European Union
European Union
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Latin) "United in Diversity" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Anthem: "Anthem of Europe" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location of the European Union (dark green) in Europe (dark grey) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital | Brussels (de facto)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Institutional seats | Brussels
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Largest Cyrillic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Religion (2015)[2] |
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Demonym(s) | European | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type | Continental union Confederation (de facto) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Membership | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Government | Mixed supranational and intergovernmental directorial parliamentary confederation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
António Costa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ursula von der Leyen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roberta Metsola | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Legislature | The European Parliament and the Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Council of the European Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Formation[4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 April 1951 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 January 1958 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 July 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 November 1993 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 December 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
€ ) (EUR) Others
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Time zone | .ею[b] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website europa |
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.[9][10][11] The union has a total area of 4,233,255 km2 (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 449 million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.[12][13]
Containing 5.8% of the
The EU was established, along with
In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[25] The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU, in 2020;[26] ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it.
Etymology
History
Background: World Wars and aftermath
With large-scale war being waged in Europe once again in the 1930s and becoming
In 1943 at the Moscow Conference and Tehran Conference, plans to establish joint institutions for a post-war world and Europe increasingly became a part of the agenda. This led to a decision at the Yalta Conference in 1944 to form a European Advisory Commission, later replaced by the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Allied Control Council, following the German surrender and the Potsdam Agreement in 1945.
By the end of the war, European integration became seen as an antidote to the
By 1947 a growing rift between the western Allied Powers and the
Initial years and the Paris Treaty (1948–1957)
Immediately following the February 1948 coup d'état by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, the London Six-Power Conference was held, resulting in the Soviet boycott of the Allied Control Council and its incapacitation, an event marking the beginning of the Cold War.
The year 1948 marked the beginning of the institutionalised modern
Treaty of Rome (1958–1972)

In 1957,
First enlargement and European co-operation (1973–1993)

In 1973, the communities were enlarged to include Denmark (including Greenland), Ireland, and the United Kingdom.[46] Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum. The Ostpolitik and the ensuing détente led to establishment of a first truly pan-European body, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), predecessor of the modern Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1979, the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held.[47] Greece joined in 1981. In 1985, Greenland left the Communities, following a dispute over fishing rights. During the same year, the Schengen Agreement paved the way for the creation of open borders without passport controls between most member states and some non-member states.[48] In 1986, the Single European Act was signed. Portugal and Spain joined in 1986.[49] In 1990, after the fall of the Eastern Bloc, the former East Germany became part of the communities as part of a reunified Germany.[50]
Treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice (1993–2004)
The European Union was formally established when the
In 2002, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. Since then, the eurozone has increased to encompass 20 countries. The euro currency became the second-largest reserve currency in the world. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined the union.[54]
Treaty of Lisbon and Brexit (2004–present)

In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became EU members. Later that year, Slovenia adopted the euro,[54] followed by Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014, Lithuania in 2015, and Croatia in 2023.
On 1 December 2009, the
In 2012, the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe".[57][58] In 2013, Croatia became the 28th EU member.[59]
From the beginning of the 2010s, the cohesion of the European Union has been tested by several issues, including
The early 2020s saw Denmark abolishing one of its three opt-outs and Croatia adopting the Euro.
After the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU leaders agreed for the first time to create common debt to finance the European Recovery Program called Next Generation EU (NGEU).[63]
On 24 February 2022, after massing on the borders of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces undertook an attempt for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.[64][65] The European Union imposed heavy sanctions on Russia and agreed on a pooled military aid package to Ukraine for lethal weapons funded via the European Peace Facility off-budget instrument.[66]

