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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Vaxholm Fortress

Photograph credit: Arild Vågen

Vaxholm Fortress is a historic fortification on the island of Vaxholmen in the Stockholm archipelago just east of the Swedish town of Vaxholm. The first structure, a wooden blockhouse, was constructed by King Gustav I in 1548 as a defensive structure and customs post at this strategic site on the sea approach to Stockholm. It was replaced by a round stone tower during John III's reign. The present buildings date to 1833; their design was inspired by ideas on fortifications propounded by French engineers the marquis de Montalembert and Lazare Carnot. The fortress has been listed as a state monument since 1935 and now houses the Vaxholm Fortress Museum.

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Did you know?

...that within the Eurozone the European Central Bank has the exclusive authority to set monetary policy?

...that Greenland and United Kingdom are the only countries to ever leave the European Union?

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Amsterdam, capital city of the Netherlands, lies on the banks of two bodies of water, the IJ bay and the Amstel river. Founded in the late 12th century as a small fishing village on the banks of the Amstel, it is now the largest city in the country and is a financial and cultural centre. In 2006, the population of the municipality proper was 741,329; the population of the official Greater Amsterdam area is approximately 1.5 million, but the real agglomeration is estimated at 2 to 2.5 million. Amsterdam is also one of the core urban centres of the greater metropolitan area called Randstad (English: "Ring City") which encompasses other Dutch cities and has a population of over 7.5 million.

Amsterdam has one of the largest historic city centres in Europe, dating largely from the 17th century. At this time, a series of concentric, semi-circular canals (grachten) were dug around the old city centre. Along the canals houses and warehouses were built. The canals still define Amsterdam's layout and appearance today. Amsterdam is famous for its free-spirited liberalism, diversity and tolerance.

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General images

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

Image 1Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 2Hearing of Josep Borrell, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 3The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 4The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 5Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 6The 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 7José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004-2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 8The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 9Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 10Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 11The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 121922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 13Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 14Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 15Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 16Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 17Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 18Winston 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 19A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 20Political 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 21Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 22A 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 23Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 24Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 25The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 26Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 27The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 28Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 29Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 30Organigram 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 31Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 32Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 33The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 34Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 35Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 36After 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)