Terms and Acronyms

For additional terms and more detailed definitions, we suggest EUABC as a user-friendly dictionary of EU-related terminology (maintained by a Member of the European Parliament).

APEC - Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum

ASEAN - Association of Southeast Asian Nations

CAP - Common Agricultural Policy

CCP - Common Commercial Policy

CFSP - Common Foreign and Security Policy

COREPER - Committee of Permanent Representatives

EC - European Community

ECB - European Central Bank

ECJ - European Court of Justice

ECSC - European Coal and Steel Community

EDC - European Defense Community

EDF - European Development Fund

EEC - European Economic Community

EFTA - European Free Trade Association

EMU - Economic and Monetary Union

EP - European Parliament

ESDP - European Security and Defense Policy

EU - European Union

FTA - Free trade area

GATT - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

GDP - Gross Domestic Product

GNP - Gross National Product

IGC - Intergovernmental Conference

IR - International Relations

JHA - Justice and Home Affairs

MEP - Member of the European Parliament

NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NGO - Non-Governmental Organization

OECD - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

OSCE - Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

QMV - Qualified Majority Voting

SEA - Single European Act

TEU - Treaty on European Union

Third countries: Countries that do not belong to the European Union

UK - United Kingdom

UN - United Nations

WEU - Western European Union

WTO - World Trade Organization