Next Generation EU (NGEU) is a European Commission economic recovery package to support the EU member states to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular those that have been particularly hard hit. It is sometimes styled NextGenerationEU and Next Gen EU, and also called the European Union Recovery Instrument.[67] Agreed in principle by the European Council on 21 July 2020 and adopted on 14 December 2020, the instrument is worth €750 billion. NGEU will operate from 2021 to 2026,[68] and will be tied to the regular 2021–2027 budget of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The comprehensive NGEU and MFF packages are projected to reach €1824.3 billion.[69]
Preparing the Union for a new great enlargement is a political priority for the Union, with the goal of achieving over 35 member states by 2030. Institutional and budgetary reforms are being discussed in order to the Union to be ready for the new members.[70][71][72][73]
In May 2024, concerns rise, that the outcome of the elections in June, can undermine some of the crucial policies of the EU in the domain of environment, diplomacy, economy. The war in Ukraine by creating inflation, lowering life level created a possibility of strong changes in the 2024 elections.[74][75]
Timeline
Since the end of World War II, sovereign European countries have entered into treaties and thereby co-operated and harmonised policies (or pooled sovereignty) in an increasing number of areas, in the European integration project or the construction of Europe (French: la construction européenne). The following timeline outlines the legal inception of the European Union (EU)—the principal framework for this unification. The EU inherited many of its present responsibilities from the European Communities (EC), which were founded in the 1950s in the spirit of the Schuman Declaration.
Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside |
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[Cont.] | ||||||||||||||||
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(Pillar I) | |||||||||||||||||
European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) | [Cont.] | |||||||||||||||||
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(Distr. of competences) | |||||||||||||||||
European Economic Community (EEC) | ||||||||||||||||||
Schengen Rules | European Community (EC) | |||||||||||||||||
TREVI
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[Cont.] | Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC, pillar II )
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[Defence arm handed to NATO] | European Political Co-operation (EPC) | Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP, pillar III) | |||||||||||||||
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[Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU] | ||||||||||||||||
[Social, cultural tasks handed to CoE] | [Cont.] | |||||||||||||||||
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Entente Cordiale
S: 8 April 1904 |
Davignon report
S: 27 October 1970 |
European Council conclusions S: 2 December 1975 |
- ^ a b c d e Although not EU treaties per se, these treaties affected the development of the EU defence arm, a main part of the CFSP. The Franco-British alliance established by the Dunkirk Treaty was de facto superseded by WU. The CFSP pillar was bolstered by some of the security structures that had been established within the remit of the 1955 Modified Brussels Treaty (MBT). The Brussels Treaty was terminated in 2011, consequently dissolving the WEU, as the mutual defence clause that the Lisbon Treaty provided for EU was considered to render the WEU superfluous. The EU thus de facto superseded the WEU.
- European Political Community (EPC) were shelved following the French failure to ratify the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community(EDC). The EPC would have combined the ECSC and the EDC.
- ^ The European Communities obtained common institutions and a shared legal personality (i.e. ability to e.g. sign treaties in their own right).
- ^ The treaties of Maastricht and Rome form the EU's legal basis, and are also referred to as the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), respectively. They are amended by secondary treaties.
- ^ Between the EU's founding in 1993 and consolidation in 2009, the union consisted of three pillars, the first of which were the European Communities. The other two pillars consisted of additional areas of cooperation that had been added to the EU's remit.
- distribution of competencies between EU institutions and member states. This distribution, as well as treaty provisions for policy areas in which unanimity is required and qualified majority voting is possible, reflects the depth of EU integration as well as the EU's partly supranational and partly intergovernmentalnature.
Politics
The European Union operates through a hybrid system of
EU policy is in general promulgated by EU directives, which are then implemented in the domestic legislation of its member states, and EU regulations, which are immediately enforceable in all member states. Lobbying at the EU level by special interest groups is regulated to try to balance the aspirations of private initiatives with public interest decision-making process.[79]
Budget
(€1,087 billion)[80]
The European Union had an agreed budget of €170.6 billion in 2022. The EU had a long-term budget of €1,082.5 billion for the period 2014–2020, representing 1.02% of the EU-28's GNI. In 1960, the budget of the European Community was 0.03 per cent of GDP.[81]
Of this, €54bn subsidised agriculture enterprise, €42bn was spent on transport, building and the environment, €16bn on education and research, €13bn on welfare, €20bn on foreign and defence policy, €2bn in finance, €2bn in energy, €1.5bn in communications, and €13bn in administration.
In November 2020, two members of the union, Hungary and Poland, blocked approval to the EU's budget at a meeting in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), citing a proposal that linked funding with adherence to the rule of law. The budget included a COVID-19 recovery fund of €750 billion. The budget may still be approved if Hungary and Poland withdraw their vetoes after further negotiations in the council and the European Council.[82][83][needs update]
Bodies combatting fraud have also been established, including the
Governance
Member states retain in principle all powers except those that they have agreed collectively to delegate to the Union as a whole, though the exact delimitation has on occasions become a subject of scholarly or legal disputes.[85][86]
In certain fields, members have awarded
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The European Union has seven principal decision-making bodies, its institutions: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the European Court of Auditors. Competence in scrutinising and amending legislation is shared between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, while executive tasks are performed by the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council (not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of the European Union). The monetary policy of the eurozone is determined by the European Central Bank. The interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EU budget is scrutinised by the European Court of Auditors. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area.
Branches of power
Executive branch
The Union's executive branch is organised as a directorial system, where the executive power is jointly exercised by several people. The executive branch consists of the European Council and European Commission.
The European Council sets the broad political direction of the Union. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the president of the European Council (presently António Costa), the president of the European Commission and one representative per member state (either its head of state or head of government). The high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy (presently Kaja Kallas) also takes part in its meetings. Described by some as the union's "supreme political leadership",[89] it is actively involved in the negotiation of treaty changes and defines the EU's policy agenda and strategies. Its leadership role involves solving disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolving any political crises or disagreements over controversial issues and policies. It acts as a "collective head of state" and ratifies important documents (for example, international agreements and treaties).[90] Tasks for the president of the European Council are ensuring the external representation of the EU,[91] driving consensus and resolving divergences among member states, both during meetings of the European Council and over the periods between them. The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an international organisation independent of the EU and based in Strasbourg.
The
Legislative branch
The council, as it is now simply called[99] (also called the Council of the European Union[100] and the "Council of Ministers", its former title),[101] forms one half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a representative from each member state's government and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed. Notwithstanding its different configurations, it is considered to be one single body. In addition to the legislative functions, members of the council also have executive responsibilities, such as the development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy and the coordination of broad economic policies within the Union.[102] The Presidency of the council rotates between member states, with each holding it for six months. Beginning on 1 July 2024, the position is held by Hungary.[103]
The European Parliament is one of three
Judicial branch
The
The
Additional branches
The

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) is the auditory branch of the European Union. It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members (1 from each EU member-state) supported by approximately 800 civil servants. The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is the EU's civil service recruitment body and operates its selection of candidates via generalist and specialist competitions. Each institution is then able to recruit staff from among the pool of candidates selected by EPSO. On average, EPSO receives around 60,000–70,000 applications a year with around 1,500–2,000 candidates recruited by the European Union institutions. The European Ombudsman is the ombudsman branch of the European Union that holds the institutions, bodies and agencies of the EU to account, and promotes good administration. The Ombudsman helps people, businesses and organisations facing problems with the EU administration by investigating complaints, as well as by proactively looking into broader systemic issues. The current Ombudsman is Emily O'Reilly. The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is the prosecutory branch of the union with juridical personality, established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 23 of the 27 states of the EU following the method of enhanced cooperation. It is based in Kirchberg, Luxembourg City alongside the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Auditors.
Law

