Portal:European Union

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The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The Union has a total area of 4,233,255 km² (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 448 million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity (without precedent or comparison) combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.

Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$16.6 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately one sixth of global nominal GDP. Additionally, all EU states except Bulgaria have a very high Human Development Index according to the United Nations Development Programme. Its cornerstone, the Customs Union, paved the way to establishing an internal single market based on standardised legal framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area. The eurozone is a group composed of the 20 EU member states that have fully implemented the economic and monetary union and use the euro currency. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the union has developed a role in external relations and defence. It maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7 and the G20. Due to its global influence, the European Union has been described by some scholars as an emerging superpower.

In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU, in 2020; ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it. (Full article...)

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The Treaties of Rome are two of the treaties of the European Union signed on March 25, 1957. Both treaties were signed by The Six: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany.

The first established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the second established the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom). They were the first international organisations to be based on supranationalism, after the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) established a few years prior.

The treaties came into force on 1 January 1958 and the EEC treaty has been amended on numerous occasions (see Treaties of the European Union); It has since been renamed from The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community to the The Treaty establishing the European Community. However the Euratom treaty has seen very little amendment due to the later sensitivity surrounding atomic energy amongst the European electorate.

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St Stephen's Green

Photograph: Dronepicr

St Stephen's Green is a city centre public park in Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public in 1880. The park is adjacent to one of Dublin's main shopping streets, Grafton Street, and to a shopping centre named for it, while on its surrounding streets are the offices of a number of public bodies as well as a stop on one of Dublin's Luas tram lines. At 22 acres (89,000 m²), it is the largest of the parks in Dublin's main Georgian garden squares.

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Did you know?

...that Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the European Union on January 1, 2007?

...that the European Union's member states combined represent the world's largest economy by GDP, larger than the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Japan, the seventh largest territory in the world by area and the third largest by population after China and India?

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Vienna is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primate city; with a population of about 1.6 million (2.2 million within the metro area), Vienna is by far the largest city in Austria as well as its cultural, economic and political centre. Vienna lies in the south-eastern corner of Central Europe and is close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Founded around 500 BC, Vienna was originally a Celtic settlement. In 15 BC, Vienna became a Roman frontier city guarding the Roman Empire against Germanic tribes to the north. Art and culture have a long tradition in Vienna, in the areas of theatre, opera, classical music and fine arts. Apart from the Burgtheater which, together with its branch, the Akademietheater, is considered one of the best theatres in the German-speaking world.

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General images

The following are images from various European Union-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 2A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 3Winston Churchill (right, during the Atlantic Conference), consistent advocate of continential European integration, later along with his son-in-law Duncan Sandys (from History of the European Union)
Image 4Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 5A cartogram depicting the population distribution between old EU-27 member states in 2008 (including the UK and excluding Croatia). 57.8% of all citizens of the EU live in the four largest member states: Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 6Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 7The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 8Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 91922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 10Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 11Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 12Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 13Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 14Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 15After two devastating world wars, the political climate favoured an international unity that could preserve peace in Europe effectively (Hamburg, after a massive Allied bombing in 1943 in the picture). (from History of the European Union)
Image 16Political groups of the European Parliament in the Louise Weiss building after the election 2014:
  Group of the European People's Party (EPP)
  Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)
  Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
  European Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)
  European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL)
  European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)
  Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD)
  Non-Inscrits (NI)
(from Politics of the European Union)
Image 17The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 18Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 19Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 20The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 21Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 22The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 23Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 24Hearing of Josep Borrell, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 25The population density of the EU is 106 people per km². N.B. the light in the North Sea, as well as much of Norway, is from Routine flaring not human habitation. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 26The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 27Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 28Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 29Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 30The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 31Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 32Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 33The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 34Organigram of the political system. The seven organs of the Union are in blue, national / intergovernmental elements in orange. (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 35José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004-2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 36Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)