ABSTRACT
The European Community (EC) is an international organization which links 12 countries wishing to work together. The Community operates with wide powers to formulate, shape and implement a Community policy. The Commission has proposed underpinning the foundations of Community social policy by means of a Social Charter of basic rights which will reflect the European model of society, social dialogue, and the rights of each individual in the Community. It is responsible to the European Parliament. The five major countries of the EC are Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain. These countries are by far the largest in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), area and population in the EC. The GDP is the sum of final expenditure on goods and services, less the cost of imports. The GDP is influenced by several factors: the country's demographic structure, the distribution of school-age population at different levels of education, the volume of public expenditure as whole, priorities within the budget.
