European Union

Extracted Attributes

• Area

  4,233,255 km2

• Type

  Supranational political and economic union

• Award

  Nobel Peace Prize

• Currency

  Euro

• Headquarters

  City of Brussels, Belgium

• Key Policies

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

• Legal Nature

  Sui generis political entity (combining federation and confederation characteristics)

• Nominal GDP (2024)

  €17.935 trillion

• Former Member States

  1 (United Kingdom)

• Number of Member States

  27

• Number of Eurozone Members

  20

• Estimated Population (2025)

  Over 450 million

• Countries Aspiring/Negotiating to Join

  10

Timeline

• Origins traced to the "Inner Six" states (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, West Germany) and the start of modern European integration. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1948

• The Treaty of Paris was signed, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). (Source: Web Search, Britannica)

  1951

• The Treaty of Rome was signed, establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). (Source: Web Search, Britannica)

  1957

• Accessions of 22 additional states occurred, expanding the European Communities. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1973-2013

• The Maastricht Treaty came into force, formally establishing the European Union and its citizenship. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, Wikidata, DBPedia, Web Search, Britannica)

  1993-11-01

• The euro currency was launched. (Source: Web Search)

  1999

• The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) expired. (Source: Web Search)

  2002

• The Treaty of Lisbon came into force, incorporating the EU as an international legal juridical person. (Source: Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  2009

• The EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, Wikidata, DBPedia, Web Search, Britannica)

  2012

• The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  2020

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

Web Search Results

• History of the European Union - Wikipedia

  The European Union is a geo-political entity, created in 1993, covering a large portion of the European continent. It is founded upon numerous treaties and has undergone expansions and secessions that have taken it from six member states to 27, a majority of the states in Europe. [...] (1951) "Treaty of Paris (1951)"), and later the Treaty of Rome (1957) which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC). The Maastricht Treaty (1992) created the European Union with its pillars system, including foreign and home affairs alongside the European Communities. This in turn led to the creation of the single European currency, the euro (launched 1999). The ECSC expired in 2002. The Maastricht Treaty has been amended by the treaties [...] 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

• 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 - Wikipedia

  The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.[\[9\]](#cite_note-11)[\[10\]](#cite_note-12) The union has a total area of 4,233,255 km2 (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated population of over 449 million as of 2024. The EU is often described as a _sui generis_ political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.[\[11\]](#cite_note-13)[\[12\]](#cite_note-14) [...] Union "Western Union (alliance)"), 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. [...] The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty—whose main architects were Horst Köhler,[\[55\]](#cite_note-57) Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand—came into force on 1 November 1993.[\[23\]](#cite_note-FOOTNOTECraigDe_Burca201115-25)[\[56\]](#cite_note-58) The treaty also gave the name _European Community_ to the EEC, even if it was referred to as such before the treaty. With further enlargement planned to include the former communist states of Central and Eastern

• Countries in the EU and EEA - GOV.UK

  The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 countries. It operates an internal (or single) market which allows free movement of goods, capital, services and people between member states. ## EU countries The EU countries are:

• Easy to read – about the EU | European Union

  to make information easy for everyone to read and understand. Image 2: Easy to read - Symbol © European Easy-to-Read Logo: Inclusion Europe. More information at The European Union ------------------ The European Union is a group of 27 countries in Europe. These countries came together to make things better, easier and safer for people. They agreed to work together and help each other. Image 3: Map with all countries of the European Union [...] and the European Union was made. Image 5: Map with all countries of the European Union Today, 27 countries are part of the European Union. These countries are: Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden [...] The European Union in the world ------------------------------- The European Union plays an important role in the world in many ways. For example: It sells many things and services to other countries. Also, it buys things from other countries. This way it helps the world economy keep going. It helps millions of people who live in poorer countries outside the European Union. It tries to make the world a safer place where people are treated fairly and laws are respected.

• Award

  Nobel Peace Prize

• Country

  internationality

• Founder

  Belgium

• Instance Of

  Q170156

• Population

  447,706,209

• Coordinates

  Lat: 50.116944444, Lon: 9.247777777

• Headquarters

  City of Brussels

• Inception Date

  11/1/1993

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 4,233,255.3 km2 (1,634,469.0 sq mi) and an estimated total population of about 447 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 per cent of the world population in 2020, the EU generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$17.1 trillion in 2021, constituting approximately 18 per cent of global nominal GDP. Additionally, all EU states 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 19 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. The union was established along with its citizenship when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993, and was subsequently incorporated as an international law juridical person upon entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, but its beginnings may be traced to its earliest predecessors incorporated primarily by a group of founding states known as the Inner Six (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany) at the start of modern institutionalised European integration in 1948 and onwards, namely to the Western Union (WU, 1954 renamed Western European Union, WEU), the International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC, 1993 renamed European Community, EC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), established, respectively, by the 1948 Treaty of Brussels, the 1948 London Six-Power Conference, the 1951 Treaty of Paris, the 1957 Treaty of Rome and the 1957 Euratom Treaty. These increasingly amalgamated bodies later known collectively as the European Communities have grown since, along with their legal successor, the EU, both in size through accessions of further 21 states as well as in power through acquisitions of various policy areas to their remit by the virtue of the abovementioned treaties, as well as numerous other ones, such as the Modified Brussels Treaty, the Merger Treaty, the Single European Act, the Treaty of Amsterdam and the Treaty of Nice. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Although the United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU in 2020, several other countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it.