European Union

The European Union (abbreviation: EU) is a union of 27 member countries in Europe established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992-1993. It is a sui generis political organisation that has both the characteristics of a federation and of a confederation.

European Union Bulgarian: Европейски съюз Croatian: Europska unija Czech: Evropská unie Danish: Den Europæiske Union Dutch: Europese Unie Estonian: Euroopa Liit Finnish: Euroopan unioni French: Union européenne German: Europäische Union Greek: Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση Hungarian: Európai Unió Irish: An tAontas Eorpach Italian: Unione europea Latvian: Eiropas Savienība Lithuanian: Europos Sąjunga Luxembourgish: Europäesch Unioun Maltese: Unjoni Ewropea Polish: Unia Europejska Portuguese: União Europeia Romanian: Uniunea Europeană Slovak: Európska únia Slovene: Evropska unija Spanish: Unión Europea Swedish: Europeiska unionen
Flag
Motto: "In Varietate Concordia" (Latin) "United in Diversity"
Anthem: "Ode to Joy" (instrumental)
Administrative centre	Brussels
Largest city	Paris
Official languages	24 languages Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish
Official scripts	Latin Greek Cyrillic
Religion (2015)	71.6% Christian 45.3% Roman Catholic 11.1% Protestant 9.6% Eastern Orthodox 5.6% other Christian 24% No religion 1.8% Muslim 2.6% other faiths
Demonym(s)	European
Type	Political and economic union
Member states	27 states  Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria  Croatia  Cyprus  Czech Republic  Denmark  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Hungary  Ireland  Italy  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden
Government	Supranational and intergovernmental
• President of the Commission	Ursula von der Leyen
• President of the Parliament	Roberta Metsola
• President of the Council	Charles Michel
Formation
• Treaty of Rome	1 January 1958
• Single European Act	1 July 1987
• Treaty of Maastricht	1 November 1993
• Treaty of Lisbon	1 December 2009
• Last polity admitted	1 July 2013
• Last polity withdrawn	31 January 2020
Area
• Total	4,233,262 km2 (1,634,472 sq mi) (7th)
• Water (%)	3.08
Population
• 2020 estimate	447,206,135
• Density	106/km2 (274.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$20.366 trillion
• Per capita	$45,541
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$16.033 trillion
• Per capita	$35,851
Gini (2018)	30.9 medium
HDI (2017)	0.899 very high
Currency	Euro (EUR; €; in eurozone) and 7 others Lev (BGN; Bulgaria) Koruna (CZK; Czech Republic) Krone (DKK; Denmark) Forint (HUF; Hungary) Złoty (PLN; Poland) Leu (RON; Romania) Krona (SEK; Sweden)
Time zone	UTC to UTC+2 (WET, CET, EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 to UTC+3 (WEST, CEST, EEST)
	(Summer Time in Europe) Note: with the exception of the Canary Islands and Madeira, the outermost regions observe different time zones not shown.
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy (CE) yyyy-mm-dd Date and time notation in Europe
Internet TLD	.eu
Website europa.eu

The EU grew out of the European Economic Community (EEC) which was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957. It has created a common economic area with Europe-wide laws allowing the citizens of EU countries to move and trade in other EU countries almost the same as they do in their own. Nineteen of these countries also share the same type of money: the euro.

The name of Europe comes from the Latin Europa, which in turn derives from the Greek Εὐρώπη, from εὐρύς eurys "wide" and ὤψ ops "face".

The Treaty of Lisbon is the most recent treaty that says how the Union is run. Every member state signed to say that they each agreed with what it says. Most importantly, it says which jobs (’powers’) the Union should do for the members and which jobs they should do themselves. The members decide how the Union should act by voting for or against proposals.

The objective of the EU is to bring its member states closer together with respect to human rights and democracy. It does this with common rules about fair trading with each other, common agreements about law enforcement, a common style of passport, and other agreements. Most members share a common currency (the euro) and most allow people to travel from one country to another without having to show a passport. It does this with common rules about fair trading with each other, common agreements about law enforcement, and other agreements. It has a common style for (its) passports.

