & has few natural resources.

Basalt, limestone, sand & gravel, granite, chalk, clay & shale are region’s chief minerals. Bauxite, iron ore & coal are also found in small amounts.

Fertile soils & rich pasturelands are considered as the region’s most valuable natural resource. Agriculture is relatively more important in the region than in the UK as a whole, accounting for 2.4 % of NI’s GVA in 2000 compared with 1.0 % of the UK GVA.

Agriculture has largely revolved around livestock production – cattle, pigs, sheep, & poultry are the main animals raised. Potatoes have been the most important crop, followed by barley & wheat.

Livestock & livestock products have accounted for the majority of agricultural output.

The economic problems of NI are related to the high rate of population growth, the low productivity of manufacturing & the high dependence upon the public sector.

11. Elaborate on the UK as a special member in the EU. Give a brief history of the European Community & of Britain’s attempts to overcome the hurdles of membership. D. Cameron’s views on Britain’s long-term partnership with the EU.

The European community – a brief historic outline. The seeds of European unity were first sown on the battlefields of WW I, II. These conflicts devastated continental Europe killing mlns of people.

In 1929 French Prime Minister Aristide Briand proposed a political integration of Europe.

These early plans were not just designed to link Europe together economically but also politically.

The idea of a United States of Europe was also proposed by Winston Churchill in 1946.

Eventually, the idea was driven forward by the French civil servant Jean Monnet during the 1950s.

The first step taken down the road of economic integration was the emergence of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1953.

The idea was to help the war-torn economy of Europe and prevent future war by integrating its members.

The ECSC laid the ground for the European Economic Community (EEC) by opening the markets for coal and steel between France, Italy, West Germany, BeNeLux.

In March 1957, The Treaty of Rome was signed by the heads of governments of these countries.

It’s regarded as the founding document of the EEC, as it envisaged the supranational model of European integration.

All the subsequent European treaties have built upon or amended the Treaty of Rome. Its provisions still form the majority of EU treaty laws.

The treaty focused overwhelmingly on economic cooperation until it was amended in the 1980s.

At a practical level, the Treaty established 4 institutions – the Commission, The Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice (Britain is thinking about living the latter).

The EEC was formally established on July 1, 1967. It happened after The Merger Treaty (or Brussels Treaty) was signed in April 1965. The treaty combined the executive bodies of the ECSC, the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the EEC into a single institutional structure.

In 1993 – when The Maastricht Treaty entered into force - the EEC was renamed the European Community (EC) to reflect that it covered a wider range of policy now.