text:
European Union
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"EU" redirects here. For other uses, see EU (disambiguation).
European Union[show]
Bulgarian:
Европейски съюз
Croatian:
Europska unija
Czech:
Evropská unie
Danish:
Den Europæiske Union
Dutch:
Europese Unie
Estonian:
Euroopa Liit
Finnish:
Euroopan unioni
French:
Union européenne
German:
Europäische Union
Greek:
Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση
Hungarian:
Európai Unió
Irish:
An tAontas Eorpach
Italian:
Unione europea
Latvian:
Eiropas Savienība
Lithuanian:
Europos Sąjunga
Maltese:
Unjoni Ewropea
Polish:
Unia Europejska
Portuguese:
União Europeia
Romanian:
Uniunea Europeană
Slovak:
Európska únia
Slovene:
Evropska unija
Spanish:
Unión Europea
Swedish:
Europeiska unionen
Flag
Motto: "In Varietate Concordia" (Latin)
"United in Diversity"
Anthem: "Ode to Joy" (instrumental)
Location of the European Union
Location of the European Union,
its outermost regions,
and the overseas countries and territories[show]
Capital
Brussels (de facto)[1]
50°51′N 4°21′E / 50.850°N 4.350°E / 50.850; 4.350
Largest cities
Paris and London[a]
Official languages
24 languages[b][show]
Bulgarian
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Estonian
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hungarian
Irish
Italian
Latvian
Lithuanian
Maltese
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Slovak
Slovene
Spanish
Swedish
Official scripts[4]
Latin
Greek
Cyrillic
Religion
72% Christianity
48% Roman Catholic
12% Protestant
8% Eastern Orthodox
4% other Christian
23% irreligious
2% Muslim
3% other faiths[5]
Demonym
European[6]
Type
Political and economic union
Member states
28 states[show]
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom[c]
Government
Supranational and intergovernmental
• President of the European Council
Donald Tusk
• President of the European Parliament
Antonio Tajani
• President of the European Commission
Jean-Claude Juncker
Legislature
Council of the EU
European Parliament
Formation[7]
• Treaty of Rome
1 January 1958
• Treaty of Maastricht
1 November 1993
• Treaty of Lisbon
1 December 2009
• Last polity admitted
1 July 2013
Area
• Total
4,475,757 km2 (1,728,099 sq mi)
• Water (%)
3.08
Population
• 2018 estimate
512,596,403[8]
• Density
117.3/km2 (303.8/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)
2018 estimate
• Total
$22.0 trillion[9] (2nd)
• Per capita
$43,074[9]
GDP (nominal)
2018 estimate
• Total
$19.7 trillion[9] (2nd)
• Per capita
$38,370[10]
Gini (2016)
30.8[11]
medium
HDI (2015)
0.874[d]
very high
Currency
Euro (EUR; €; Eurozone)
10 others[show]
Lev (BGN; Bulgaria)
Koruna (CZK; Czech Republic)
Krone (DKK; Denmark)
Pound sterling (GBP; United Kingdom)
Pound (GIP; Gibraltar)
Kuna (HRK; Croatia)
Forint (HUF; Hungary)
Złoty (PLN; Poland)
Leu (RON; Romania)
Krona (SEK; Sweden)
Time zone
WET
CET
EET
(UTC to UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)
WEST
CEST
EEST
(UTC+1 to UTC+3)
(see also Summer Time in Europe)
Note: with the exception of the Canary Islands and Madeira, the outermost regions observe different time zones not shown.[e]
Date format
dd/mm/yyyy (AD/CE)
See also: Date and time notation in Europe
Internet TLD
.eu[f]
Website
europa.eu
The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe.[13] It has an area of 4,475,757 km2 (1,728,099 sq mi) and an estimated population of over 510 million. The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states in those matters (only) 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,[14] enact legislation in justice and home affairs and maintain common policies on trade,[15] agriculture,[16] fisheries and regional development.[17] For travel within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished.[18] 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 was enacted in 1993.[19] 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 its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. The latest major amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009. While no member state has left the EU or its predecessors, the United Kingdom signified an intention to leave after a membership referendum in June 2016 and is negotiating its withdrawal.
The European Union provides more foreign aid than any other economic union.[20] Covering 7.3% of the world population,[21] 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[22] and 16.5% when measured in terms of purchasing power parity.[23] Additionally, 27 out of 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.[24] 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.[25]
Contents
1 History
1.1 Background
1.2 Preliminary (1945–57)
1.3 Treaty of Rome (1957–92)
1.4 Maastricht Treaty (1992–2007)
1.5 Lisbon Treaty (2007–present)
1.6 Structural evolution
2 Geography
2.1 Environment
3 Demographics
3.1 Population
3.2 Urbanisation
3.3 Languages
3.4 Religion
3.5 Education and science
3.6 Health care
4 Politics
4.1 Member states
4.2 Institutions
4.2.1 Relation to the Council of Europe
4.2.2 Relations between the EU and its electorate
4.3 Constitutional nature
4.4 Governance
4.4.1 European Parliament
4.4.2 European Council
4.4.3 Council of the European Union
4.4.4 European Commission
4.5 Budget
4.6 Competences
5 Legal system
5.1 Courts of Justice
5.2 Fundamental rights
5.3 Acts
5.4 Area of freedom, security and justice
6 Foreign relations
6.1 Defence
6.2 Humanitarian aid
7 Regional and global influence of the European Union
8 Economy
8.1 Internal market
8.2 Monetary union
8.3 Energy
8.4 Infrastructure
8.5 Agriculture
8.6 Competition
9 Culture
9.1 Sport
9.2 Symbols
9.3 Media
10 Criticism
11 See also
12 Notes
13 References
13.1 Sources
14 Further reading
15 External links
History
Main articles: History of the European Union and History of Europe
Background
Main article: Ideas of European unity before 1945
The Roman Empire in AD 117, at its greatest extent (with its vassals in pink).
During the centuries following the fall of Rome in 476, several European States viewed themselves as translatio imperii of the defunct Roman Empire: the Frankish Empire (481–843) and the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806) were attempts to resurrect Rome in the West.[g] The Russian Tsardom, and ultimately the Empire (1547–1917), declared Moscow to be Third Rome and inheritor of the Eastern tradition after the fall of Constantinople in 1453.[27] The gap between Greek East and Latin West had already been widened by the political scission of the Roman Empire in the 4th century and the Great Schism of 1054; and would be eventually widened again by the Iron Curtain (1945–91).[28]
Europe in the Early Middle Ages.
Medieval Christendom[29][30] and the political power of the Papacy[31][32] are also often cited as premisses[clarification needed] to European integration and unity.

Pan-European political thought truly emerged during the 19th century, inspired by the liberal ideas of the French and American Revolutions after the demise of Napoléon's Empire (1804–15). In the decades following the outcomes of the Congress of Vienna, ideals of European unity flourished across the continent, especially in the writings of Wojciech Jastrzębowski,[33] Giuseppe Mazzini[34] or Theodore de Korwin Szymanowski.[35] The term United States of Europe (French: États-Unis d'Europe) was used at that time by Victor Hugo during a speech at the International Peace Congress held in Paris in 1849:[36]
Europe in 1871, shaped by vast political units.
A day will come when all nations on our continent will form a European brotherhood ... A day will come when we shall see ... the United States of America and the United States of Europe face to face, reaching out for each other across the seas.
During the interwar period, the consciousness that national markets in Europe were interdependent though confrontational, along with the observation of a larger and growing US market on the other side of the ocean, nourished the urge for the economic integration of the continent.[37] In 1920, advocating the creation of a European economic union, British economist John Maynard Keynes wrote that "a Free Trade Union should be established ... to impose no protectionist tariffs whatever against the produce of other members of the Union."[38] During the same decade, Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, one of the first to imagine of a modern political union of Europe, founded the Pan-Europa Movement.[39] His ideas influenced his contemporaries, among which then Prime Minister of France Aristide Briand. In 1929, the latter gave a speech in favour of a European Union before the assembly of the League of Nations, precursor of the United Nations.[40] In a radio address in March 1943, with war still raging, Britain's leader Sir Winston Churchill spoke warmly of "restoring the true greatness of Europe" once victory had been achieved, and mused on the post-war creation of a "Council of Europe" which would bring the European nations together to build peace.
Preliminary (1945–57)
Play media
Robert Schuman proposing the Coal and Steel Community on 9 May 1950
After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the extreme nationalism which had devastated the continent.[41] In a speech delivered on 19 September 1946 at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, Winston Churchill went further and advocated the emergence of a United States of Europe.[42] The 1948 Hague Congress was a pivotal moment in European federal history, as it led to the creation of the European Movement International and of the College of Europe, where Europe's future leaders would live and study together.[43]
It also led directly to the founding of the Council of Europe in 1949, the first great effort to bring the nations of Europe together, initially ten of them. However, the Council focused primarily on values - human rights and democracy - rather than on economic or trade issues, and was always envisaged as a forum where sovereign governments could choose to work together, with no supra-national authority. It raised great hopes of further European integration, and there were fevered debates in the two years that followed as to how this could be achieved.
But in 1952, disappointed at what they saw as the lack of progress within the Council of Europe, six nations decided to go further and created the European Coal and Steel Community, which was declared to be "a first step in the federation of Europe".[44] Visionary men such as Alcide De Gasperi from Italy, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman from France, and Paul-Henri Spaak from Belgium understood that coal and steel were the two industries essential for waging war, and that by tying their national industries together, future war between their nations was made impossible.[45] These men and others are officially credited as the founding fathers of the European Union.