History

Quai d'Orsay (Paris). Robert Schuman gave the speech starting the plan for a European Coal and Steel Community in 1950

After World War II, the countries in Europe wanted to live peacefully together and help one another's economies. Instead of fighting each other for coal and steel, the first member countries (West) Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg created one European Coal and Steel Community in 1952.

In 1957 in the Italian city of Rome, the member countries signed another treaty and made the European Economic Community. Now it was a community for coal, steel and for trade. Later it changed the name to the European Community.

In 1993, with the Treaty of Maastricht it changed its name to the European Union. Now the member countries work together not only in politics and economy (coal, steel and trade), but also in money, justice (laws), and foreign affairs. With the Schengen Agreement, 22 member countries of the EU opened their borders to each other, so people can now travel from one country to the other without a passport or identity card. Many of the countries of the EU also share a currency, which is called the euro. 10 new countries became members of the EU in 2004, 2 more became members in 2007, and 1 more in 2013. In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU. In 2024 there are 27 member countries.

Free movement

A person who is a citizen of the European Union can live and work in any of the 27 member states without needing a work permit or visa. For example, a French person can move to Greece to work there, or just to live there, and he or she does not need permission from an authority in Greece.

Products made in one member country can be sold in any other member country without any special permissions or extra taxes. For this reason, the members agree rules on product safety - they want to know that a product made in another country will be as safe as it would be if it had been made in their own.

Main institutions

Institutions of the European Union

European Parliament - Legislative (lower house) -		European Council - Sets impetus and direction -		Council of the European Union - Legislative (upper house) -		European Commission - Executive -
acts together with the council as a legislator is elected by the people sits for five years between elections shares with the council the budgetary power and decides in the last instance on the general budget of the EU exerts the democratic control over EU institutions including the European Commission and appoints the Commission members based and plenary sessions in Strasbourg, General Secretariat in Luxembourg, primarily meets in Brussels		summit of the Heads of Government, chaired by the President of the European Council) gives the necessary impetus for the development and sets out general objectives and priorities will not legislate based in Brussels		consists of government ministers from member states acts together with the Parliament as a legislator exerts together with the Parliament the budgetary power ensures coordination of the broad economic and social policy and sets out guidelines for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) conclude international agreements based in Brussels		is the "government" has one member from each member state submits proposals for new legislation to the Parliament and to the Council implements EU policy and administers the budget ensures compliance with EU law negotiates international treaties based in Brussels

	Court of Justice of the European Union - Judiciary -		European Court of Auditors - Financial auditor -		European Central Bank - Monetary executive (central bank) -
	ensure uniformity of interpretation of European law has the power to decide legal disputes between EU member states, EU institutions, businesses and individuals based in Luxembourg		shall examine the proper use of revenue and expenditure of the EU institutions based in Luxembourg		forms together with the national central banks the European System of Central Banks and thereby determining the monetary policy of the EU ensures price stability of the Euro by controlling the money supply of participating countries based in Frankfurt am Main

Council of the European Union

See the main article: Council of the European Union

Political system of the European Union. The union has seven organs (in blue).

The Council of the European Union is the main decision-making group. The cabinet ministers of the member countries meet (Ministers for Foreign affairs, for Agriculture, for Justice, etc...) and discuss issues that are important to them.

Before the Treaty of Lisbon (written in 2007, implemented in 2008) each member state took a turn at being President of the council for six months. For example, from January 2007 until July 2007, Germany held the presidency. The six months before that, Finland held the presidency. Now the President of the European Union chairs the council summits. The President of the council is the organiser and manager and is voted into office for a duration of two and a half years. He or she does not have the power to make decisions about the European Union like the President of the United States does for that country.

Member countries with a large population (Germany, France, United Kingdom, etc.) have more votes than countries with small populations (Luxembourg, Malta, etc.) but a decision cannot be made if enough countries vote against the decision.

Twice a year, the heads of government (Prime Ministers) and/or the heads of state (Presidents) meet to talk about the main issues and make decisions on different issues. This meeting is different and not as formal. It is known as a European Council.

Note: This is not the same thing as the Council of Europe, which is not part of the European Union.

European Commission

See the main article: European Commission

The European Commission runs the day-to-day running of the EU and writes laws, like a government. Laws written by the commission are discussed and changed by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The commission has one President and 27 Commissioners, selected by the European Council. The Commission President is appointed by the European Council with the approval of the European Parliament. The commission operates like a cabinet government. There is one Commissioner per member state, though Commissioners are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state.

