EU

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Supranational political and economic union

• Total Area

  4,233,255 km²

• Core Policy

  Customs Union, internal single market

• Key Policy Areas

  Free movement of people, goods, services, capital; justice and home affairs; common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, regional development

• Official Currency

  Euro (used by 20 member states in the eurozone)

• Passport Controls

  Abolished within the Schengen Area

• Nominal GDP (2024)

  €17.935 trillion

• Number of Member States

  27

• Estimated Population (2025)

  Over 450 million

• Political Entity Description

  Sui generis, combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation

• Aspiring/Negotiating Countries

  10

• Founding Countries (Inner Six)

  Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, West Germany

• Share of Global Economic Output (2024)

  Approximately one-sixth

Timeline

• Start of modern European integration with the Inner Six states. (Source: wikipedia)

  1948

• The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded, marking a root of the EU. (Source: web_search_results)

  1950

• Belgium, France, (West) Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Paris, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). (Source: web_search_results)

  1951

• The Treaty of Paris took effect. (Source: web_search_results)

  1952

• The European Economic Community (EEC) was established under the Treaty of Rome. (Source: web_search_results)

  1957

• Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom joined the European Union, raising the number of Member States to nine. (Source: web_search_results)

  1973-01-01

• Greece joined the European Union. (Source: web_search_results)

  1981

• Portugal and Spain joined the European Union. (Source: web_search_results)

  1986

• The Maastricht Treaty came into force, officially establishing the European Union and its citizenship. (Source: summary)

  1993-11-01

• Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the European Union. (Source: web_search_results)

  1995

• The Treaty of Amsterdam entered into force, amending and renumbering the EU and EC Treaties. (Source: web_search_results)

  1999-05-01

• The biggest enlargement took place, with 10 countries joining the EU: Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. (Source: web_search_results)

  2004

• The Treaty of Lisbon came into force, granting the EU international legal personhood. (Source: summary)

  2009

• The EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (Source: summary)

  2012

• The United Kingdom officially left the EU. (Source: summary)

  2020

• EU member states generated a nominal GDP of approximately €17.935 trillion. (Source: summary)

  2024

• The EU charged Microsoft with antitrust violations over its bundling practices, specifically concerning Microsoft Teams and its integration with Microsoft Office. (Source: related_documents)

  2024

European Union

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 population of more than 450 million as of 2025. The EU is often described as a sui generis political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation. Containing 5.5% of the world population in 2023, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around €17.935 trillion in 2024, accounting for approximately one sixth of global economic output. 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 EU's 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. The EU was established, along with its citizenship, when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993, and was incorporated as an international legal juridical person upon entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. Its beginnings can be traced to the Inner Six states (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany) at the start of modern European integration in 1948, and to the Western Union, the International Authority for the Ruhr, the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, which were established by treaties. These increasingly amalgamated bodies grew, with their legal successor the EU, both in size through the accessions of a further 22 states from 1973 to 2013, and in power through acquisitions of policy areas. In 2020, the United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU; ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Web Search Results

• European Union - Wikipedia

  The European Union (EU) is a supranationalpolitical and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.( The union has a total area of 4,233,255 km 2 (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated population of over 450 million as of 2025. The EU is often described as a _sui generis_ political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.( [...] | European Union | show _(in other official languages)_ | | Bulgarian | Европейски съюз | | Czech | _Evropská unie_ | | Danish | _Den Europæiske Union_ | | German | _Europäische Union_ | | Greek | Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση | | Spanish | _Unión Europea_ | | Estonian | _Euroopa Liit_ | | Finnish | _Euroopan unioni_ | | French | _Union européenne_ | | Irish | _An tAontas Eorpach_ | | Croatian | _Europska unija_ | | Hungarian | _Európai Unió_ | | Italian | _Unione europea_ | | Lithuanian | _Europos Sąjunga_ [...] Wikimedia Commons Wikibooks Wikinews Wikiquote Wikivoyage Wikidata item Image 4: Page semi-protected From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Supranational political and economic union "EU" redirects here. For other uses, see EU (disambiguation) "EU (disambiguation)").