Constitutionally, the EU bears some resemblance to both a
Under the principle of
Primary law
The European Union is based on a series of
Secondary law
The main legal acts of the European Union come in three forms:
Foreign relations
Foreign policy co-operation between member states dates from the establishment of the community in 1957, when member states negotiated as a bloc in international trade negotiations under the
The stated aims of the CFSP are to promote both the EU's own interests and those of the international community as a whole, including the furtherance of international co-operation, respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.[118] The CFSP requires unanimity among the member states on the appropriate policy to follow on any particular issue. The unanimity and difficult issues treated under the CFSP sometimes lead to disagreements, such as those which occurred over the war in Iraq.[119]
The coordinator and representative of the CFSP within the EU is the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy who speaks on behalf of the EU in foreign policy and defence matters, and has the task of articulating the positions expressed by the member states on these fields of policy into a common alignment. The high representative heads up the European External Action Service (EEAS), a unique EU department[120] that has been officially implemented and operational since 1 December 2010 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.[121] The EEAS serves as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the European Union.[122]
Besides the emerging international policy of the European Union, the international influence of the EU is also felt through enlargement. The perceived benefits of becoming a member of the EU act as an incentive for both political and economic reform in states wishing to fulfil the EU's accession criteria, and are considered an important factor contributing to the reform of European formerly Communist countries.[123]: 762 This influence on the internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".[124]
Humanitarian aid
The
Humanitarian aid is financed directly by the budget (70 per cent) as part of the financial instruments for external action and also by the
In 2016, the average among EU countries was 0.4 per cent and five had met or exceeded the 0.7 per cent target: Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden and the United Kingdom.[128]
International cooperation and development partnerships

The European Union uses foreign relations instruments like the European Neighbourhood Policy which seeks to tie those countries to the east and south of the European territory of the EU to the union. These countries, primarily developing countries, include some who seek to one day become either a member state of the European Union, or more closely integrated with the European Union. The EU offers financial assistance to countries within the European Neighbourhood, so long as they meet the strict conditions of government reform, economic reform and other issues surrounding positive transformation. This process is normally underpinned by an Action Plan, as agreed by both Brussels and the target country.

There is also the worldwide European Union Global Strategy. International recognition of sustainable development as a key element is growing steadily. Its role was recognised in three major UN summits on sustainable development: the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa; and the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio de Janeiro. Other key global agreements are the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations, 2015). The SDGs recognise that all countries must stimulate action in the following key areas – people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership – in order to tackle the global challenges that are crucial for the survival of humanity.
EU development action is based on the European Consensus on Development, which was endorsed on 20 December 2005 by EU Member States, the council, the European Parliament and the commission.
Partnership and cooperation agreements are bilateral agreements with non-member nations.[130]
Defence


The predecessors of the European Union were not devised as a military alliance because
Since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, France is the only member officially recognised as a nuclear weapon state and the sole holder of a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. France and Italy are also the only EU countries that have power projection capabilities outside of Europe.[137] Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium participate in NATO nuclear sharing.[138] Most EU member states opposed the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty.[139]
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (
Member states

Through successive
To become a member, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen. These require a stable democracy that respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. Evaluation of a country's fulfilment of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council.[146]
The four countries forming the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are not EU members, but have partly committed to the EU's economy and regulations: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which are a part of the single market through the European Economic Area, and Switzerland, which has similar ties through bilateral treaties.[147][148] The relationships of the European microstates Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City include the use of the euro and other areas of co-operation.[149]
State | Accession to EU |
Accession to EU predecessor |
Population (2024)[6] |
Area | Population density |
MEPs | People /MEP |
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1 January 1995 | 9,158,750 | 83,855 km2 (32,377 sq mi) |
109 | 20 | 457,938 | |
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Founder (1993) | 23 July 1952 | 11,832,049 | 30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi) |
388 | 22 | 537,820 |
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1 January 2007 | 6,445,481 | 110,994 km2 (42,855 sq mi) |
58 | 17 | 379,146 | |
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1 July 2013 | 3,861,967 | 56,594 km2 (21,851 sq mi) |
68 | 12 | 321,831 | |
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1 May 2004 | 933,505 | 9,251 km2 (3,572 sq mi) |
101 | 6 | 155,584 | |
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1 May 2004 | 10,900,555 | 78,866 km2 (30,450 sq mi) |
138 | 21 | 519,074 | |
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Founder (1993) | 1 January 1973 | 5,961,249 | 43,075 km2 (16,631 sq mi) |
138 | 15 | 397,417 |
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1 May 2004 | 1,374,687 | 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi) |
30 | 7 | 196,384 | |
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1 January 1995 | 5,603,851 | 338,424 km2 (130,666 sq mi) |
17 | 15 | 373,590 | |
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Founder (1993) | 23 July 1952 | 68,401,997 | 640,679 km2 (247,368 sq mi) |
107 | 81 | 844,469 |
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Founder (1993) | 23 July 1952[j] | 83,445,000 | 357,021 km2 (137,847 sq mi) |
234 | 96 | 869,219 |
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Founder (1993) | 1 January 1981 | 10,397,193 | 131,990 km2 (50,960 sq mi) |
79 | 21 | 495,104 |
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1 May 2004 | 9,584,627 | 93,030 km2 (35,920 sq mi) |
103 | 21 | 456,411 | |
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Founder (1993) | 1 January 1973 | 5,343,805 | 70,273 km2 (27,133 sq mi) |
76 | 14 | 381,700 |
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Founder (1993) | 23 July 1952 | 58,989,749 | 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) |
196 | 76 | 776,181 |
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1 May 2004 | 1,871,882 | 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi) |
29 | 9 | 207,987 | |
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1 May 2004 | 2,885,891 | 65,200 km2 (25,200 sq mi) |
44 | 11 | 262,354 | |
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Founder (1993) | 23 July 1952 | 672,050 | 2,586 km2 (998 sq mi) |
260 | 6 | 112,008 |
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1 May 2004 | 563,443 | 316 km2 (122 sq mi) |
1,783 | 6 | 93,907 | |
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Founder (1993) | 23 July 1952 | 17,942,942 | 41,543 km2 (16,040 sq mi) |
432 | 31 | 578,805 |
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1 May 2004 | 36,620,970 | 312,685 km2 (120,728 sq mi) |
117 | 53 | 690,962 | |
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Founder (1993) | 1 January 1986 | 10,639,726 | 92,390 km2 (35,670 sq mi) |
115 | 21 | 506,654 |
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1 January 2007 | 19,064,409 | 238,391 km2 (92,043 sq mi) |
80 | 33 | 577,709 | |
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1 May 2004 | 5,424,687 | 49,035 km2 (18,933 sq mi) |
111 | 15 | 361,646 | |
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1 May 2004 | 2,123,949 | 20,273 km2 (7,827 sq mi) |
105 | 9 | 235,994 | |
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Founder (1993) | 1 January 1986 | 48,610,458 | 504,030 km2 (194,610 sq mi) |
96 | 61 | 796,893 |
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1 January 1995 | 10,551,707 | 449,964 km2 (173,732 sq mi) |
23 | 21 | 502,462 | |
European Union | 449,206,579 | 4,233,262 km2 (1,634,472 sq mi) |
106 | 720 | 623,898 |
Subdivisions
Schengen Area

