European Union

The European Union operates through a hybrid system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making,^[67][68] and according to the principle of conferral (which says that it should act only within the limits of the competences conferred on it by the treaties) and of subsidiarity (which says that it should act only where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states acting alone). Laws made by the EU institutions are passed in a variety of forms.^[69] Generally speaking, they can be classified into two groups: those which come into force without the necessity for national implementation measures (regulations) and those which specifically require national implementation measures (directives).^[d]

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.^[70]

Budget

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.^[72]

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.^[73][74]

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.^{[citation needed]}

In certain fields, members have awarded

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

Charles Michel, President of the European Council

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission

The European Union executive branch is organized 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 to the EU. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the president of the European Council (presently Charles Michel), 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 Josep Borrell) also takes part in its meetings. Described by some as the union's "supreme political leadership",^[78] 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).^[79] Tasks for the president of the European Council are ensuring the external representation of the EU,^[80] 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 European Commission acts both as the EU's executive arm, responsible for the day-to-day running of the EU, and also the legislative initiator, with the sole power to propose laws for debate.^[81][82][83] The commission is 'guardian of the Treaties' and is responsible for their efficient operation and policing.^[84] It has 27 European commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state, though commissioners are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. The leader of the 27 is the president of the European Commission (presently Ursula von der Leyen for 2019–2024), proposed by the European Council, following and taking into account the result of the European elections, and is then elected by the European Parliament.^[85] The President retains, as the leader responsible for the entire cabinet, the final say in accepting or rejecting a candidate submitted for a given portfolio by a member state, and oversees the commission's permanent civil service. After the President, the most prominent commissioner is the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy, who is ex-officio a vice-president of the European Commission and is also chosen by the European Council.^[86] The other 25 commissioners are subsequently appointed by the Council of the European Union in agreement with the nominated president. The 27 commissioners as a single body are subject to approval (or otherwise) by a vote of the European Parliament. All commissioners are first nominated by the government of the respective member state.^[87]

Legislative branch

The Council, as it is now simply called^[88] (also called the Council of the European Union^[89] and the "Council of Ministers", its former title),^[90] 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.^[91] The Presidency of the council rotates between member states, with each holding it for six months. Beginning on 1 July 2022, the position is held by the Czech Republic.^[92]

The European Parliament is one of three

The

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 civil service branch of the European Union, and is responsible for selecting staff to work for the institutions and agencies of the European Union including the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European External Action Service, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Ombudsman. 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 European Union with juridical personality, established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 22 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

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.^[107] 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.^[108]

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^[109] 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.^[110] The EEAS serves as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the European Union.^[111]

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.^[112]: 762 This influence on the internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".^[113]

Humanitarian aid

The

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.^[121]

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.^[129] Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium participate in NATO nuclear sharing.^[130] Most EU member states opposed the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty.^[131]

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.^[138]

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.^[139][140] 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.^[141]