Treaty of Rome (1957–92)
The continental territories of the member states of the European Union (European Communities pre-1993), coloured in order of accession.
In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (EEC) and established a customs union. They also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958.[45]
The EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein (Hallstein Commission) and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand (Armand Commission) and then Étienne Hirsch. Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members.[46][47]
During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power. Nevertheless, in 1965 an agreement was reached and on 1 July 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities.[48][49] Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission (Rey Commission).[50]
In 1989, the Iron Curtain fell, enabling the union to expand further (Berlin Wall pictured).
In 1973, the Communities were enlarged to include Denmark (including Greenland, which later left the Communities in 1985, following a dispute over fishing rights), Ireland, and the United Kingdom.[51] Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum. In 1979, the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held.[52]
Greece joined in 1981, Portugal and Spain following in 1986.[53] In 1985, the Schengen Agreement paved the way for the creation of open borders without passport controls between most member states and some non-member states.[54] In 1986, the European flag began to be used by the EEC[55] and the Single European Act was signed.
In 1990, after the fall of the Eastern Bloc, the former East Germany became part of the Communities as part of a reunified Germany.[56] A close fiscal integration with the introduction of the euro was not matched by institutional oversight making things more troubling. Attempts to solve the problems and to make the EU more efficient and coherent had limited success.[57] With further enlargement planned to include the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Cyprus and Malta, the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the EU were agreed upon in June 1993. The expansion of the EU introduced a new level of complexity and discord.[57]
Maastricht Treaty (1992–2007)
The euro was introduced in 2002, replacing 12 national currencies. Seven countries have since joined.
The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty—whose main architects were Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand—came into force on 1 November 1993.[19][58] The treaty also gave the name European Community to the EEC, even if it was referred as such before the treaty. In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU.
In 2002, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. Since then, the eurozone has increased to encompass 19 countries. The euro currency became the second largest reserve currency in the world. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined the Union.[59]
Lisbon Treaty (2007–present)
In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force.
In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became EU members. The same year, Slovenia adopted the euro,[59] followed in 2008 by Cyprus and Malta, by Slovakia in 2009, by Estonia in 2011, by Latvia in 2014, and by Lithuania in 2015.
On 1 December 2009, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force and reformed many aspects of the EU. In particular, it changed the legal structure of the European Union, merging the EU three pillars system into a single legal entity provisioned with a legal personality, created a permanent President of the European Council, the first of which was Herman Van Rompuy, and strengthened the position of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.[60][61]
EU representatives receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012
In 2012, the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe."[62][63] In 2013, Croatia became the 28th EU member.[64]
From the beginning of the 2010s, the cohesion of the European Union has been tested by several issues, including a debt crisis in some of the Eurozone countries, increasing migration from the Middle East, and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU.[65] A referendum in the UK on its membership of the European Union was held in 2016, with 51.9% of participants voting to leave.[66] The UK formally notified the European Council of its decision to leave on 29 March 2017 initiating the formal withdrawal procedure for leaving the EU, committing the UK to leave the EU on 29 March 2019.[67]
Structural evolution
Main article: Treaties of the European Union
The following timeline illustrates the integration that has led to the formation of the present union, in terms of structural development driven by international treaties:
Signed:
In force:
Document: 1947
1947
Dunkirk
Treaty 1948
1948
Brussels
Treaty 1951
1952
Paris
Treaty 1954
1955
Modified
Brussels
Treaty 1957
1958
Rome
Treaty &
EURATOM 1965
1967
Merger
Treaty 1975
1976
Council
Agreement
on TREVI 1986
1987
Single
European
Act 1985+90
1995
Schengen
Treaty &
Convention 1992
1993
Maastricht Treaty (TEU) 1997
1999
Amsterdam
Treaty 2001
2003
Nice
Treaty 2007
2009
Lisbon
Treaty
Content: (est. alliance) (founded WU) (founded ECSC) (protocol amending WU to become WEU) (founded EEC and EURATOM) (merging the legislative & administrative bodies of the 3 European communities) (founded TREVI) (amended: EURATOM, ECSC, EEC)+
(founded EPC) (founded Schengen)
(implemented Schengen) (amended: EURATOM, ECSC, and EEC to transform it into EC)+
(founded: JHA+CFSP) (amended: EURATOM, ECSC, EC to also contain Schengen, and TEU where PJCC replaced JHA) (amended with focus on institutional changes: EURATOM, ECSC, EC and TEU) (abolished the 3 pillars and WEU by amending: EURATOM, EC=>TFEU, and TEU)
(founded EU as an overall legal unit with Charter of Fundamental Rights, and reformed governance structures & decision procedures)
Three pillars of the European Union:
European Communities
(with a single Commission & Council)
European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty expired in 2002 European Union (EU)
European Economic Community (EEC) European Community (EC)
Schengen Rules
Terrorism, Radicalism, Extremism and Violence Internationally (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)
Franco-British alliance Western Union (WU) Western European Union (WEU)
Treaty terminated in 2011
v
t
e
Geography
Main article: Geography of the European Union
Biogeographic regions of the continental European Union, according to the European Environmental Agency.
The EU's member states cover an area of 4,423,147 square kilometres (1,707,787 sq mi).[h] The EU's highest peak is Mont Blanc in the Graian Alps, 4,810.45 metres (15,782 ft) above sea level.[68] The lowest points in the EU are Lammefjorden, Denmark and Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands, at 7 m (23 ft) below sea level.[69]
The landscape, climate, and economy of the EU are influenced by its coastline, which is 65,993 kilometres (41,006 mi) long.
The 65,993 km (41,006 mi) coastline dominates the European climate (Natural Park of Penyal d'Ifac, Spain).
Mont Blanc in the Alps is the highest peak in the EU.
Including the overseas territories of France which are located outside the continent of Europe, but which are members of the union, the EU experiences most types of climate from Arctic (North-East Europe) to tropical (French Guiana), rendering meteorological averages for the EU as a whole meaningless. The majority of the population lives in areas with a temperate maritime climate (North-Western Europe and Central Europe), a Mediterranean climate (Southern Europe), or a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate (Northern Balkans and Central Europe).[70]
The EU's population is highly urbanised, with some 75% of inhabitants living in urban areas as of 2006. Cities are largely spread out across the EU, although with a large grouping in and around the Benelux.[71]
Environment
Further information: European Commissioner for the Environment and European Climate Change Programme
Bison in Białowieża Forest
Percentage of land area of different European countries covered by forest.
In 1957, when the EEC was founded, it had no environmental policy.[72] Over the past 50 years, an increasingly dense network of legislation has been created, extending to all areas of environmental protection, including air pollution, water quality, waste management, nature conservation, and the control of chemicals, industrial hazards, and biotechnology.[73] According to the Institute for European Environmental Policy, environmental law comprises over 500 Directives, Regulations and Decisions, making environmental policy a core area of European politics.[74]
European policy-makers originally increased the EU's capacity to act on environmental issues by defining it as a trade problem.[75] Trade barriers and competitive distortions in the Common Market could emerge due to the different environmental standards in each member state.[76] In subsequent years, the environment became a formal policy area, with its own policy actors, principles and procedures. The legal basis for EU environmental policy was established with the introduction of the Single European Act in 1987.[74]
Initially, EU environmental policy focused on Europe. More recently, the EU has demonstrated leadership in global environmental governance, e.g. the role of the EU in securing the ratification and coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol despite opposition from the United States. This international dimension is reflected in the EU's Sixth Environmental Action Programme,[77] which recognises that its objectives can only be achieved if key international agreements are actively supported and properly implemented both at EU level and worldwide. The Lisbon Treaty further strengthened the leadership ambitions.[78] EU law has played a significant role in improving habitat and species protection in Europe, as well as contributing to improvements in air and water quality and waste management.[74]
Mitigating climate change is one of the top priorities of EU environmental policy. In 2007, member states agreed that, in the future, 20% of the energy used across the EU must be renewable, and carbon dioxide emissions have to be lower in 2020 by at least 20% compared to 1990 levels.[79] The EU has adopted an emissions trading system to incorporate carbon emissions into the economy.[80] The European Green Capital is an annual award given to cities that focuses on the environment, energy efficiency, and quality of life in urban areas to create smart city.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of the European Union
Population
EU population density in 2014
As of 1 January 2016, the population of the European Union was about 510.1 million people (6.9% of the world population).[8][81] In 2015, 5.1 million children were born in the EU-28, corresponding to a birth rate of 10 per 1,000, which is 8 births below the world average.[82] For comparison, the EU-28 birth rate had stood at 10.6 in 2000, 12.8 in 1985 and 16.3 in 1970.[83] Its population growth rate was positive at an estimated 0.23% in 2016.[84]
In 2010, 47.3 million people who lived in the EU were born outside their resident country. This corresponds to 9.4% of the total EU population. Of these, 31.4 million (6.3%) were born outside the EU and 16.0 million (3.2%) were born in another EU member state. The largest absolute numbers of people born outside the EU were in Germany (6.4 million), France (5.1 million), the United Kingdom (4.7 million), Spain (4.1 million), Italy (3.2 million), and the Netherlands (1.4 million).[85]
Urbanisation
See also: List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits
The EU contains about 40 urban areas with populations of over one million, including the two megacities (cities with a population of over 10 million) of London,[86] and Paris.[87] In addition to large agglomerations, the EU also includes several densely populated polycentric urbanised regions that have no single core but have emerged from the connection of several cities and now encompass a large metropolis. The largest of these polycentric metropolis include Rhine-Ruhr with approximately 11.5 million inhabitants (Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf et al.), Randstad with approx. 8.2 million (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht et al.), Frankfurt Rhine-Main with approx. 5.8 million (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden et al.), the Flemish Diamond with approx. 5.5 million (Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven, Ghent et al.), Upper Silesia with approx. 5.2 million (Katowice, Ostrava et al.) and Greater Copenhagen with approx. 4 million (Copenhagen, Malmö).[88]
v
t
e
Largest population centres of the European Union
metropolitan regions, Eurostat 2017[89]
Rank
City name
State
Pop.