The Schengen Area is an area comprising 29 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of
Candidate countries
There are nine countries that are recognised as
Former members
Geography

The EU's member states cover an area of 4,233,262 square kilometres (1,634,472 sq mi),
In addition to national territories in Europe, there are 32
Climate
The climate of the European Union is of a
Environment

In 1957, when the European Economic Community was founded, it had no environmental policy.[162] Over the past 50 years, an increasingly dense network of legislation has been created, extending to all areas of environmental protection, including air pollution, water quality, waste management, nature conservation, and the control of chemicals, industrial hazards, and biotechnology.[162] According to the Institute for European Environmental Policy, environmental law comprises over 500 Directives, Regulations and Decisions, making environmental policy a core area of European politics.[163]
European policy-makers originally increased the EU's capacity to act on environmental issues by defining it as a trade problem.[162] Trade barriers and competitive distortions in the Common Market could emerge due to the different environmental standards in each member state.[164] In subsequent years, the environment became a formal policy area, with its own policy actors, principles and procedures. The legal basis for EU environmental policy was established with the introduction of the Single European Act in 1987.[163]
Initially, EU environmental policy focused on Europe. More recently, the EU has demonstrated leadership in global environmental governance, e.g. the role of the EU in securing the ratification and coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol despite opposition from the United States. This international dimension is reflected in the EU's Sixth Environmental Action Programme,[165] which recognises that its objectives can only be achieved if key international agreements are actively supported and properly implemented both at EU level and worldwide. The Lisbon Treaty further strengthened the leadership ambitions.[162] EU law has played a significant role in improving habitat and species protection in Europe, as well as contributing to improvements in air and water quality and waste management.[163]
Mitigating
The EU has adopted an
Economy
The gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of economic activity, of EU member states was US$16.64 trillion in 2022, around 16.6 per cent of the world GDP.[175] There is a significant variation in GDP per capita between and within individual EU states. The difference between the richest and poorest regions (281 NUTS-2 regions of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) ranged, in 2017, from 31 per cent (Severozapaden, Bulgaria) of the EU28 average (€30,000) to 253 per cent (Luxembourg), or from €4,600 to €92,600.[176]
EU member states own the estimated third largest after the United States (US$140 trillion) and
Economic and monetary union

The
Capital Markets Union and financial institutions

Free movement of capital is intended to permit movement of investments such as property purchases and buying of shares between countries.[181] Until the drive towards economic and monetary union the development of the capital provisions had been slow. Post-Maastricht there has been a rapidly developing corpus of ECJ judgements regarding this initially neglected freedom. The free movement of capital is unique insofar as it is granted equally to non-member states.
The European System of Financial Supervision is an institutional architecture of the EU's framework of financial supervision composed by three authorities: the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority. To complement this framework, there is also a European Systemic Risk Board under the responsibility of the central bank. The aim of this financial control system is to ensure the economic stability of the EU.[182]
Eurozone and banking union

In 1999, the currency union started to materialise through introducing a common accounting (virtual) currency in eleven of the member states. In 2002, it was turned into a fully-fledged conventible currency, when euro notes and coins were issued, while the phaseout of national currencies in the eurozone (consisting by then of 12 member states) was initiated. The eurozone (constituted by the EU member states which have adopted the euro) has since grown to 20 countries.[183][184]
The 20 EU member states known collectively as the eurozone have fully implemented the currency union by superseding their national currencies with the euro. The currency union represents 345 million EU citizens.[185] The euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar.[186][187][188]
The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it in agreement with the EU, are under the control of the ECB.
Trade
As a political entity, the European Union is represented in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Two of the original core objectives of the European Economic Community were the development of a common market, subsequently becoming a single market, and a customs union between its member states.
Single market
The single market involves
Customs union
The customs union involves the application of a common external tariff on all goods entering the market. Once goods have been admitted into the market they cannot be subjected to customs duties, discriminatory taxes or import quotas, as they travel internally. The non-EU member states of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland participate in the single market but not in the customs union.[147] Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU.[192]
The European Union Association Agreement does something similar for a much larger range of countries, partly as a so-called soft approach ('a carrot instead of a stick') to influence the politics in those countries. The European Union represents all its members at the World Trade Organization (WTO), and acts on behalf of member states in any disputes. When the EU negotiates trade related agreement outside the WTO framework, the subsequent agreement must be approved by each individual EU member state government.[193]
External trade

The European Union has concluded
Competition and consumer protection
The EU operates a
Energy
Total energy supply (2019)[205]
The total energy supply of the EU was 59 billion
The EU has had legislative power in the area of energy policy for most of its existence; this has its roots in the original European Coal and Steel Community. The introduction of a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was approved at the meeting of the European Council in October 2005, and the first draft policy was published in January 2007.[207]