List of member states

State	Accession	Population[j][142]	Area	Population density	MEPs	People/MEP
Austria	1 January 1995	8,978,929	83,855 km2 (32,377 sq mi)	107/km2 (280/sq mi)	19	472575
Belgium	Founder	11,617,623	30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi)	381/km2 (990/sq mi)	21	553220
Bulgaria	1 January 2007	6,838,937	110,994 km2 (42,855 sq mi)	62/km2 (160/sq mi)	17	402290
Croatia	1 July 2013	3,862,305	56,594 km2 (21,851 sq mi)	68/km2 (180/sq mi)	12	321859
Cyprus	1 May 2004	904,705	9,251 km2 (3,572 sq mi)	98/km2 (250/sq mi)	6	150784
Czech Republic	1 May 2004	10,516,707	78,866 km2 (30,450 sq mi)	133/km2 (340/sq mi)	21	500796
Denmark	1 January 1973	5,873,420	43,075 km2 (16,631 sq mi)	136/km2 (350/sq mi)	14	419530
Estonia	1 May 2004	1,331,796	45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi)	29/km2 (75/sq mi)	7	190257
Finland	1 January 1995	5,548,241	338,424 km2 (130,666 sq mi)	16/km2 (41/sq mi)	14	396303
France	Founder	67,871,925	640,679 km2 (247,368 sq mi)	106/km2 (270/sq mi)	79	859138
Germany	Founder[k]	83,237,124	357,021 km2 (137,847 sq mi)	233/km2 (600/sq mi)	96	867053
Greece	1 January 1981	10,459,782	131,990 km2 (50,960 sq mi)	79/km2 (200/sq mi)	21	498085
Hungary	1 May 2004	9,689,010	93,030 km2 (35,920 sq mi)	104/km2 (270/sq mi)	21	461381
Ireland	1 January 1973	5,060,004	70,273 km2 (27,133 sq mi)	72/km2 (190/sq mi)	13	389231
Italy	Founder	59,030,133	301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi)	196/km2 (510/sq mi)	76	776712
Latvia	1 May 2004	1,875,757	64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi)	29/km2 (75/sq mi)	8	234470
Lithuania	1 May 2004	2,805,998	65,200 km2 (25,200 sq mi)	43/km2 (110/sq mi)	11	255091
Luxembourg	Founder	645,397	2,586 km2 (998 sq mi)	250/km2 (650/sq mi)	6	107566
Malta	1 May 2004	520,971	316 km2 (122 sq mi)	1,649/km2 (4,270/sq mi)	6	86829
Netherlands	Founder	17,590,672	41,543 km2 (16,040 sq mi)	423/km2 (1,100/sq mi)	29	606575
Poland	1 May 2004	37,654,247	312,685 km2 (120,728 sq mi)	120/km2 (310/sq mi)	52	724120
Portugal	1 January 1986	10,352,042	92,390 km2 (35,670 sq mi)	112/km2 (290/sq mi)	21	492954
Romania	1 January 2007	19,042,455	238,391 km2 (92,043 sq mi)	80/km2 (210/sq mi)	33	577044
Slovakia	1 May 2004	5,434,712	49,035 km2 (18,933 sq mi)	111/km2 (290/sq mi)	14	388194
Slovenia	1 May 2004	2,107,180	20,273 km2 (7,827 sq mi)	104/km2 (270/sq mi)	8	263398
Spain	1 January 1986	47,432,893	504,030 km2 (194,610 sq mi)	94/km2 (240/sq mi)	59	803947
Sweden	1 January 1995	10,452,326	449,964 km2 (173,732 sq mi)	23/km2 (60/sq mi)	21	497730
27 total		446,735,291	4,233,262 km2 (1,634,472 sq mi)	106/km2 (270/sq mi)	705	633667

Subdivisions

Schengen Area

The Schengen Area is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of

There are eight countries that are recognised as

The EU's member states cover an area of 4,233,262 square kilometres (1,634,472 sq mi),

The climate of the European Union is of a

In 1957, when the European Economic Community was founded, it had no environmental policy.^[153] 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.^[153] 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.^[154]

European policy-makers originally increased the EU's capacity to act on environmental issues by defining it as a trade problem.^[153] Trade barriers and competitive distortions in the Common Market could emerge due to the different environmental standards in each member state.^[155] 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.^[154]

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,^[156] 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.^[153] 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.^[154]

Mitigating

The gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of economic activity, of EU member states was US$16.64 trillion in 2022, around 16.6 percent of the world GDP.^[165] 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.^[166]

EU member states own the estimated third largest after the United States (US$140 trillion) and China (US$84 trillion)

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.^[171] 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.^[172]

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.^[173][174]

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.^[175] The euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar.^{[176][177][178]}

The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it in agreement with the EU, are under the control of the ECB.

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 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.^[139] Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU.^[182]

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.^[183]

External trade

The European Union has concluded

The EU operates a

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.^[195]

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[197] and 97.48 per cent of their uranium^[198] 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.^[199] There is a strong dependence on Russian energy that the EU has been attempting to reduce.^[200] 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.^[201] In May 2022, the EU 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.^[202]

Transport

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

Maritime transportation is organized under the TEN-T by the

Air transportation is organized 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.^[206] 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 organized 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.^[207][208] 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

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.^[210][211] 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 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.^[215][216] In September 2022, a European Care strategy was approved in order to provide "quality, affordable and accessible care services".^[217] 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.^[218] In December 2021, the commission announced the intention of codifying a union-wide law against LGBT hate crimes.^[219]

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,^[220] family law,^[221] asylum law,^[222] and criminal justice.^[223]

The EU has also established agencies to co-ordinate police, prosecution and civil litigations across the member states:

Signing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership.^[p] Previously, the EU itself could not accede to the convention as it is neither a state^[q] nor had the competence to accede.^[r] 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

Demographics

The population of the EU in 2021 was about 447 million people, corresponding to 5.8 per cent of the world population.