Rank
City name
State
Pop.

London

Paris
1 London UK 14,187,146 11 Manchester UK 3,287,460
Madrid

Barcelona
2 Paris France 12,193,865 12 Hamburg Germany 3,282,164
3 Madrid Spain 6,476,838 13 Naples Italy 3,107,006
4 Barcelona Spain 5,474,482 14 Marseille France 3,099,950
5 Berlin Germany 5,207,915 15 Budapest Hungary 3,000,076
6 Ruhr Germany 5,118,681 16 Munich Germany 2,879,107
7 Rome Italy 4,353,738 17 Lisbon Portugal 2,821,349
8 Milan Italy 4,316,398 18 Vienna Austria 2,811,186
9 Athens Greece 3,773,559 19 Stuttgart Germany 2,757,930
10 Warsaw Poland 3,369,567 20 Amsterdam Netherlands 2,729,421

Languages
Main article: Languages of the European Union
See also: Euro English
Language
Native speakers
Total
English 13% 51%
German 18% 32%
French 13% 26%
Italian 12% 16%
Spanish 8% 15%
Polish 8% 9%
Romanian 5% 5%
Dutch 4% 5%
Greek 3% 4%
Hungarian 3% 3%
Portuguese 2% 3%
Czech 2% 3%
Swedish 2% 3%
Bulgarian 2% 2%
Slovak 1% 2%
Danish 1% 1%
Finnish 1% 1%
Lithuanian 1% 1%
Croatian 1% 1%
Slovenian <1% <1%
Estonian <1% <1%
Irish <1% <1%
Latvian <1% <1%
Maltese <1% <1%
Survey 2012.[90]
Native: Native language[91]
Total: EU citizens able to hold a
conversation in this language[92]
The European Union has 24 official languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish. Important documents, such as legislation, are translated into every official language and the European Parliament provides translation for documents and plenary sessions.[93][94][95]
Due to the high number of official idioms, most of the institutions use only a handful of working languages.[96] The European Commission conducts its internal business in three procedural languages : English, French, and German. Similarly, the European Court of Justice uses French as the working language,[97][98] while the European Central Bank conducts its business primarily in English.[99][100]
Even though language policy is the responsibility of member states, EU institutions promote multilingualism among its citizens.[i][101] English is the most widely spoken language in the EU, being understood by 51% of the EU population when counting both native and non-native speakers.[102] German is the most widely spoken mother tongue (spoken by 16% of the EU population.) More than a half (56%) of EU citizens is able to engage in a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue.[103]
Most official languages of the EU belong to the Indo-European language family, represented by the Balto-Slavic,[j] the Italic,[k] the Germanic,[l] the Hellenic,[m] and the Celtic[n] branches. Some EU languages however, namely Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian (all three Uralic), Basque (Vasconic[o]) and Maltese (Semitic) do not belong to Indo-European languages.[104] The three official alphabets of the European Union (Cyrillic, Latin, and modern Greek), all derive from the Archaic Greek scripts.[4][105]
Besides the 24 official languages, there are about 150 regional and minority languages, spoken by up to 50 million people.[104] Catalan, Galician, Basque, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh are not recognised official languages of the European Union but have semi-official status: official translations of the treaties are made into them and citizens have the right to correspond with the institutions in these languages.[106][107] The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ratified by most EU states provides general guidelines that states can follow to protect their linguistic heritage. The European Day of Languages is held annually on 26 September and is aimed at encouraging language learning across Europe.[108]
Religion
Main article: Religion in the European Union
Religious affiliation in the European Union (2015)[5]
Affiliation
% of EU population
Christian 71.6 71.6
Catholic 45.3 45.3
Protestant 11.1 11.1
Eastern Orthodox 9.6 9.6
Other Christian 5.6 5.6
Muslim 1.8 1.8
Other faiths 2.6 2.6
Irreligious 24 24
Non-believer/Agnostic 13.6 13.6
Atheist 10.4 10.4
The EU has no formal connection to any religion. The Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union[109] recognises the "status under national law of churches and religious associations" as well as that of "philosophical and non-confessional organisations".[110]
The preamble to the Treaty on European Union mentions the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe".[110] Discussion over the draft texts of the European Constitution and later the Treaty of Lisbon included proposals to mention Christianity or God, or both, in the preamble of the text, but the idea faced opposition and was dropped.[111]
Christians in the European Union are divided among members of Catholicism (both Roman and Eastern Rite), numerous Protestant denominations (Anglicans, Lutherans, and Reformed forming the bulk of this category), and the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 2009, the EU had an estimated Muslim population of 13 million,[112] and an estimated Jewish population of over a million.[113] The other world religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism are also represented in the EU population.
According to new polls about religiosity in the European Union in 2015 by Eurobarometer, Christianity is the largest religion in the European Union, accounting for 71.6% of the EU population. Catholics are the largest Christian group, accounting for 45.3% of the EU population, while Protestants make up 11.1%, Eastern Orthodox make up 9.6%, and other Christians make up 5.6%.[5]
Eurostat's Eurobarometer opinion polls showed in 2005 that 52% of EU citizens believed in a God, 27% in "some sort of spirit or life force", and 18% had no form of belief.[114] Many countries have experienced falling church attendance and membership in recent years.[115] The countries where the fewest people reported a religious belief were Estonia (16%) and the Czech Republic (19%).[114] The most religious countries were Malta (95%, predominantly Roman Catholic) as well as Cyprus and Romania (both predominantly Orthodox) each with about 90% of citizens professing a belief in God. Across the EU, belief was higher among women, older people, those with religious upbringing, those who left school at 15 or 16, and those "positioning themselves on the right of the political scale".[114]
Education and science
Main articles: Educational policies and initiatives of the European Union and Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development
Basic education is an area where the EU's role is limited to supporting national governments. In higher education, the policy was developed in the 1980s in programmes supporting exchanges and mobility. The most visible of these has been the Erasmus Programme, a university exchange programme which began in 1987. In its first 20 years, it supported international exchange opportunities for well over 1.5 million university and college students and became a symbol of European student life.[116]
There are similar programmes for school pupils and teachers, for trainees in vocational education and training, and for adult learners in the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013. These programmes are designed to encourage a wider knowledge of other countries and to spread good practices in the education and training fields across the EU.[117][118] Through its support of the Bologna Process, the EU is supporting comparable standards and compatible degrees across Europe.
Scientific development is facilitated through the EU's Framework Programmes, the first of which started in 1984. The aims of EU policy in this area are to co-ordinate and stimulate research. The independent European Research Council allocates EU funds to European or national research projects.[119] EU research and technological framework programmes deal in a number of areas, for example energy where the aim is to develop a diverse mix of renewable energy to help the environment and to reduce dependence on imported fuels.[120]
Health care
Further information: Healthcare in Europe
European Health Insurance Card
(French version pictured)
Although the EU has no major competences in the field of health care, Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union affirms that "A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities". The European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumers seeks to align national laws on the protection of people's health, on the consumers' rights, on the safety of food and other products.[121][122][123]
All EU and many other European countries offer their citizens a free European Health Insurance Card which, on a reciprocal basis, provides insurance for emergency medical treatment insurance when visiting other participating European countries.[124] A directive on cross-border healthcare aims at promoting co-operation on health care between member states and facilitating access to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare for European patients.[125][126][127]
Politics
Main article: Politics of the European Union
The European Union operates according to the principles of conferral (which says that it should act only within the limits of the competences conferred on it by the treaties) and of subsidiarity (which says that it should act only where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states acting alone). Laws made by the EU institutions are passed in a variety of forms.[128] Generally speaking, they can be classified into two groups: those which come into force without the necessity for national implementation measures (regulations) and those which specifically require national implementation measures (directives).[129]
Member states
Main article: Member state of the European Union
Through successive enlargements, the European Union has grown from the six founding states (Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) to the current 28. Countries accede to the union by becoming party to the founding treaties, thereby subjecting themselves to the privileges and obligations of EU membership. This entails a partial delegation of sovereignty to the institutions in return for representation within those institutions, a practice often referred to as "pooling of sovereignty".[130][131]
To become a member, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen. These require a stable democracy that respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. Evaluation of a country's fulfilment of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council.[132] No member state has yet left the Union, although Greenland (an autonomous province of Denmark) withdrew in 1985.[133] The Lisbon Treaty now contains a clause under Article 50, providing for a member to leave the EU.[134]
There are six countries that are recognised as candidates for membership: Albania, Iceland, Macedonia,[p] Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey,[135] though Iceland suspended negotiations in 2013.[136] Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are officially recognised as potential candidates,[135] with Bosnia and Herzegovina having submitted a membership application.
