European Union

European Union
Intergovernmental organization
Motto United in Diversity
Anthem Ode to Joy
← ← Maastricht Treaty: European Communities
Capital	Brussels
Status	Intergovernmental organization
President of the Council
- From 2009	Herman Van Rompuy
President of the Commission
- 1993-1995	Jacques Delors
- 1995-1999	Jacques Santer
- 1999-2004	Romano Prodi
- From 2004	José Manuel Barroso
Legislature	Legislature
- Upper house	Council of Ministers
- Lower house	European Parliament
History
- January 1, 1958	Rome Treaty
- November 1, 1993	Maastricht Treaty
- May 1, 1999	Amsterdam Treaty
- February 1, 2003	Nice Treaty
- December 1, 2009	Lisbon Treaty
Area	4,324,782 km²
Population
- 2010	501,064,211
Density	115.8/km²
GDP	2010 (PPP)
- Total	US$ 14,896.1 billion
- Per capita	US$ 29,729
Currency	Euro
European Communities  WEU
v

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,233,262 km2 (1,634,472 sq mi) and an estimated population of 447,206,135 million. The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where members 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. For travel within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished. A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002 and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency.

The EU and European citizenship were established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993. The EU traces its origins to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), established, respectively, by the 1951 Treaty of Paris and 1957 Treaty of Rome. The original members of what came to be known as the European Communities were the Inner Six: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The Communities and their successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to their remit. The latest major amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009. No member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations. (Greenland, an autonomous country within Denmark, left the Communities in 1985.) However, the United Kingdom signified the intention to leave after a membership referendum in June 2016 and is negotiating its withdrawal. They withdrew on January 31, 2020 after 2 delays in the same year.

Containing 7.3% of the world population, the EU in 2017 generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of 19.670 trillion US dollars, constituting approximately 24.6% of global nominal GDP. Additionally, all 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7 and the G20. Because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower.

Background

Following the two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris.

The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other elements of the countries' economies. In 1957, envisioning an "ever closer union," the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the body known today as the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since.

In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU), at the time standing alongside the European Community. In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU/EC, raising the membership total to 15.

A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all EU member states except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of those 12 countries began using euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - and in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania joined, bringing the membership to 27, where it stands today.

In an effort to ensure that the EU could function efficiently with an expanded membership, the Treaty of Nice (signed in 2000) set forth rules aimed at streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An effort to establish a "Constitution for Europe," growing out of a Convention held in 2002-2003, foundered when it was rejected in referenda in France and the Netherlands in 2005. A subsequent effort in 2007 incorporated many of the features of the rejected Constitution while also making a number of substantive and symbolic changes. The new treaty, initially known as the Reform Treaty but subsequently referred to as the Treaty of Lisbon, sought to amend existing treaties rather than replace them. The treaty was approved at the EU intergovernmental conference of the 27 member states held in Lisbon in December 2007, after which the process of national ratifications began. In October 2009, an Irish referendum approved the Lisbon Treaty (overturning a previous rejection) and cleared the way for an ultimate unanimous endorsement. Poland and the Czech Republic signed on soon after. The Lisbon Treaty, again invoking the idea of an "ever closer union," came into force on 1 December 2009 and the European Union officially replaced and succeeded the European Community.

Economy

Internally, the EU has abolished trade barriers, adopted a common currency, and is striving toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from $7,000 to $78,000) and in national attitudes toward issues like inflation, debt, and foreign trade, the EU faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. Eleven established EU member states, under the auspices of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later), but the UK and Denmark have 'opt-outs' that allow them to keep their national currencies, and Sweden has not taken the steps needed to participate. Between 2004 and 2007, the EU admitted 12 countries that are, in general, less advanced economically than the other 15. Of the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia (1 January 2007), Cyprus and Malta (1 January 2008), Slovakia (1 January 2009), and Estonia (1 January 2011) have adopted the euro; the remaining states other than the UK and Denmark are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's fiscal and monetary convergence criteria. The EU has recovered from the global financial crisis faster than expected, with business investment growing by an estimated 2% in 2010, but with public investment and housing development lagging. Strong corporate profits should enable this recovery to continue in 2011. Nevertheless, significant risks to growth remain, including, high official debts and deficits, aging populations, over-regulation of non-financial businesses, and doubts about the sustainability of the EMU. In June 2010, prompted by the Greek financial crisis, the EU and the IMF set up a $1 trillion bailout fund to rescue any EMU member in danger of default, but it has not calmed market jitters that have diminished the value of the euro. Discussions are currently under way to create a permanent European Stabilisation Mechanism (ESM) in 2013, when the existing European Financial Stability Facility expires.

Member states

Country	Area	Population	GDP per capita	Capital
Austria	83,872	8,356,707	$39,454	Vienna
Belgium	30,528	10,827,519	$35,534	Brussels
Bulgaria	110,993	7,576,751	$12,052	Sofia
Croatia	56,594	4,486,881	$17,609	Zagreb
Cyprus	9,248	803,147	$27,713	Nicosia
Czech Republic	78,866	10,674,947	$24,832	Prague
Denmark	43,098	5,557,709	$36,336	Copenhagen
Estonia	45,228	1,340,021	$17,908	Tallinn
Finland	338,424	5,374,781	$34,044	Helsinki
France	543,965	63,136,180	$33,678	Paris
Germany	357,021	81,757,600	$34,212	Berlin
Greece	131,990	11,305,118	$28,834	Athens
Hungary	93,028	9,992,339	$18,566	Budapest
Ireland	70,273	4,470,700	$39,468	Dublin
Italy	301,338	60,418,711	$29,109	Rome
Latvia	64,589	2,217,969	$10,630	Riga
Lithuania	65,200	3,244,000	$16,481	Vilnius
Luxembourg	2,586	502,202	$80,304	Luxembourg
Malta	316	412,966	$23,662	Valletta
Netherlands	41,848	16,649,400	$39,938	Amsterdam
Poland	312,685	38,192,000	$18,705	Warsaw
Portugal	92,090	10,647,267	$22,027	Lisbon
Romania	238,391	21,959,278	$11,767	Bucharest
Slovakia	49,035	5,429,763	$16,281	Bratislava
Slovenia	20,273	2,048,951	$27,900	Ljubljana
Spain	504,030	46,030,109	$29,651	Madrid
Sweden	449,964	9,354,462	$36,502	Stockholm
United Kingdom	243,610	62,041,708	$35,720	London

Timeline

Signed In force Document

1948 1948 Brussels Treaty

1949 1949 London Agreement

1951 1952 Paris Treaty

1954 1955 Modified Brussels Treaty

1957 1958 Rome treaties

1965 1967 Merger Treaty

1975 N/A European Council conclusion

1985 1985 Schengen Treaty

1986 1987 Single European Act

1992 1993 Maastricht Treaty

1997 1999 Amsterdam Treaty

2001 2003 Nice Treaty

2007 2009 Lisbon Treaty

Three pillars of the European Union:

European Communities: (EC)

European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)

Allied Autorities

Ruhr Authority (IAR)

European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)

Treaty expired in 2002

European Union (EU)

European Economic Community (EEC)

Schengen Area

European Economic Community (EC)

TREVI

Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)

Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC)

European Political Cooperation (EPC)

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

Unconsolidated bodies

Western European Union (WEU)

Treaty terminated in 2011

See also

• Council of Europe
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• Nomenclature of Territorial Units for StatisticsPlease note that the United Kingdom left.

References

• The World Factbook (CIA)
  
• Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments (CIA)
  
• BBC News Country Profile
  
• World Statesmen.org
  
• Wikipedia