[MUSIC] Welcome back to Understanding Europe, the MOOC devoted to the European experience of life, business and government. We saw during the last few classes what the European game looks like and how its players interact with one another. This new lecture builds upon what you have learned over the last four classes and focuses on the following question, what can the EU do for you? No matter what your current situation is, whether you are a student or nearly done with your education, a worker, perhaps interested in a new challenge abroad, or you are running your business and seeking to expand it, coming from a different continent and willing to travel for Europe, or even a pro-democracy activist from a neighboring country, the EU may provide a wealth of opportunities that are only waiting to be enjoyed. We will see that Europe offers you a wide range of opportunities and possibilities. Let's have a look at what the European offers you depending on whether you're intending to establish yourself as an individual, you can be a student, a professional, a pensioner, or as a corporation. Let's start focusing on the individuals. The individuals in Europe. For ordinary Europeans, but also for those of you entering a European country for vacation or business, one of the most tangible effects of EU is the freedom of movement. 40 years ago, traveling from one European country to another meant passports, and even sometimes visas, and waiting in line for customs and immigration checks, with limits on how much goods and money could be taken from one country to another. You can maybe ask your parents what it was like. Today, customs and immigration checks are almost entirely gone, and there is little to remind road travelers of state borders beyond signs indicating that they are about to leave one country and enter another. The most visible, unpleasant, and anachronistic and very often expensive sign today is the text message you receive on your mobile phone to inform you that well, if you make or receive a call, you will be charged some extra Euros. We saw that the single market for telecommunications still remains a work in progress. Perhaps nothing is more remarkable than driving across the border between Germany and its immediate Western neighbors, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and France. Where those borders once had deep military and political significance, and France, for instance, did all it could to protect itself from German invasion, now there are simply signs indicating passage from one state to another. Today, with some relatively minor restrictions, a citizen or legal resident of any European member state has the right to move across borders and to leave and work in other member states. There is no longer the need the need of visas or residence permits, and a European citizen has the right to be treated the same as a national of the hosting member state. This freedom of movement has an impact also on non-European citizens traveling to and within Europe. Let's take a quiz together. How many visas do you think you need if you are a non-European citizen willing to travel within the European Union? One for each member state that you want to visit? One visa for one country of the Schengen area that automatically allows you to travel to the European Schengen countries? Or one visa for one country of the Schengen area plus a request the embassies of each further countries you want to visit? And the correct answer is number 2. One visa for one country of Schengen area that will automatically allow you to travel to the other Schengen countries. If you obtained a visa to enter French territory, you can have breakfast with a Parisian croissant, then lunch in Rome, to finally end up in Madrid the very same day just in time for a paella. All of this without long queues for passport checks. Isn't this just amazing? Today, the European council has prioritized facilitating the legitimate travel of non-Europeans wishing to enjoy Europe via the Stockholm program and the common visa policy. The council continues to assess the European visa code in order to improve it, give greater access to non-European tourists, and boost tourism revenue and job growth within Europe. These programs are aiming to remove complicated barriers to uniformly obtaining and using a tourist visa in the Schengen area. They increase counselor presence in countries like India, China, and Russia where many people want to apply for a Schengen visa, and thus reduce the time it takes to receive your own visa. You will then enjoy even more croissants for breakfast, pastas for lunch, and paellas over dinner. This will require additional harmonization of European legislation and increase cooperation between member-states instituion. For example, one day soon we will likely see common visa application centers that reduce visa barriers caused by the need to collect biometric data. As you enjoy your pan-European travels, sunning in Spain one day and drinking a beer in Belgium the next one, I think you will agree it is worth the continued effort. Not only has the movement across borders become easier in Europe, but the drivers of migration have also changed. In the case of the EU, flows were initially from south to north, with workers looking for higher paying jobs and then sending for their families to join them. Today, Europeans, whether they are students, professionals, managers, or retirees, are increasingly moving, not because they must, but because they actually choose to. Migrants maybe looking for a different culture environments, looking to be educated in a different country, retiring to warmer parts of the EU, being posted by their employer, or looking for a fresh start in a new country. These are several benefits and consequences directly linked to this freedom of movement across the EU. We will focus on the following three. The area of freedom, security and justice, the networks of transport, and the Erasmus program.