The four countries forming the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are not EU members, but have partly committed to the EU's economy and regulations: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which are a part of the single market through the European Economic Area, and Switzerland, which has similar ties through bilateral treaties.[137][138] The relationships of the European microstates, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican include the use of the euro and other areas of co-operation.[139] The following 28 sovereign states (of which the map only shows territories situated in and around Europe) constitute the European Union:[140]
Symbol
Flag
State
Capital
Code
Accession
Population
(2017)[8]
Area (km2)
Pop. density
(per km²)
MEPs
Austria Vienna AT 199501011 January 1995 7006877286500000000♠8,772,865 7004838550000000000♠83,855 104.62 18
Belgium Brussels BE 19570325Founder 7007113517270000000♠11,351,727 7004305280000000000♠30,528 371.85 21
Bulgaria Sofia BG 200701011 January 2007 7006710185900000000♠7,101,859 7005110994000000000♠110,994 63.98 17
Croatia Zagreb HR 201307011 July 2013 7006415421300000000♠4,154,213 7004565940000000000♠56,594 73.4 11
Cyprus Nicosia CY 200405011 May 2004 7005854802000000000♠854,802 7003925100000000000♠9,251 92.4 6
Czech Republic Prague CZ 200405011 May 2004 7007105788200000000♠10,578,820 7004788660000000000♠78,866 134.14 21
Denmark Copenhagen DK 197301011 January 1973 7006574876900000000♠5,748,769 7004430750000000000♠43,075 133.46 13
Estonia Tallinn EE 200405011 May 2004 7006131563500000000♠1,315,635 7004452270000000000♠45,227 29.09 6
Finland Helsinki FI 199501011 January 1995 7006550329700000000♠5,503,297 7005338424000000000♠338,424 16.26 13
France Paris FR 19570325Founder 7007669890830000000♠66,989,083 7005640679000000000♠640,679 104.56 74
Germany Berlin DE 19570325Founder[q] 7007825216530000000♠82,521,653 7005357021000000000♠357,021 231.14 96
Greece Athens GR 198101011 January 1981 7007107681930000000♠10,768,193 7005131990000000000♠131,990 81.58 21
Hungary Budapest HU 200401011 May 2004 7006979756100000000♠9,797,561 7004930300000000000♠93,030 105.32 21
Ireland Dublin IE 197301011 January 1973 7006478438300000000♠4,784,383 7004702730000000000♠70,273 68.08 11
Italy Rome IT 19570325Founder 7007605894450000000♠60,589,445 7005301338000000000♠301,338 201.07 73
Latvia Riga LV 200405011 May 2004 7006195011600000000♠1,950,116 7004645890000000000♠64,589 30.19 8
Lithuania Vilnius LT 200405011 May 2004 7006284790400000000♠2,847,904 7004652000000000000♠65,200 43.68 11
Luxembourg Luxembourg City LU 19570325Founder 7005590667000000000♠590,667 7003258600000000000♠2,586 228.41 6
Malta Valletta MT 200405011 May 2004 7005460297000000000♠460,297 7002316000000000000♠316 1,456.64 6
Netherlands Amsterdam NL 19570325Founder 7007170815070000000♠17,081,507 7004415430000000000♠41,543 411.18 26
Poland Warsaw PL 200405011 May 2004 7007379729640000000♠37,972,964 7005312685000000000♠312,685 121.44 51
Portugal Lisbon PT 198601011 January 1986 7007103095730000000♠10,309,573 7004923900000000000♠92,390 111.59 21
Romania Bucharest RO 200701011 January 2007 7007196443500000000♠19,644,350 7005238391000000000♠238,391 82.4 32
Slovakia Bratislava SK 200405011 May 2004 7006543534300000000♠5,435,343 7004490350000000000♠49,035 110.85 13
Slovenia Ljubljana SI 200405011 May 2004 7006206589500000000♠2,065,895 7004202730000000000♠20,273 101.9 8
Spain Madrid ES 198601011 January 1986 7007465280240000000♠46,528,024 7005504030000000000♠504,030 92.31 54
Sweden Stockholm SE 199501011 January 1995 7006999515300000000♠9,995,153 7005449964000000000♠449,964 22.21 20
United Kingdom London GB 197301011 January 1973 7007658085730000000♠65,808,573 7005243610000000000♠243,610 270.14 73
Totals: 28 countries 511,522,671 4,475,757 114.28 751
Institutions
Main article: Institutions of the European Union
The EU operates through a hybrid system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making.[141][142]
EU policy is in general promulgated by EU directives, which are then implemented in the domestic legislation of its member states, and EU regulations, which are immediately enforceable in all member states. The EU's seven principal decision making bodies—known as the Institutions of the European Union are:
the European Council, which sets the general political directions and priorities of the Union by gathering together its member states' heads of state/government (elected chief executives). The conclusions of its summits (held at least quarterly) are adopted by consensus.
the European Commission, the "Guardian of the Treaties" consists of an executive cabinet of public officials, led by an indirectly elected President. This College of Commissioners manages and directs the Commission's permanent civil service. It turns the consensus objectives of the European Council into legislative proposals.
the Council of the European Union is an executive meeting of ministers of member states governments' departments, which meets to amend, approve or reject proposed legislation from the Commission. It forms the upper house of the EU's essentially bicameral legislature. Its approval is required for any proposal to enter into law.
the European Parliament consists of 751 directly elected representatives, forming the EU's lower house of its bicameral legislature. It shares with the Council of the EU equal legislative powers to amend, approve or reject Commission proposals for most areas of EU legislation. Its powers are limited in areas where member states' view sovereignty to be of primary concern (i.e. defence). It elects the Commission's President, must approve the College of Commissioners, and may vote to remove them collectively from office.
the Court of Justice of the European Union ensures the uniform application of EU law and resolves disputes between EU institutions and member states, and against EU institutions on behalf of individuals.
the European Central Bank is responsible for monetary stability within member states.
the European Court of Auditors investigates the proper management of finances within both the EU entities and EU funding provided to its member states. As well as providing oversight and advice, it can refer unresolved issues to the European Court of Justice to arbitrate on any alleged irregularities.
Relation to the Council of Europe
Main article: Council of Europe
Beyond the EU institutions is the Council of Europe (CoE) which is a wider international organisation with 47 member states whose stated aim is to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Its legislative principles are promulgated by the European Convention on Human Rights and its judicial agent is the European Court of Human Rights. These ethical institutions are distinct from the legislative European Union institutions mentioned above, although ECHR decisions are enforcable upon the EU institutions and upon the several judiciaries of sovereign member states of the EU[143]
The Venice Commission formally The European Commission for Democracy through Law provides advice regarding constitutional matters in order to improve functioning of democratic institutions and the protection of human rights in member states of the Council of Europe
Relations between the EU and its electorate
Apart from the national political structures within member states and the directly elected European Parliament the EU also encourages citizen participation via development projects such as CORDIS (the EU Community Research and Development Information Service) and the ERASMUS (The European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students).
Lobbying at EU level by special interest groups is regulated to try to balance the aspirations of private initiatives with public interest decision-making process[144]
The Five Presidents (in 2017) were led by:
the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, indirectly elected by EU citizens via the European Parliament for a 5-year renewable term following European Parliamentary elections, together with,
the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, who chairs the gatherings of the EU's 28 national heads of government/state and is elected by them for a 2.5 year once renewable term,
Eurogroup President, Mário Centeno, who chairs informal meetings of finance ministers from EU member states that use the euro as their currency, and is elected from amongst them, by them, for a 2.5 year renewable term,
the European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi, elected de facto by the European Council members who represent eurozone states, for an eight-year non-renewable term,
the European Parliament President, Antonio Tajani, elected from amongst the 751 directly elected Members of the European Parliament, by them, for a 2.5 year renewable term.
By working together, they seek provide a forward policy consideration nucleus for the various European "think-tanks" which discuss various possible future social and economic scenarios that will eventually require ratification by the EU electorate.[145]
Constitutional nature
Further information: Treaties of the European Union
Organigram of the political system. The seven organs of the Union are in blue, national / intergovernmental elements in orange.
The classification of the EU in terms of international or constitutional law has been much debated. It began life as an international organisation and gradually developed into a confederation of states. However, since the mid-1960s it has also added several of the key attributes of a federation, such as the direct effect of the law of the general level of government upon the individual[146] and majority voting in the decision-making process of the general level of government,[147] without becoming a federation per se. Scholars thus today see it as an intermediate form lying between a confederation and a federation, being an instance of neither political structure.[148] For this reason, the organisation is termed sui generis (incomparable, one of a kind),[149] although some argue that this designation is no longer valid.[150][151]
The organisation has traditionally used the terms "Community" and later "Union" to describe itself. The difficulties of classification involve the difference between national law (where the subjects of the law include natural persons and corporations) and international law (where the subjects include sovereign states and international organisations). They can also be seen in the light of differing European and American constitutional traditions.[150] Especially in terms of the European tradition, the term federation is equated with a sovereign federal state in international law; so the EU cannot be called a federation — at least, not without qualification. It is, however, described as being based on a federal model or federal in nature; and so it may be appropriate to consider it a federal union of states, a conceptual structure lying between the confederation of states and the federal state.[152] The German Constitutional Court refers to the EU as a Staatenverbund, an intermediate structure between the Staatenbund (confederation of states) and the Bundesstaat (federal state), consistent with this concept.[153] This may be a long-lived political form. Professor Andrew Moravcsik claims that the EU is unlikely to develop further into a federal state, but instead has reached maturity as a constitutional system.[154]
Governance
Main articles: Institutions of the European Union and Legislature of the European Union
The European Union has seven institutions: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the European Court of Auditors. Competence in scrutinising and amending legislation is shared between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, while executive tasks are performed by the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council (not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of the European Union). The monetary policy of the eurozone is determined by the European Central Bank. The interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EU budget is scrutinised by the European Court of Auditors. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area.