The total population of the EU has been slightly decreasing for several years, contracting by 0.04 per cent in 2021.[233] This is due to a low birth rate of about 1.5 children per woman, less than the world average of 2.3.^[234] In total, 4.1 million babies were born in the EU in 2021.^[235] 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 (a person who has the citizenship of an EU member state is automatically also an EU citizen).^[232] 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.^[236] 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.^[237]

Urbanisation

More than two thirds (68.2%) of EU inhabitants lived in urban areas in 2020, which is slightly less than the world average.^[232] Cities are largely spread out across the EU with a large grouping in and around the Benelux.^[238] The EU contains about 40 urban areas with populations of over 1 million. With a population of over 13 million,^[239] Paris is the largest metropolitan area and the only megacity in the EU.^[240] 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

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.^[246][247] 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;^[248] the Court of Justice uses French as the working language,^[249] and the European Central Bank conducts its business primarily in English.^[250][251] Even though language policy is the responsibility of member states, EU institutions promote multilingualism among its citizens.^[f][252]

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,^[253] 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.^[254] More than half (56 per cent) of EU citizens are able to engage in a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue.^[255]

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.^[256][257] There are about 150 regional and minority languages in the EU, spoken by up to 50 million people.^[258] 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.^[259]

Religion

The EU has no formal connection to any religion. Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union^[260] recognises the "status under national law of churches and religious associations" as well as that of "philosophical and non-confessional organisations".^[261] The preamble to the Treaty on European Union mentions the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe".^[261][262] 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.^[263]

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.^[266] Many countries have experienced falling church attendance and membership in recent years.^[267] The countries where the fewest people reported a religious belief were Estonia (16 per cent) and the Czech Republic (19 per cent).^[266] 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".^[266]

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.^[268]

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.^[269][270] 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.^[271] 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.^[272]

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.^[276] 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.^{[277][278][279]}

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.

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.^[283] Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 seven-year programme,^[283] the European Cultural Month event,^[284] and orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra.^[285] The European Capital of Culture programme selects one or more cities in every year to assist the cultural development of that city.^[286]

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.^[287]

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.^[288] 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.^[289] The EU does fund a programme for Israeli, Jordanian, Irish, and British football coaches, as part of the Football 4 Peace project.^[290]

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,^[291] though the official symbolic description adopted by the EU omits the reference to the "Western world":^[292]

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.

Besides naming the continent, the

Europa has frequently been employed as a personification of Europe. Known from the myth in which Zeus seduces her in the guise of a white bull, Europa has also been referred to in relation to the present union. Statues of Europa and the bull decorate several of the EU's institutions and a portrait of her is seen on the 2013 series of euro banknotes. The bull is, for its part, depicted on all residence permit cards.^[295]

Latin: Carolus Magnus) and later recognised as Pater Europae ("Father of Europe"),^{[296][297][298]} has a symbolic relevance to Europe. The commission has named one of its central buildings in Brussels after Charlemagne and the city of Aachen has since 1949 awarded the Charlemagne Prize to champions of European unification.^[299] Since 2008, the organisers of this prize, in conjunction with the European Parliament, have awarded the Charlemagne Youth Prize in recognition of similar efforts led by young people.^[300]

Media

Main articles: Media freedom in the European Union and European Broadcasting Union

EU enlargement process, guaranteeing media freedom is named a "key indicator of a country's readiness to become part of the EU".^[302]

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

European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE GEIE and the channel's European partners.^[305]

The

MEDIA Programme of the European Union has supported the European popular film and audiovisual industries since 1991. It provides support for the development, promotion and distribution of European works within Europe and beyond.^[306]

Influence

The European Union has had a significant positive economic effect on most member states.^[307] 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".^[307] Greece was the exception reported by the study, which analysed up to 2008, "to avoid confounding effects from the global financial crisis".^[307] 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.^[308]

The European Union is frequently cited as having made a major contribution to peace in Europe, in particular by pacifying border disputes,^[309][310] and to the spread of democracy, especially by encouraging democratic reforms in aspiring Eastern European member states after the collapse of the USSR.^[311][312] 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."^[312] 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,^[313] from progressing into closed autocracies.^[314]

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

1. La Réunion
   (UTC+4); which, other than the Azores, do not observe DST.
2. ^ .eu is representative of the whole of the EU; member states also have their own TLDs.
3. ^ 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.^[11]
4. ^ These legislative instruments are dealt with in more detail below.
5. 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.
6. ^ ^{a b c} "The requested document does not exist. – EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
7. ^ 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.
8. ^ "? – EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
9. ^ 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.
10. ^ 2022
11. ^ 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.
12. Special member state territories and the European Union
    .
13. ^ Article 3(1)(g) of the Treaty of Rome
14. Amsterdam Treaty on eur-lex.europa.eu. Archived 17 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
    .
15. ^ 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).
16. ^ 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.
17. ^ "Full list - Treaty Office - publi.coe.int". Treaty Office. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
18. ^ "? – EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
19. ^ Reference article dated February 2020,^[242] taking survey data from 2012^[243]
20. ^ Native language^[244]
21. ^ EU citizens able to hold a conversation in this language^[245]

References

Citations