The EU has five key points in its energy policy: increase competition in the
In 2007, EU countries as a whole imported 82 per cent of their oil, 57 per cent of their natural gas[209] and 97.48 per cent of their uranium[210] demands. The three largest suppliers of natural gas to the European Union are Russia, Norway and Algeria, that amounted for about three quarters of the imports in 2019.[211] There is a strong dependence on Russian energy that the EU has been attempting to reduce.[212] However, in May 2022, it was reported that the European Union is preparing another sanction against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. It is expected to target Russian oil, Russian and Belarusian banks, as well as individuals and companies. According to an article by Reuters, two diplomats stated that the European Union may impose a ban on imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022.[213] In May 2022, the European Commission published the 'RePowerEU' initiative, a €300 billion plan outlining the path towards the end of EU dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2030 and the acceleration on the clean energy transition.[214]
Transport

The European Union manages cross-border road, railway, airport and water infrastructure through the

Maritime transportation is organised under the TEN-T by the
Air transportation is organised under the TEN-T by the Trans-European Airport network. European airports are categorized as international, community, or regional. The Charles de Gaulle Airport is the busiest in the EU, located in and near the city of Paris, in France.[218] The European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) is a single market in aviation. ECAA agreements were signed on 5 May 2006 in Salzburg, Austria between the EU and some third countries. The ECAA liberalises the air transport industry by allowing any company from any ECAA member state to fly between any ECAA member states airports, thereby allowing a "foreign" airline to provide domestic flights. The Single European Sky (SES) is an initiative that seeks to reform the European air traffic management system through a series of actions carried out in four different levels (institutional, operational, technological and control and supervision) with the aim of satisfying the needs of the European airspace in terms of capacity, safety, efficiency and environmental impact. Civil aviation safety is under the responsibility of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitoring. The idea of a European-level aviation safety authority goes back to 1996, but the agency was only legally established in 2002, and began operating in 2003.
Rail transportation is organised under the TEN-T by the Trans-European Rail network, made up of the high-speed rail network and the conventional rail network. The Gare du Nord railway station is the busiest in the EU, located in and near the city of Paris, in France.[219][220] Rail transport in Europe is being synchronised with the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) with the goal of greatly enhancing safety, increase efficiency of train transports and enhance cross-border interoperability. This is done by replacing former national signalling equipment and operational procedures with a single new Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems. This system is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).
Telecommunications and space
Mobile communication roaming charges are abolished throughout the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The
Agriculture and fisheries
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the
Likewise, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the
Regional development

The five European Structural and Investment Funds are supporting the development of the EU regions, primarily the underdeveloped ones, located mostly in the states of central and southern Europe.[222][223] Another fund (the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) provides support for candidate members to transform their country to conform to the EU's standard. Demographic transition to a society of ageing population, low fertility-rates and depopulation of non-metropolitan regions is tackled within this policies.
Labour
The free movement of persons means that
The European Union has long sought to mitigate the effects of free markets by protecting workers' rights and preventing
Social rights and equality
The EU has also sought to coordinate the social security and health systems of member states to facilitate individuals exercising free movement rights and to ensure they maintain their ability to access social security and health services in other member states. Since 2019 there has been a European commissioner for equality and the European Institute for Gender Equality has existed since 2007. A Directive on countering gender-based violence has been proposed.[229][230] In September 2022, a European Care strategy was approved in order to provide "quality, affordable and accessible care services".[231] The European Social Charter is the main body that recognises the social rights of European citizens.
In 2020, the first ever European Union Strategy on LGBTIQ equality was approved under Helena Dalli mandate.[232] In December 2021, the commission announced the intention of codifying a union-wide law against LGBT hate crimes.[233]
Freedom, security and justice

Since the creation of the European Union in 1993, it has developed its competencies in the area of justice and home affairs; initially at an intergovernmental level and later by supranationalism. Accordingly, the union has legislated in areas such as extradition,[234] family law,[235] asylum law,[236] and criminal justice.[237]
The EU has also established agencies to co-ordinate police, prosecution and civil litigations across the member states:
Prohibitions against discrimination have a long standing in the treaties. In more recent years, these have been supplemented by powers to legislate against discrimination based on race, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation.
In 2009, the
Signing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership.[o] Previously, the EU itself could not accede to the convention as it is neither a state[p] nor had the competence to accede.[q] The Lisbon Treaty and Protocol 14 to the ECHR have changed this: the former binds the EU to accede to the convention while the latter formally permits it.
The EU is independent from the Council of Europe, although they share purpose and ideas, especially on the rule of law, human rights and democracy. Furthermore, the
-
EU national identity card
(German version pictured) -
A passport, displaying the name of the member state, the national coat of arms and the words "European Union" given in their official language(s)
(Irish version pictured)
Demographics

The population of the EU in 2024 was about 449 million people, corresponding to 5.8 per cent of the world population. in the north are much more sparsely populated.
The total population of the EU has been slightly decreasing for several years, contracting by 0.04 per cent in 2021.[247] This is due to a low birth rate of about 1.5 children per woman, less than the world average of 2.3.[248] In total, 4.1 million babies were born in the EU in 2021.[249] Immigration to Europe partially compensates for the natural population decrease.
5.3 per cent of the people residing in the EU are not EU citizens.[246] There were 31 non-EU citizenships that each accounted for at least 1 per cent of non-EU citizens living in the EU, of which the largest were Moroccan, Turkish, Syrian and Chinese.[250] Around 1.9 million people immigrated to one of the EU member states from a non-EU country during 2020, and a total of 956,000 people emigrated from a member state to go to a non-EU country during the same year.[251]
Urbanisation