Institutions of the European Union[155]
v
t
e
European Council
- Provides impetus and direction -
Council of the European Union
- Legislature -
European Parliament
- Legislature -
European Commission
- Executive -
summit of the Heads of state or government, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission.
gives the necessary political impetus for the development of the Union and sets its general objectives and priorities
does not legislate
based in Brussels
composed of twenty-eight national ministers (one per state)
informally known as the "Council of Ministers" or just "the Council"
acts together with the Parliament as a legislature
shares with the Parliament the budgetary power
ensures coordination of the broad economic and social policy and sets out guidelines for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
concludes international agreements
based in Brussels
acts together with the Council (of the European Union) as a legislature
shares with the Council (of the European Union) the budgetary power
exerts the democratic control over the institutions including the European Commission and approves the Commission members
based in and plenary sessions in Strasbourg, primarily meets in Brussels
is the executive
submits proposals for new legislation to the Parliament and Council (of the European Union)
implements policies
administers the budget
ensures compliance with European law ("guardian of the treaties")
negotiates international agreements
based in Brussels
Court of Justice of the European Union
- Judiciary -
European Central Bank
- Central bank -
European Court of Auditors
- Financial auditor -
ensures the uniform application and interpretation of European law
has the power to decide legal disputes between member states, the institutions, businesses and individuals
based in Luxembourg
forms together with the national central banks the European System of Central Banks and thereby determines the monetary policy of the eurozone
ensures price stability in the eurozone by controlling the money supply
based in Frankfurt
checks the proper implementation of the budget
based in Luxembourg
European Parliament
The hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg
The European Parliament forms the other half of the EU's legislature. The 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years on the basis of proportional representation. Although MEPs are elected on a national basis, they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats and is divided into sub-national constituencies where this does not affect the proportional nature of the voting system.[156] The European Union council, the Council of Ministers, and the Commission fulfilled the duties as the executive for the parliament. [20]
The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union pass legislation jointly in nearly all areas under the ordinary legislative procedure. This also applies to the EU budget. The European Commission is accountable to Parliament, requiring its approval to take office, having to report back to it and subject to motions of censure from it. The President of the European Parliament (currently Antonio Tajani) carries out the role of speaker in Parliament and represents it externally. The President and Vice-Presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years.[157]
European Council
President of the European Council, Donald Tusk
The European Council gives political direction to the EU. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the President of the European Council (currently Donald Tusk), the President of the European Commission and one representative per member state (either its head of state or head of government). The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (currently Federica Mogherini) also takes part in its meetings. It has been described by some as the Union's "supreme political authority".[158] It is actively involved in the negotiation of treaty changes and defines the EU's policy agenda and strategies.
The European Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreements over controversial issues and policies. It acts externally as a "collective head of state" and ratifies important documents (for example, international agreements and treaties).[159]
Tasks for the President of the European Council are ensuring the external representation of the EU,[160] driving consensus and resolving divergences among member states, both during meetings of the European Council and over the periods between them.
The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an international organisation independent of the EU based in Strasbourg.
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union (also called the "Council"[161] and the "Council of Ministers", its former title)[162] forms one half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a government minister from each member state and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed. Notwithstanding its different configurations, it is considered to be one single body.[163] In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
In some policies, there are several member states that ally with strategic partners within the Union. Visegrad Group, Benelux, Baltic Assembly, Nordic Council or Craiova Group.
European Commission
Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker
The European Commission acts as the EU's executive arm and is responsible for initiating legislation and the day-to-day running of the EU. The Commission is also seen as the motor of European integration. It operates as a cabinet government, with 28 Commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state, though Commissioners are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state.
One of the 28 is the President of the European Commission (currently Jean-Claude Juncker) appointed by the European Council. After the President, the most prominent Commissioner is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is ex-officio a Vice-President of the Commission and is also chosen by the European Council.[164] The other 26 Commissioners are subsequently appointed by the Council of the European Union in agreement with the nominated President. The 28 Commissioners as a single body are subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament.
Budget
Main article: Budget of the European Union
The 2011 EU budget (€141.9 bn)[165]
Cohesion and competitiveness for growth and employment (45%)
Direct aids and market related expenditures (31%)
Rural development (11%)
EU as a global partner (6%)
Administration (6%)
Citizenship, freedom, security and justice (1%)
The EU had an agreed budget of €120.7 billion for the year 2007 and €864.3 billion for the period 2007–2013,[166] representing 1.10% and 1.05% of the EU-27's GNI forecast for the respective periods. In 1960, the budget of the then European Economic Community was 0.03% of GDP.[167]
In the 2010 budget of €141.5 billion, the largest single expenditure item is "cohesion & competitiveness" with around 45% of the total budget.[168] Next comes "agriculture" with approximately 31% of the total.[168] "Rural development, environment and fisheries" takes up around 11%.[168] "Administration" accounts for around 6%.[168] The "EU as a global partner" and "citizenship, freedom, security and justice" bring up the rear with approximately 6% and 1% respectively.[168]
The Court of Auditors is legally obliged to provide the Parliament and the Council with "a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions".[169] The Court also gives opinions and proposals on financial legislation and anti-fraud actions.[170] The Parliament uses this to decide whether to approve the Commission's handling of the budget.
The European Court of Auditors has signed off the European Union accounts every year since 2007[when?] and, while making it clear that the European Commission has more work to do, has highlighted that most of the errors take place at national level.[171][172] In their report on 2009 the auditors found that five areas of Union expenditure, agriculture and the cohesion fund, were materially affected by error.[173] The European Commission estimated in 2009 that the financial effect of irregularities was €1,863 million.[174]
Competences
EU member states retain all powers not explicitly handed to the European Union. In some areas the EU enjoys exclusive competence. These are areas in which member states have renounced any capacity to enact legislation. In other areas the EU and its member states share the competence to legislate. While both can legislate, member states can only legislate to the extent to which the EU has not. In other policy areas the EU can only co-ordinate, support and supplement member state action but cannot enact legislation with the aim of harmonising national laws.[175]
That a particular policy area falls into a certain category of competence is not necessarily indicative of what legislative procedure is used for enacting legislation within that policy area. Different legislative procedures are used within the same category of competence, and even with the same policy area.
The distribution of competences in various policy areas between Member States and the Union is divided in the following three categories:
As outlined in Title I of Part I of the consolidated Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
view
talk
edit
Exclusive competence
Shared competence
Supporting competence
"The Union has exclusive competence to make directives and conclude international agreements when provided for in a Union legislative act."
the customs union
the establishing of the competition rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market
monetary policy for the Member States whose currency is the euro
the conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy
Common Commercial Policy
conclusion of certain international agreements
"Member States cannot exercise competence in areas where the Union has done so."
the internal market
social policy, for the aspects defined in this Treaty
economic, social and territorial cohesion
agriculture and fisheries, excluding the conservation of marine biological resources
environment
consumer protection
transport
trans-European networks
energy
the area of freedom, security and justice
common safety concerns in public health matters, for the aspects defined in this Treaty
"Union exercise of competence shall not result in Member States being prevented from exercising theirs in" …
research, technological development and (outer) space
development cooperation, humanitarian aid
"The Union coordinates Member States policies or implements supplemental to theirs common policies, not covered elsewhere"
coordination of economic, employment and social policies
common foreign, security and defence policies
"The Union can carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement Member States' actions in" …
the protection and improvement of human health
industry
culture
tourism
education, youth, sport and vocational training
civil protection (disaster prevention)
administrative cooperation
Legal system
Further information: European Union law, Treaties of the European Union, and Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
The Court of Justice, seated in Luxembourg.
The EU is based on a series of treaties. These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties.[176] These are power-giving treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislation[r] which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants.[s] The EU has legal personality, with the right to sign agreements and international treaties.[177]
Under the principle of supremacy, national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, and thus the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions.[t]
Courts of Justice
The judicial branch of the EU—formally called the Court of Justice of the European Union—consists of two courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court[178]
Parada Równości, Warsaw. In 2018, the Court of Justice declared same-sex spouses have EU residence rights[179].
The Court of Justice primarily deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions, and cases referred to it by the courts of member states.[180] The General Court mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts,[181] and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal adjudicates in disputes between the European Union and its civil service.[182] Decisions from the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on a point of law.[183]
Fundamental rights
The treaties declare that the EU itself is "founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities ... in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail."[184]
In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty gave legal effect to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The charter is a codified catalogue of fundamental rights against which the EU's legal acts can be judged. It consolidates many rights which were previously recognised by the Court of Justice and derived from the "constitutional traditions common to the member states."[185] The Court of Justice has long recognised fundamental rights and has, on occasion, invalidated EU legislation based on its failure to adhere to those fundamental rights.[186]
Although signing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership,[u] previously, the EU itself could not accede to the Convention as it is neither a state[v] nor had the competence to accede.[w] The Lisbon Treaty and Protocol 14 to the ECHR have changed this: the former binds the EU to accede to the Convention while the latter formally permits it.
Although, the EU is independent from Council of Europe, they share purpose and ideas especially on rule of law, human rights and democracy. Further European Convention on Human Rights and European Social Charter, the source of law of Charter of Fundamental Rights are created by Council of Europe. The EU also promoted human rights issues in the wider world. The EU opposes the death penalty and has proposed its worldwide abolition. Abolition of the death penalty is a condition for EU membership.[187]
Acts
The main legal acts of the EU come in three forms: regulations, directives, and decisions. Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures,[x] and automatically override conflicting domestic provisions.[r] Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them discretion as to how to achieve the result. The details of how they are to be implemented are left to member states.[y] When the time limit for implementing directives passes, they may, under certain conditions, have direct effect in national law against member states.