• European Union Explained: Purpose, History, and Member Countries

  The EU is a powerful alliance of 27 European countries that promotes democratic values among its members. It serves to faciliate political and economic integration throughout the region. Many, though not all, of its members share the euro as their official currency. Historically, it was made up primarily of the nations of Western Europe; it has since expanded to include member nations that had previously been socialist states prior to the collapse of the USSR. In 2020, the U.K. officially left [...] The EU is a political and economic grouping of 27 countries committed to shared democratic values. The euro is the shared official currency of 19 EU members known collectively as the eurozone. In recent years, the EU has expanded to include many of the countries that had been socialist states before the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the 2016 referendum known as Brexit, the U.K. voted to leave the EU; it officially left in 2020. ## History of the European Union [...] The EU traces its roots to the European Coal and Steel Community, which was founded in 1950 and had just six members: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It became the European Economic Community in 1957 under the Treaty of Rome and subsequently was renamed the European Community (EC).

• European Union (EU) | Definition, Flag, Purpose, History, & Members

  European Union (EU), international organization comprising 27 European countries and governing common economic, social, and security policies. Originally confined to western Europe, the EU undertook a robust expansion into central and eastern Europe in the early 21st century. The EU’s members are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, [...] The EU was created by the Maastricht Treaty, which entered into force on November 1, 1993. The treaty was designed to enhance European political and economic integration by creating a single currency (the euro), a unified foreign and security policy, and common citizenship rights and by advancing cooperation in the areas of immigration, asylum, and judicial affairs. The EU was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2012, in recognition of the organization’s efforts to promote peace and democracy [...] The EU represents one in a series of efforts to integrate Europe since World War II. At the end of the war, several western European countries sought closer economic, social, and political ties to achieve economic growth and military security and to promote a lasting reconciliation between France and Germany. To this end, in 1951 the leaders of six countries—Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany—signed the Treaty of Paris, thereby, when it took effect in 1952,

• European Union - Introduction - International Legal Research

  The European Union (EU) has its origins in 1951 when Belgium, France, (West) Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Paris, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which called for the free circulation of coal, iron, and steel and the related workers and capital. [...] The European Union in its present form came into existence in November 1993 after the ratification of the Treaty on European Union (or Maastricht Treaty). The Treaty of Amsterdam, which entered into force on May 1, 1999, amended and renumbered the EU and EC Treaties. The Treaty of Nice amends the existing treaties to prepare for the expansion of the EU. In June 2004, EU leaders reached agreement on the controversial Constitutional Treaty for Europe. [...] The EU is different from other international organizations because the member states have delegated sovereignty to common institutions representing the interests of the EU as a whole. The EU Home Page includes information about current events, an overview of the organization, and selected documents. EU Press Room is a good source of up-to-the-minute information about EU activities. The Main EU Bodies

• EU & ME | WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN UNION?

  The European Union is a unique partnership between 27 European countries, known as Member States, or EU countries. Together they cover much of the European continent. The EU is home to around 447 million people, which is around 6 % of the world’s population. Citizens of the EU countries are also EU citizens. ## EXERCISE 1 WHO IS A MEMBER OF THE EU? [...] The EU is made up of very different countries. The EU country with the largest population is Germany, which has around 84 million inhabitants, while the smallest, Malta, has 500 000 inhabitants. In the EU, people speak different languages which use one of three different alphabets (Latin, Greek and Cyrillic). There are different traditions, cultures, foods and festivals in each country. ### DID YOU KNOW? [...] The six founding countries are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the European Union on 1 January 1973, raising the number of Member States to nine. Greece joined in 1981, followed by Portugal and Spain in 1986. In 1995, Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the European Union. The biggest enlargement took place in 2004, when 10 countries joined the EU: Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,

• Instance Of

  Q4167410