The European Union is on the point of living the most important enlargement of its history, as well from its scale as from its diversity. At May 1, 2004, it will accomodate ten new countries: Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Romania and Bulgaria should follow in 2007. The request of Turkey will be examined in December 2004.

Europe of the twenty-five was born on paper. Each one of us has to make it exist. This widening remains very abstract in the spirit of much of the citizens. Few Europeans today are able to quote and even less to locate the new Member States.

To contribute to this European construction, satellite imagery constitutes an interesting opportunity to visually illustrate the territorial diversity of the Union. Moreover, and contrary to the political maps, they highlight the elements of relief, hydrography and land use who structure the territory beyond the national borders. They thus make it possible to draw the attention to the elements which link rather than on the limits which divide.

The poster 'The European Union, a novel perspective' was realized by the Unité de recherche en environnemétrie et géomatique of the catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve. It includes a satellite map of Europe based on a year synthesis of VEGETATION data, a sensor onboard the SPOT 4 satellite. There's also a timeline illustrating the various stages of the construction of Europe (from the end of the war to nowadays), as well as a text inviting to a thorough study of the image. The poster is available in French, Dutch and English.

For further information, contact the EODesk.