European Parliament

The Parliament is the only directly elected body

See the main article: European Parliament

See also: European Union budget

The Parliament has a total of 705 members (called Members of the European Parliament, or MEP). They are elected in their countries every five years by the citizens of the European Union member countries. The Parliament can approve, reject or change proposed laws. It can also sack the European Commission. In that case, the entire commission would have to give up their jobs.

Politics

There are many discussions in the EU about how it should develop and change in the future.

The main reasons why European countries came together are political and economic:

• The need to prevent another European war after World War I and World War II.
• The need to respect human rights, rule of law and democracy more affirmed by Council of Europe.
• The need to have a common economic area.

Member States

See the main article: European Union member state

In 1951, six countries made the European Coal and Steel Community, a basic version of what the EU is now. These six then went further and in 1957 they made the European Economic Community and the European Coal and Steel Community. The UK and others decided not to join, and then when the UK changed its mind it was stopped from joining by French President Charles de Gaulle. When he was no longer President, the UK and others started to join. Today there are 27 members but the idea that more should join is not seen as a good one by everyone.

The member states of the European Union highlighted in light orange and candidate states highlighted in green.

Founders in 1957 Belgium France West Germany (later just Germany) Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Joined in 1973 Denmark Ireland United Kingdom Joined in 1981 Greece Left in 1985 Greenland Joined in 1986 Portugal Spain

Joined in 1995 Austria Finland Sweden Joined in 2004 Cyprus Czech Republic Estonia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Malta Poland Slovakia Slovenia Joined in 2007 Bulgaria Romania Joined in 2013 Croatia Left in 2020 United Kingdom

Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Turkey and Iceland are "candidate countries"; they are being considered for membership. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are expected to follow.

However, since there have been many political problems happening in Turkey recently, especially with President Edrogan's arresting of tens of thousands of political rivals since the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, it is unlikely that it would be allowed to part of the EU anytime soon because EU members believe that the current Turkish government is not respecting human rights, rule of law, or democracy.

Motto

United in diversity (or together with many types of people in Simple English), is the motto of the European Union.

The motto in other languages:

Bulgarian: Обединен в многообразието Croatian: Ujedinjeni u različitosti Czech: Jednotná v rozmanitosti Danish: Forenet i mangfoldighed Dutch: In verscheidenheid verenigd Estonian: Ühinenud mitmekesisuses Finnish: Moninaisuudessaan yhtenäinen French: Unie dans la diversité

German: In Vielfalt geeint Greek: Ενωμένοι στην πολυμορφία Hungarian: Egység a sokféleségben Irish: Ní ceart go cur le chéile Italian: Uniti nella diversità Latvian: Vienota dažādībā Lithuanian: Suvienijusi įvairovę Maltese: Magħquda fid-diversità

Polish: Zjednoczona w różnorodności Portuguese: Unida na diversidade Romanian: Uniţi în diversitate Slovak: Zjednotení v rozmanitosti Slovene: Združena v raznolikosti Spanish: Unida en la diversidad Swedish: Förenade i mångfalden

Brexit

On June 23, 2016, the UK held a referendum on whether it should stay in the EU or leave it. The majority [52% to 48%] favored leaving. Britain leaving the EU is commonly known as Brexit.

The government of the UK invoked "Article 50" of the Treaty of European Union (the Treaty of Lisbon) on 29 March 2017. This began negotiations with fellow members of the EU on the terms of exit. The timetable for these negotiations was two years, which meant that the UK would remain a member of the EU until at least March 2019. This deadline was later extended to October 31st 2019 at the request of the British Government. The United Kingdom left the European Union on the 31 of January 2020 at 23:00 (Greenwich Mean Time). Following that, the transition period expired on December 31, 2020 and ended on January 1, 2021.

Related pages

• Citizenship of the European Union
• Multilingualism
• Brexit
• Robert Schuman

Other websites

• European Union online portal
• Lithuania's EU Council Presidency Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
• 'Your Europe' information website
• Europe of cultures 50 years of artistic creation and cultural life from the 27 countries of the European Union