OPEC, EU, NATFA, OECD information

OPEC – Oil Producing and Exporting Countries

Members:

Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Gabon and Angola.

Role:

to provide a reliable supply of oil to the market, to try and have a stable oil market whilst protecting the interest of its members, and also to try and return enough money on investment for major oil companies.

Prices:

Oil now costs more than $100 a barrel. And oil production has been on the rise as well.

EU – European Union

Members:

Austria (1995)                         Belgium (1952)           Bulgaria (2007)           Cyprus (2004)

Czech Republic (2004) Denmark (1973)         Estonia (2004)             Finland (1995)

France (1952)              Germany (1952)          Greece (1981)                         Hungary (2004)

Ireland (1973)                         Italy (1952)                  Latvia (2004)               Lithuania (2004)

Luxembourg (1952)    Malta (2004)               Netherlands (1952)     Poland (2004)

Portugal (1986)           Romania (2007)          Slovakia (2004)           Slovenia (2004)

Spain (1986)                Sweden (1995)            United Kingdom (1973)

In the EU's institutional set-up:

• the EU's broad priorities are set by the European Council, which brings together national and EU-level leaders
• directly elected MEPs represent European citizens in the European Parliament
• the interests of the EU as a whole are promoted by the European Commission, whose members are appointed by national governments
• governments defend their own countries' national interests in the Council of the European Union.

Law-making:

There are 3 main institutions involved in EU legislation:

• the European Parliament: represents the EU’s citizens and is directly elected by them;
• the Council of the European Union: represents the governments of the individual member countries. The Presidency of the Council is shared by the member states on a rotating basis.
• the European Commission: which represents the interests of the Union…