More than two thirds (68.2%) of EU inhabitants lived in urban areas in 2020, which is slightly less than the world average.[246] Cities are largely spread out across the EU with a large grouping in and around the Benelux.[252] The EU contains about 40 urban areas with populations of over 1 million. With a population of over 13 million,[253] Paris is the largest metropolitan area and the only megacity in the EU.[254] Paris is followed by Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, the Ruhr, Milan, and Rome, all with a metropolitan population of over 4 million.
The EU also has numerous
Rank
|
City name | State | Pop.
|
Rank
|
City name | State | Pop.
| ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Paris | France | 12,388,388 | 11 | Brussels | Belgium | 3,395,581 | ||
2 | Madrid | Spain | 6,871,903 | 12 | Warsaw | Poland | 3,269,510 | ||
3 | Barcelona | Spain | 5,797,356 | 13 | Marseille | France | 3,183,476 | ||
4 | Berlin | Germany | 5,481,613 | 14 | Budapest | Hungary | 3,031,887 | ||
5 | Ruhr | Germany | 5,147,820 | 15 | Munich | Germany | 2,980,338 | ||
6 | Milan | Italy | 4,329,748 | 16 | Naples | Italy | 2,981,735 | ||
7 | Rome | Italy | 4,227,059 | 17 | Vienna | Austria | 2,971,753 | ||
8 | Athens | Greece | 3,626,216 | 18 | Lisbon | Portugal | 2,899,670 | ||
9 | Hamburg | Germany | 3,423,121 | 19 | Stuttgart | Germany | 2,816,924 | ||
10 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 3,397,323 | 20 | Prague | Czech Republic | 2,796,717 |
Languages
Language | Native speakers[s] | Total[t] |
---|---|---|
German | 18% | 32% |
French | 13% | 26% |
Italian | 12% | 16% |
Spanish | 8% | 15% |
Polish | 8% | 9% |
Romanian | 5% | 5% |
Dutch | 4% | 5% |
Greek | 3% | 4% |
Hungarian | 3% | 3% |
Portuguese | 2% | 3% |
Czech | 2% | 3% |
Swedish | 2% | 3% |
Bulgarian | 2% | 2% |
English | 1% | 51% |
Slovak | 1% | 2% |
Danish | 1% | 1% |
Finnish | 1% | 1% |
Lithuanian | 1% | 1% |
Croatian | 1% | 1% |
Slovene | <1% | <1% |
Estonian | <1% | <1% |
Irish | <1% | <1% |
Latvian | <1% | <1% |
Maltese | <1% | <1% |
The EU has 24 official languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish. Important documents, such as legislation, are translated into every official language and the European Parliament provides translation for documents and plenary sessions.[260][261] Most EU institutions use only a handful of working languages: the European Commission conducts its internal business in three procedural languages: English, French, and German;[262] the Court of Justice uses French as the working language,[263] and the European Central Bank conducts its business primarily in English.[264][265] Even though language policy is the responsibility of member states, EU institutions promote multilingualism among its citizens.[f][266]
The most widely spoken language in the EU is English; the language is spoken by 44 per cent of the population (2016 data) and studied by 95 per cent of school students,[267] although following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom less than 1 per cent of the population speak it natively. German and French are spoken by 36 per cent and 30 per cent of the population.[268] More than half (56 per cent) of EU citizens are able to engage in a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue.[269]
Luxembourgish (in Luxembourg) and Turkish (in Cyprus) are the only two national languages that are not official languages of the EU. Catalan, Galician and Basque are not recognised official languages of the EU but have official status in Spain. Therefore, official translations of the treaties are made into them and citizens have the right to correspond with the institutions in these languages.[270][271] There are about 150 regional and minority languages in the EU, spoken by up to 50 million people.[272] The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ratified by most EU states provides general guidelines that states can follow to protect their linguistic heritage. The European Day of Languages is held annually on 26 September and is aimed at encouraging language learning across Europe.[273]
Religion
Affiliation | Per cent of EU population | |
---|---|---|
Christian | 71.6 | |
Catholic
|
45.3 | |
Protestant
|
11.1 | |
Eastern Orthodox
|
9.6 | |
Other Christian | 5.6 | |
Muslim
|
1.8 | |
Other faiths | 2.6 | |
Irreligious | 24.0 | |
Non-believer/Agnostic | 13.6 | |
Atheist | 10.4 |
The EU has no formal connection to any religion. Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union[274] recognises the "status under national law of churches and religious associations" as well as that of "philosophical and non-confessional organisations".[275] The preamble to the Treaty on European Union mentions the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe".[275][276] Discussion over the draft texts of the European Constitution and later the Treaty of Lisbon included proposals to mention Christianity or a god, or both, in the preamble of the text, but the idea faced opposition and was dropped.[277]
Christians in the EU include
Eurostat's Eurobarometer opinion polls showed in 2005 that 52 per cent of EU citizens believed in a god, 27 per cent in "some sort of spirit or life force", and 18 per cent had no form of belief.[280] Many countries have experienced falling church attendance and membership in recent years.[281] The countries where the fewest people reported a religious belief were Estonia (16 per cent) and the Czech Republic (19 per cent).[280] The most religious countries were Malta (95 per cent, predominantly Catholic) as well as Cyprus and Romania (both predominantly Orthodox) each with about 90 per cent of citizens professing a belief in God. Across the EU, belief was higher among women, older people, those with religious upbringing, those who left school at 15 or 16, and those "positioning themselves on the right of the political scale".[280]
Education and research