Decisions offer an alternative to the two above modes of legislation. They are legal acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a particular member state. They are most often used in competition law, or on rulings on State Aid, but are also frequently used for procedural or administrative matters within the institutions. Regulations, directives, and decisions are of equal legal value and apply without any formal hierarchy.[188]
Area of freedom, security and justice
Further information: Area of freedom, security and justice
Since the creation of the EU in 1993, it has developed its competencies in the area of freedom, security and justice, initially at an intergovernmental level and later by supranationalism. To this end, agencies have been established that co-ordinate associated actions: Europol for co-operation of police forces,[189] Eurojust for co-operation between prosecutors,[190] and Frontex for co-operation between border control authorities.[191] The EU also operates the Schengen Information System[18] which provides a common database for police and immigration authorities. This co-operation had to particularly be developed with the advent of open borders through the Schengen Agreement and the associated cross border crime. Furthermore, the Union has legislated in areas such as extradition,[192] family law,[193] asylum law,[194] and criminal justice.[195] Prohibitions against sexual and nationality discrimination have a long standing in the treaties.[z] In more recent years, these have been supplemented by powers to legislate against discrimination based on race, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation.[aa] By virtue of these powers, the EU has enacted legislation on sexual discrimination in the work-place, age discrimination, and racial discrimination.[ab]
The borders inside the Schengen Area between Germany and Austria
Europol Headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands
Eurojust Headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands
Seat of Frontex in Warsaw, Poland
Foreign relations
Main articles: Foreign relations of the European Union, Common Foreign and Security Policy, and European External Action Service
EU Free trade agreements (2017)
European Union
Agreement in force
Pending
Negotiating
Foreign policy co-operation between member states dates from the establishment of the Community in 1957, when member states negotiated as a bloc in international trade negotiations under the EU's common commercial policy.[196] Steps for a more wide-ranging co-ordination in foreign relations began in 1970 with the establishment of European Political Cooperation which created an informal consultation process between member states with the aim of forming common foreign policies. It was not, however, until 1987 when European Political Cooperation was introduced on a formal basis by the Single European Act. EPC was renamed as the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) by the Maastricht Treaty.[197]
The aims of the CFSP are to promote both the EU's own interests and those of the international community as a whole, including the furtherance of international co-operation, respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.[198] The CFSP requires unanimity among the member states on the appropriate policy to follow on any particular issue. The unanimity and difficult issues treated under the CFSP sometimes lead to disagreements, such as those which occurred over the war in Iraq.[199]
The coordinator and representative of the CFSP within the EU is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy who speaks on behalf of the EU in foreign policy and defence matters, and has the task of articulating the positions expressed by the member states on these fields of policy into a common alignment. The High Representative heads up the European External Action Service (EEAS), a unique EU department[200] that has been officially implemented and operational since 1 December 2010 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.[201] The EEAS will serve as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the European Union.[202]
Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker with U.S. President Donald Trump, 2017
The EU participates in all G8 and G20 summits. (G20 summit in Hangzhou, 2016)
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 2018
Besides the emerging international policy of the European Union, the international influence of the EU is also felt through enlargement. The perceived benefits of becoming a member of the EU act as an incentive for both political and economic reform in states wishing to fulfil the EU's accession criteria, and are considered an important factor contributing to the reform of European formerly Communist countries.[203]:762 This influence on the internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".[204]
The European Union has concluded free trade agreements (FTAs)[205] and other agreements with a trade component with many countries worldwide and is negotiating with many others.[206]
Defence
Main article: Common Security and Defence Policy
Out of the 28 EU member states, 22 are also members of NATO. Another three NATO members are EU applicants—Albania, Montenegro and Turkey.
The predecessors of the European Union were not devised as a military alliance because NATO was largely seen as appropriate and sufficient for defence purposes.[207] 22 EU members are members of NATO[208] while the remaining member states follow policies of neutrality.[209] The Western European Union, a military alliance with a mutual defence clause, was disbanded in 2010 as its role had been transferred to the EU.[210]
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United Kingdom spent $61 billion on defence in 2014, placing it fifth in the world, while France spent $53 billion, the sixth largest.[211] Together, the UK and France account for approximately 40 per cent of European countries' defence budget and 50 per cent of their military capacity.[212] Both are officially recognised nuclear weapon states holding permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.
Following the Kosovo War in 1999, the European Council agreed that "the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and the readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO". To that end, a number of efforts were made to increase the EU's military capability, notably the Helsinki Headline Goal process. After much discussion, the most concrete result was the EU Battlegroups initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 personnel.[213]
EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from middle and northern Africa to the western Balkans and western Asia.[214] EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, European Union Satellite Centre and the European Union Military Staff.[215] Frontex is an agency of the EU established to manage the cooperation between national border guards securing its external borders. It aims to detect and stop illegal immigration, human trafficking and terrorist infiltration. In 2015 the European Commission presented its proposal for a new European Border and Coast Guard Agency having a stronger role and mandate along with national authorities for border management. In an EU consisting of 28 members, substantial security and defence co-operation is increasingly relying on collaboration among all member states.[216]
Humanitarian aid
Further information: Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
The European Union co-funds psychosocial support by the IAHV, Jordan at the Zaatari refugee camp for the Syrian refugees.
If considered collectively, EU member states are the largest contributor of foreign aid in the world.[217][218]
The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department, or "ECHO", provides humanitarian aid from the EU to developing countries. In 2012, its budget amounted to €874 million, 51% of the budget went to Africa and 20% to Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Pacific, and 20% to the Middle East and Mediterranean.[219]
Humanitarian aid is financed directly by the budget (70%) as part of the financial instruments for external action and also by the European Development Fund (30%).[220] The EU's external action financing is divided into 'geographic' instruments and 'thematic' instruments.[220] The 'geographic' instruments provide aid through the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI, €16.9 billion, 2007–2013), which must spend 95% of its budget on official development assistance (ODA), and from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), which contains some relevant programmes.[220] The European Development Fund (EDF, €22.7 bn, 2008–2013) is made up of voluntary contributions by member states, but there is pressure to merge the EDF into the budget-financed instruments to encourage increased contributions to match the 0.7% target and allow the European Parliament greater oversight.[220]
In 2016, the average among EU countries was 0.4% and five had met or exceeded the 0.7% target: Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden and the United Kingdom.[221]
Regional and global influence of the European Union
Main articles: Eurosphere, European Union as an emerging superpower, Europeanisation, and European Neighbourhood Policy
Eiffel Tower, Paris.
Because of its ability to shape rules and norms on a global level as well as its attempts to influence neighbouring countries, the EU has been called an emerging or potential superpower by scholars and academics like T. R. Reid,[222] Andrew Reding,[223] Andrew Moravcsik,[224] Mark Leonard,[225] Jeremy Rifkin,[226] John McCormick,[227] and some politicians like Romano Prodi[228] and Tony Blair,[229] They believe that the EU is a superpower, or will become one, in the 21st century – while noting that, for them, the concept of "superpower" has changed to one of soft power rather than the hard (military) superpowers of the 20th century.
The EU uses foreign relations instruments like the European Neighbourhood Policy which seeks to tie those countries to the east and south of the European territory of the EU to the Union. These countries, primarily developing countries, include some who seek to one day become either a member state of the European Union, or more closely integrated with the European Union. The EU offers financial assistance to countries within the European Neighbourhood, so long as they meet the strict conditions of government reform, economic reform and other issues surrounding positive transformation. This process is normally underpinned by an Action Plan, as agreed by both Brussels and the target country.
Critics of the concept of the EU as an emerging superpower point to the lack of either a strong European military or of unified EU foreign policy.[230]
Economy
Main articles: Economy of the European Union and Regional policy of the European Union
Gross domestic product (GDP) per inhabitant in purchasing power standards (PPS) in relation to the EU-28 average, by NUTS 2 regions, 2015
The five largest economies in the world according to the IMF by Nominal GDP in 2018[231]
The European Union has established a single market across the territory of all its members representing 512 million citizens. In 2017, the EU had a combined GDP of $21 trillion international dollars, a 17% share of global gross domestic product by purchasing power parity (PPP).[232] As a political entity the European Union is represented in the World Trade Organization (WTO). EU member states own the estimated second largest after the United States (33%) net wealth in the world, equal to 25% (US$72 trillion) of the $280 trillion global wealth.[233]
19 member states have joined a monetary union known as the eurozone, which uses the Euro as a single currency. The currency union represents 342 million EU citizens.[234] The euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar.[235][236][237]
Of the top 500 largest corporations in the world measured by revenue in 2010, 161 have their headquarters in the EU.[238] In 2016, unemployment in the EU stood at 8.9%[239] while inflation was at 2.2%, and the current account balance at −0.9% of GDP. The average annual net earnings in the European Union was around €24,000(US$30,000)[240] in 2015, which was about 70% of that in the United States.[241]
There is a significant variance for Nominal GDP per capita within individual EU states. The difference between the richest and poorest regions (276 NUTS-2 regions of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) ranged, in 2016, from 14%(Severozapaden, Bulgaria) of the EU28 average(€29,200) to 935%(Inner London - West, UK), or from €4,100 to €207,300.[242]
World's largest passenger airplane Airbus A380 built by European corporation Airbus SE. Airbus is one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers.
Automotive manufacturing is one of most enduring industrial activities in the EU, and it accounts for millions of jobs, billions of euros in investment, and represents a large portion of the continent's exports.
Tourism is a major economic activity in the European Union with wide-ranging impact on economic growth and employment.
Port of Antwerp container terminal, second-largest seaport in the European Union.
Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds are supporting the development of underdeveloped regions of the EU. Such regions are primarily located in the states of central and southern Europe.[243][244] Several funds provide emergency aid, support for candidate members to transform their country to conform to the EU's standard (Phare, ISPA, and SAPARD), and support to the Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS). TACIS has now become part of the worldwide EuropeAid programme. EU research and technological framework programmes sponsor research conducted by consortia from all EU members to work towards a single European Research Area.[245]
Internal market
Main article: European Single Market
A standardised passport design, displaying the name of the member state, the national arms and the words "European Union" given in their official language(s). (Irish model)
German version of an EU driving licence card with the EU flag on it
The common EU format of vehicle registration plate
(Slovak version pictured)
Two of the original core objectives of the European Economic Community were the development of a common market, subsequently becoming a single market, and a customs union between its member states. The single market involves the free circulation of goods, capital, people, and services within the EU,[234] and the customs union involves the application of a common external tariff on all goods entering the market. Once goods have been admitted into the market they cannot be subjected to customs duties, discriminatory taxes or import quotas, as they travel internally. The non-EU member states of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland participate in the single market but not in the customs union.[137] Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU.[246]
Free movement of capital is intended to permit movement of investments such as property purchases and buying of shares between countries.[247] Until the drive towards economic and monetary union the development of the capital provisions had been slow. Post-Maastricht there has been a rapidly developing corpus of ECJ judgements regarding this initially neglected freedom. The free movement of capital is unique insofar as it is granted equally to non-member states.
The free movement of persons means that EU citizens can move freely between member states to live, work, study or retire in another country. This required the lowering of administrative formalities and recognition of professional qualifications of other states.[248]
The free movement of services and of establishment allows self-employed persons to move between member states to provide services on a temporary or permanent basis. While services account for 60–70% of GDP, legislation in the area is not as developed as in other areas. This lacuna has been addressed by the recently passed Directive on services in the internal market which aims to liberalise the cross border provision of services.[249] According to the Treaty the provision of services is a residual freedom that only applies if no other freedom is being exercised.
Monetary union
Main articles: Eurozone and Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union
The seat of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. 19 of the 28 EU member states have adopted the euro as their legal tender.
The Eurozone (dark blue) represents 340 million people. The euro is the second-largest reserve currency in the world.
The creation of a European single currency became an official objective of the European Economic Community in 1969. In 1992, having negotiated the structure and procedures of a currency union, the member states signed the Maastricht Treaty and were legally bound to fulfil the agreed-on rules including the convergence criteria if they wanted to join the monetary union. The states wanting to participate had first to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
In 1999 the currency union started, first as an accounting currency with eleven member states joining. In 2002, the currency was fully put into place, when euro notes and coins were issued and national currencies began to phase out in the eurozone, which by then consisted of 12 member states. The eurozone (constituted by the EU member states which have adopted the euro) has since grown to 19 countries.[250][ac]
The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it in agreement with the EU, are under the control of the European Central Bank (ECB).[251] The ECB is the central bank for the eurozone, and thus controls monetary policy in that area with an agenda to maintain price stability. It is at the centre of the European System of Central Banks, which comprehends all EU national central banks and is controlled by its General Council, consisting of the President of the ECB, who is appointed by the European Council, the Vice-President of the ECB, and the governors of the national central banks of all 28 EU member states.[252]
The European System of Financial Supervision is an institutional architecture of the EU's framework of financial supervision composed by three authorities: the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority. To complement this framework, there is also a European Systemic Risk Board under the responsibility of the ECB. The aim of this financial control system is to ensure the economic stability of the EU.[253]
To prevent the joining states from getting into financial trouble or crisis after entering the monetary union, they were obliged in the Maastricht treaty to fulfil important financial obligations and procedures, especially to show budgetary discipline and a high degree of sustainable economic convergence, as well as to avoid excessive government deficits and limit the government debt to a sustainable level.
Energy
Main article: Energy policy of the European Union
Consumed energy (2012)
Energy source Origin Percents
Oil Imported
33%
Domestic
6%
Gas Imported
14%
Domestic
9%
Nuclear[ad] Imported
0%
Domestic
13%
Coal/Lignite Imported
0%
Domestic
10%
Renewable Imported
0%
Domestic
7%
Other Imported
7%
Domestic
1%
In 2006, the EU-27 had a gross inland energy consumption of 1,825 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe).[254] Around 46% of the energy consumed was produced within the member states while 54% was imported.[254] In these statistics, nuclear energy is treated as primary energy produced in the EU, regardless of the source of the uranium, of which less than 3% is produced in the EU.[255]
The EU has had legislative power in the area of energy policy for most of its existence; this has its roots in the original European Coal and Steel Community. The introduction of a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was approved at the meeting of the European Council in October 2005, and the first draft policy was published in January 2007.[256]
The EU has five key points in its energy policy: increase competition in the internal market, encourage investment and boost interconnections between electricity grids; diversify energy resources with better systems to respond to a crisis; establish a new treaty framework for energy co-operation with Russia while improving relations with energy-rich states in Central Asia[257] and North Africa; use existing energy supplies more efficiently while increasing renewable energy commercialisation; and finally increase funding for new energy technologies.[256]
In 2007, EU countries as a whole imported 82% of their oil, 57% of their natural gas[258] and 97.48% of their uranium[255] demands. There is a strong dependence on Russian energy that the EU has been attempting to reduce.[259]
Infrastructure
Further information: European Commissioner for Transport, European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, and European Investment Bank
The EU is working to improve cross-border infrastructure within the EU, for example through the Trans-European Networks (TEN). Projects under TEN include the Channel Tunnel, LGV Est, the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, the Öresund Bridge, the Brenner Base Tunnel and the Strait of Messina Bridge. In 2010 the estimated network covers: 75,200 kilometres (46,700 mi) of roads; 78,000 kilometres (48,000 mi) of railways; 330 airports; 270 maritime harbours; and 210 internal harbours.[260][261]
Approximate extent of completed motorway network in Europe as of March 2016
Rail transport in Europe is being synchronised with the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), an initiative to greatly enhance safety, increase efficiency of trains and enhance cross-border interoperability of rail transport in Europe by replacing signalling equipment with digitised mostly wireless versions and by creating a single Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems.
The developing European transport policies will increase the pressure on the environment in many regions by the increased transport network. In the pre-2004 EU members, the major problem in transport deals with congestion and pollution. After the recent enlargement, the new states that joined since 2004 added the problem of solving accessibility to the transport agenda.[262] The Polish road network was upgraded such as the A4 autostrada.[263]
The Galileo positioning system is another EU infrastructure project. Galileo is a proposed Satellite navigation system, to be built by the EU and launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). The Galileo project was launched partly to reduce the EU's dependency on the US-operated Global Positioning System, but also to give more complete global coverage and allow for greater accuracy, given the aged nature of the GPS system.[264]
The Öresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden is part of the Trans-European Networks
Millau Viaduct in France, the tallest bridge in the World
European Space Agency Mission Control at ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany
Spain places second in High-speed rail constructed km in the world after China.
Agriculture
Main article: Common Agricultural Policy
Vineyards in Romania; EU farms are supported by the Common Agricultural Policy, the largest budgetary expenditure.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the long lasting policies of the European Community.[265] The policy has the objectives of increasing agricultural production, providing certainty in food supplies, ensuring a high quality of life for farmers, stabilising markets, and ensuring reasonable prices for consumers.[ae] It was, until recently, operated by a system of subsidies and market intervention. Until the 1990s, the policy accounted for over 60% of the then European Community's annual budget, and as of 2013[update] accounts for around 34%.[266][not in citation given]
The policy's price controls and market interventions led to considerable overproduction. These were intervention stores of products bought up by the Community to maintain minimum price levels. To dispose of surplus stores, they were often sold on the world market at prices considerably below Community guaranteed prices, or farmers were offered subsidies (amounting to the difference between the Community and world prices) to export their products outside the Community. This system has been criticised for under-cutting farmers outside Europe, especially those in the developing world.[267] Supporters of CAP argue that the economic support which it gives to farmers provides them with a reasonable standard of living.[267]
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the CAP has been subject to a series of reforms. Initially, these reforms included the introduction of set-aside in 1988, where a proportion of farm land was deliberately withdrawn from production, milk quotas and, more recently, the 'de-coupling' (or disassociation) of the money farmers receive from the EU and the amount they produce (by the Fischler reforms in 2004). Agriculture expenditure will move away from subsidy payments linked to specific produce, toward direct payments based on farm size. This is intended to allow the market to dictate production levels.[265] One of these reforms entailed the modification of the EU's sugar regime, which previously divided the sugar market between member states and certain African-Caribbean nations with a privileged relationship with the EU.[268]
Competition
Further information: European Union competition law and European Commissioner for Competition
The EU operates a competition policy intended to ensure undistorted competition within the single market.[af] The Commission as the competition regulator for the single market is responsible for antitrust issues, approving mergers, breaking up cartels, working for economic liberalisation and preventing state aid.[269][not in citation given]
The Competition Commissioner, currently Margrethe Vestager, is one of the most powerful positions in the Commission, notable for the ability to affect the commercial interests of trans-national corporations.[270][not in citation given] For example, in 2001 the Commission for the first time prevented a merger between two companies based in the United States (GE and Honeywell) which had already been approved by their national authority.[271] Another high-profile case against Microsoft, resulted in the Commission fining Microsoft over €777 million following nine years of legal action.[272]
Culture
Further information: Culture of Europe, Western culture, and Cultural policies of the European Union
Cultural co-operation between member states has been a concern of the EU since its inclusion as a community competency in the Maastricht Treaty.[273] Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 seven-year programme,[273] the European Cultural Month event,[274] and orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra.[275] The European Capital of Culture programme selects one or more cities in every year to assist the cultural development of that city.[276]
Vienna State Opera
Venice Carnival
The European Capital of Culture programme was launched in the summer of 1985 with Athens being the first title-holder.