Basic education is an area where the EU's role is limited to supporting national governments. In higher education, the policy was developed in the 1980s in programmes supporting exchanges and mobility. The most visible of these has been the Erasmus Programme, a university exchange programme which began in 1987. In its first 20 years, it supported international exchange opportunities for well over 1.5 million university and college students and became a symbol of European student life.[282]
There are similar programmes for school pupils and teachers, for trainees in vocational education and training, and for adult learners in the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013. These programmes are designed to encourage a wider knowledge of other countries and to spread good practices in the education and training fields across the EU.[283][284] Through its support of the Bologna Process, the EU is supporting comparable standards and compatible degrees across Europe.
Scientific development is facilitated through the EU's Framework Programmes, the first of which started in 1984. The aims of EU policy in this area are to co-ordinate and stimulate research. The independent European Research Council allocates EU funds to European or national research projects.[285] EU research and technological framework programmes deal in a number of areas, for example energy where the aim is to develop a diverse mix of renewable energy to help the environment and to reduce dependence on imported fuels.[286]
Health
Article 35 of the
All EU and many other European countries offer their citizens a free European Health Insurance Card which, on a reciprocal basis, provides insurance for emergency medical treatment insurance when visiting other participating European countries.[290] A directive on cross-border healthcare aims at promoting co-operation on health care between member states and facilitating access to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare for European patients.[291][292][293]
The life expectancy in the EU was 80.1 year at birth in 2021, among the highest in the world and around nine years higher than the world average.
Culture
Cultural co-operation between member states has been an interest of the European Union since its inclusion as a community competency in the Maastricht Treaty.[297] Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 seven-year programme,[297] the European Cultural Month event,[298] and orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra.[299] The European Capital of Culture programme selects one or more cities in every year to assist the cultural development of that city.[300]
Sport
Sport is mainly the responsibility of the member states or other international organisations, rather than of the EU. There are some EU policies that have affected sport, such as the free movement of workers, which was at the core of the Bosman ruling that prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with EU member state citizenship.[301]
The Treaty of Lisbon requires any application of economic rules to take into account the specific nature of sport and its structures based on voluntary activity.[302] This followed lobbying by governing organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, due to objections over the application of free market principles to sport, which led to an increasing gap between rich and poor clubs.[303] The EU does fund a programme for Israeli, Jordanian, Irish, and British football coaches, as part of the Football 4 Peace project.[304]
Symbols
The flag of Europe consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background. Originally designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe, the flag was adopted by the European Communities, the predecessors of the present European Union, in 1986. The Council of Europe gave the flag a symbolic description in the following terms,[305] though the official symbolic description adopted by the EU omits the reference to the "Western world":[306]
Against the blue sky of the Western world, the stars symbolise the peoples of Europe in a form of a circle, the sign of union. The number of stars is invariably twelve, the figure twelve being the symbol of perfection and entirety.
— Council of Europe. Paris, 7–9 December 1955.
Media

The majority of media in the European Union are national-orientated, although some EU-wide media focusing on European affairs have emerged since the early 1990s, such as
The
Influence

The European Union has had a significant positive economic effect on most member states.[321] According to a 2019 study of the member states who joined from 1973 to 2004, "without European integration, per capita incomes would have been, on average, approximately 10% lower in the first ten years after joining the EU".[321] Greece was the exception reported by the study, which analysed up to 2008, "to avoid confounding effects from the global financial crisis".[321] A 2021 study in the Journal of Political Economy found that the 2004 enlargement had aggregate beneficial economic effects on all groups in both the old and new member states. The largest winners were the new member states, in particular unskilled labour in the new member states.[322]
The European Union is frequently cited as having made a major contribution to peace in Europe, in particular by pacifying border disputes,[323][324] and to the spread of democracy, especially by encouraging democratic reforms in aspiring Eastern European member states after the collapse of the USSR.[325][326] Scholar Thomas Risse wrote in 2009, "there is a consensus in the literature on Eastern Europe that the EU membership perspective had a huge anchoring effects for the new democracies."[326] However, R. Daniel Kelemen argues that the EU has proved beneficial to leaders who are overseeing democratic backsliding, as the EU is reluctant to intervene in domestic politics, gives authoritarian governments funds which they can use to strengthen their regimes, and because freedom of movement within the EU allows dissenting citizens to leave their backsliding countries. At the same time, the union might provide through Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union an external constraint that prevents electoral autocracies, currently Hungary,[327] from progressing into closed autocracies.[328]
See also
- Outline of the European Union
- Special territories of members of the European Economic Area
- List of country groupings
- List of multilateral free-trade agreements
- Euroscepticism
- Pan-European nationalism
- Brexit withdrawal agreement
- EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
- African Union
Notes
- La Réunion(UTC+4); which, other than the Azores, do not observe DST.
- ^ .eu, .ευ, and .ею are representative of the whole of the EU; member states also have their own TLDs.
- ^ This figure is from February 2020, and takes account of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. The population of the UK is roughly 0.9% of the world's population.[14]
- ^ These legislative instruments are dealt with in more detail below.
- Factortame litigation: Factortame Ltd. v. Secretary of State for Transport (No. 2) [1991] 1 AC 603, Solange II (Re Wuensche Handelsgesellschaft, BVerfG decision of 22 October 1986 [1987] 3 CMLR 225,265) and Frontini v. Ministero delle Finanze [1974] 2 CMLR 372; Raoul George Nicolo [1990] 1 CMLR 173.
- ^ a b c "Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union". Official Journal of the European Union. EUR-Lex. 30 March 2010. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ According to the principle of Direct Effect first invoked in the Court of Justice's decision in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen, Eur-Lex (European Court of Justice 1963). See: Craig and de Búrca, ch. 5.
- ^ "?". EUR-Lex. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ To do otherwise would require the drafting of legislation which would have to cope with the frequently divergent legal systems and administrative systems of all of the now 28 member states. See Craig and de Búrca, p. 115.
- ^ On 3 October 1990, the constituent states of the former German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, automatically becoming part of the EU.
- Special member state territories and the European Union.
- ^ Article 3(1)(g) of the Treaty of Rome
- .
- ^ Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (OJ L 180, 19 July 2000, pp. 22–26); Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ L 303, 2 December 2000, pp. 16–22).
- ^ And is effectively treated as one of the Copenhagen criteria. Assembly.coe.int. This is a political and not a legal requirement for membership. Archived 26 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Full list - Treaty Office - publi.coe.int". Treaty Office. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ "?". EUR-Lex. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Reference article dated February 2020,[256] taking survey data from 2012[257]
- ^ Native language[258]
- ^ EU citizens able to hold a conversation in this language[259]
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{{cite journal}}
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- S2CID 219012478.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-230-24452-8.
- ^ Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (25 July 2022). INTERIM REPORT on the proposal for a Council decision determining, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union, the existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (Report). European Parliament.
- ISSN 1350-1763.
Works cited
- Craig, Paul; De Burca, Grainne (2011). EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957699-9.
- Demey, Thierry (2007). Brussels, capital of Europe. S. Strange (trans.). Brussels: Badeaux. ISBN 978-2-9600414-6-0.
- Jordan, A.J.; Adelle, Camilla, eds. (2012). Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3rd ed.). ISBN 978-1-84971-469-3.
- OCLC 71266552.
- Piris, Jean-Claude (2010). The Lisbon Treaty: A Legal and Political Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-19792-2.
- Simons, George F., ed. (2002). EuroDiversity. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-87719-381-4.
- Wilkinson, Paul (2007). International Relations: A Very Short Introduction (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280157-9.
Further reading
- Anderson, M.; Bort, E. (2001). Frontiers of the European Union. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-50797-5.
- ISBN 978-0-19-956224-4.
- Bomberg, Elizabeth; Peterson, John; Corbett, Richard, eds. (2012). The European Union: How Does it Work? (New European Union) (3rd ed.). Oxford: ISBN 978-0-19-957080-5.
- Berend, Ivan T. (2017). The Contemporary Crisis of the European Union: Prospects for the Future. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-24419-1.
- Bretherton, Charlotte; Vogler, John (2005). The European Union as a Global Actor. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-45882-0.
- Cini, Michelle; Borragán, Nieves Pérez-Solórzano (2019). European Union Politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-880653-0.
- Corbett, Richard; ISBN 978-0-9564508-5-2.
- Federiga, Bindi, ed. (2010). The Foreign Policy of the European Union: Assessing Europe's Role in the World (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: ISBN 978-0-8157-2252-6.
- Gareis, Sven; Hauser, Gunther; Kernic, Franz, eds. (2013). The European Union – A Global Actor?. Leverkusen, Germany: Barbara Budrich Publishers. ISBN 978-3-8474-0040-0.
- Grinin, L.; Korotayev, A.; Tausch, A. (2016). Economic Cycles, Crises, and the Global Periphery. Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London: Springer International Publishing. ISBN 978-3-319-17780-9.
- Jones, Erik; Anand, Menon; Weatherill, Stephen (2012). The Oxford Handbook of the European Union. Oxford: ISBN 978-0-19-954628-2.
- Kaiser, Wolfram (2009). Christian Democracy and the Origins of European Union. Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-511-49705-6.
- Kaiser, Wolfram; Varsori, A. (2010). European Union History: Themes and Debates. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-28150-9.
- Le Gales, Patrick; King, Desmond (2017). Reconfiguring European States in Crisis. Corby: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-879337-3.
- Mather, J. (2006). Legitimating the European Union: Aspirations, Inputs and Performance. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-62562-4.
- McAuley, James (15 August 2019). "A More Perfect Union?". New York Review of Books. ISSN 0028-7504.
- McCormick, John (2014). Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-36234-6.
- McCormick, John (2013). The European Union: Politics and Policies (5th ed.). Boulder, CO: ISBN 978-0-8133-4202-3.
- McLaren, L. (2005). Identity, Interests and Attitudes to European Integration. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-50424-0.
- Murray, Fiona (2012). The European Union and Member State Territories: A New Legal Framework Under the EU Treaties. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-90-6704-825-5.
- Nugent, Neill (2006). The Government and Politics of the European Union. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-3870-3.
- O'Brennan, John (2006). The Eastern Enlargement of the European Union. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-23440-0.
- Pagden, Anthony; Hamilton, Lee H. (2002). The Idea of Europe: From Antiquity to the European Union. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79552-4.
- Pinder, John; Usherwood, Simon (2013). The European Union: A Very Short Introduction (3rd ed.). Oxford: ISBN 978-0-19-968169-3.
- Mount, Ferdinand (6 June 2019). "Why we go to war". London Review of Books. Vol. 41, no. 11. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- Rifkin, Jeremy (2005). The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream. ISBN 978-1-58542-435-1.
- Rosamond, Ben (2000). Theories of European Integration. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-23120-0.
- Scheuer, Angelika (2005). How Europeans See Europe: Structure and Dynamics of European Legitimacy Beliefs. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-90-5629-408-3.
- ISBN 978-1-905504-10-7.
- Smith, Hazel Knowles (2002). European Union Foreign Policy: What it is and What it Does. Pluto Press. ISBN 978-0-7453-1870-7.
- Smith, Karen E. (2008). European Union Foreign Policy in a Changing World. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-7456-4018-1.
- Staab, Andreas (2011). The European Union Explained: Institutions, Actors, Global Impact. Bloomington, IN: .
- Steiner, Josephine; Woods, Lorna; Twigg-Flesner, Christian (2006). EU Law (9th ed.). Oxford: ISBN 978-0-19-927959-3.
- Tausch, Arno (2012). Globalization, the Human Condition, and Sustainable Development in the Twenty-first Century: Cross-national Perspectives and European Implications. With Almas Heshmati and a Foreword by Ulrich Brand (1st ed.). Anthem Press, London. ISBN 978-0-85728-410-5.
- Tausch, Arno; Neriyah, Jacques (2023), Destabilizing forces and resilience in the current world crisis : comparisons of global opinion data and a Middle East analysis, Nova Science Publishers, ISBN 9798891131224
- Urwin, Derek W. (2014). The Community of Europe: A History of European Integration Since 1945. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-89252-6.
- Weigall, David; Stirk, Peter M.R. (1992). The Origins and development of the European Community. Leicester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7185-1428-0.
- Yesilada, Birol A.; Wood, David M. (2009). The Emerging European Union (5th ed.). ISBN 978-0-205-72380-5.
External links
- Official website
- European Union at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- Historical Archives of the European Union
- European Union. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
- The European Union: Questions and Answers. Congressional Research Service.
- Works by European Union at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about European Union at the Internet Archive
- European Union on Nobelprize.org