Berlinale in Germany, largest film festival in the European Union.
Sport
Main article: Sport policies of the European Union
Association football is by far the most popular sport in the European Union by the number of registered players. The other sports with the most participants in clubs are tennis, swimming, athletics, golf, gymnastics, equestrian sports, handball, volleyball and sailing.[277]
Sport is mainly the responsibility of the member states or other international organisations, rather than of the EU. However, there are some EU policies that have affected sport, such as the free movement of workers, which was at the core of the Bosman ruling that prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with European citizenship.[278]
The Treaty of Lisbon requires any application of economic rules to take into account the specific nature of sport and its structures based on voluntary activity.[279] This followed lobbying by governing organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, due to objections over the application of free market principles to sport, which led to an increasing gap between rich and poor clubs.[280] The EU does fund a programme for Israeli, Jordanian, Irish, and British football coaches, as part of the Football 4 Peace project.[281]
Symbols
Golden bust of Charlemagne with the German reichsadler embossed on the metal and the French fleur-de-lis embroidered on the fabric.
The flag of the Union consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background. The blue represents the West, while the number and position of the stars represent completeness and unity, respectively.[282] Originally designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe, the flag was adopted by the European Communities, the predecessors of the present Union, in 1986.
United in Diversity was adopted as the motto of the Union in the year 2000, having been selected from proposals submitted by school pupils.[283] Since 1985, the flag day of the Union has been Europe Day, on 9 May (the date of the 1950 Schuman declaration). The anthem of the Union is an instrumental version of the prelude to the Ode to Joy, the 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony. The anthem was adopted by European Community leaders in 1985 and has since been played on official occasions.[284]
Besides naming the continent, the Greek mythological figure of Europa has frequently been employed as a personification of Europe. Known from the myth in which Zeus seduces her in the guise of a white bull, Europa has also been referred to in relation to the present Union. Statues of Europa and the bull decorate several of the Union's institutions and a portrait of her is seen on the 2013 series of Euro banknotes. The bull is, for its part, depicted on all residence permit cards.[285]
Europa and the bull, depicted by Jean-François de Troy (1716).
Charles the Great, also known as Charlemagne (Latin: Carolus Magnus) and later recognised as Pater Europae ("Father of Europe"),[286][287][288] has a symbolic relevance to Europe. The Commission has named one of its central buildings in Brussels after Charlemagne and the city of Aachen has since 1949 awarded the Charlemagne Prize to champions of European unification.[289] Since 2008, the organisers of this prize, in conjunction with the European Parliament, have awarded the Charlemagne Youth Prize in recognition of similar efforts by young people.[290]
In 1997, Polish-born Pope John Paul II canonised Poland's 14th-century monarch Jadwiga as Saint Hedwig, the patron saint of queens and of European unification[291][not in citation given]
Media
Main article: Media freedom in the European Union
Euronews headquarters in Lyon, France
Media freedom is a fundamental right that applies to all member states of the European Union and its citizens, as defined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.[292]:1 Within the EU enlargement process, guaranteeing media freedom is named a "key indicator of a country's readiness to become part of the EU".[293]
The vast majority of media in the European Union are national-oriented. However, some EU-wide media focusing on European affairs have emerged since the early 1990s, such as Euronews, EUobserver, EURACTIV or Politico Europe.[294] ARTE is a public Franco-German TV network that promotes programming in the areas of culture and the arts. 80% of its programming are provided in equal proportion by the two member companies, while the remainder is being provided by the European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE GEIE and the channel's European partners.[295]
The MEDIA Programme of the European Union intends to support the European popular film and audiovisual industries since 1991. It provides support for the development, promotion and distribution of European works within Europe and beyond.[296]
Criticism
Main article: Euroscepticism
See also
Outline of the European Union
List of country groupings
List of multilateral free-trade agreements
Notes
Jump up ^ London and Paris are the largest cities in the European Union by urban population.[2]
Jump up ^ The 24 languages are equally official and accepted as working languages. However, only three of them – English, French and German – have the higher status of procedural languages and are used in the day-to-day workings of the European institutions.[3]
Jump up ^ Currently undergoing exit procedures known as Brexit.
Jump up ^ Calculated using UNDP data for the member states with weighted population.[12]
Jump up ^ Martinique, Guadeloupe (UTC−4); French Guiana (UTC−3); Azores (UTC−1 / UTC); Mayotte (UTC+3); and La Réunion (UTC+4); which, other than the Azores, do not observe DST.
Jump up ^ .eu is representative of the whole of the EU; member states also have their own TLDs.
Jump up ^ Kikuchi Yoshio (菊池良生) of Meiji University suggested that the notion of Holy Roman Empire as a federal political entity influenced the later structural ideas of the European Union.[26]
Jump up ^ This figure includes the extra-European territories of member states which are part of the European Union and excludes the European territories of member states which are not part of the Union. For more information see Special member state territories and the European Union.
Jump up ^ See Articles 165 and 166 (ex Articles 149 and 150) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on eur-lex.europa.eu
Jump up ^ Slavic: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Slovak and Slovenian. Baltic: Latvian and Lithuanian.
Jump up ^ French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish.
Jump up ^ Danish, Dutch, English, German and Swedish.
Jump up ^ Greek
Jump up ^ Irish
Jump up ^ Vasconic is still a putative family whose Basque would be the only surviving language. Basque is not an official language of the European Union but has a semi-official status.
Jump up ^ Referred to by the EU as the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".
Jump up ^ On 3 October 1990, the constituent states of the former German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, automatically becoming part of the EU.
^ Jump up to: a b See Article 288 (ex Article 249 TEC) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on eur-lex.europa.eu
Jump up ^ According to the principle of Direct Effect first invoked in the Court of Justice's decision in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen , Eur-Lex (European Court of Justice 1963). See: Craig and de Búrca, ch. 5.
Jump up ^ According to the principle of Supremacy as established by the ECJ in Case 6/64, Falminio Costa v. ENEL [1964] ECR 585. See Craig and de Búrca, ch. 7. See also: Factortame litigation: Factortame Ltd. v. Secretary of State for Transport (No. 2) [1991] 1 AC 603, Solange II (Re Wuensche Handelsgesellschaft, BVerfG decision of 22 October 1986 [1987] 3 CMLR 225,265) and Frontini v. Ministero delle Finanze [1974] 2 CMLR 372; Raoul George Nicolo [1990] 1 CMLR 173.
Jump up ^ It is effectively treated as one of the Copenhagen criteria, Assembly.coe.int. This is a political and not a legal requirement for membership. Archived 26 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ The European Convention on Human Rights was previously only open to members of the Council of Europe (Article 59.1 of the Convention), and even now only states may become member of the Council of Europe (Article 4 of the Statute of the Council of Europe).
Jump up ^ Opinion (2/92) of the European Court of Justice on "Accession by the Community to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" 1996 E.C.R. I-1759 (in French), ruled that the European Community did not have the competence to accede to the ECHR.
Jump up ^ See: Case 34/73, Variola v. Amministrazione delle Finanze [1973] ECR 981.
Jump up ^ To do otherwise would require the drafting of legislation which would have to cope with the frequently divergent legal systems and administrative systems of all of the now 28 member states. See Craig and de Búrca, p. 115
Jump up ^ See Articles 157 (ex Article 141) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on eur-lex.europa.eu
Jump up ^ See Article 2(7) of the Amsterdam Treaty on eur-lex.europa.eu Archived 17 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (OJ L 180, 19 July 2000, p. 22–26); Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ L 303, 2 December 2000, p. 16–22).
Jump up ^ "ERM II". Danish Finance Ministry. 20 March 2009. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
Jump up ^ Although almost all uranium is imported, nuclear power is considered primary energy produced in the EU.
Jump up ^ Article 39 (ex Article 33) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on eur-lex.europa.eu
Jump up ^ Article 3(1)(g) of the Treaty of Rome
References
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Jump up ^ European Commission (2006). "Special Eurobarometer 243: Europeans and their Languages (Executive Summary)" (PDF). Europa web portal. p. 3. Retrieved 11 March 2011. 56% of citizens in the EU Member States are able to hold a conversation in one language apart from their mother tongue.
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^ Jump up to: a b Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union.
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Jump up ^ According to P.C. Schmitter, ‘Comparative Politics: Its Past, Present and Future’ (2016), 1 Chinese Political Science Review, 397, at 410, "European Union is the most complex polity in the world".
Jump up ^ These legislative instruments are dealt with in more detail below.
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Jump up ^ Article 50 of the Consolidated Treaty on European Union.
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^ Jump up to: a b European Commission. "The European Economic Area (EEA)". Europa web portal. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
Jump up ^ "The EU's relations with Switzerland". Europa web portal. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
Jump up ^ European Commission. "Use of the euro in the world". The euro outside the euro area. Europa web portal. Retrieved 27 February 2008.
Jump up ^ "European Countries". Europa web portal. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
Jump up ^ "European Union". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 3 July 2013. international organisation comprising 28 European countries and governing common economic, social, and security policies ...
Jump up ^ "European Union". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
Jump up ^ "Treaty on European Union: Article 6". www.europarl.europa.eu.
Jump up ^ "EU Library Briefing:Lobbying the EU institutions" (PDF). Europarl. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
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Jump up ^ Court of Justice of the European Union, Judgement of 5 February 1963 in Case 26/62, 'Van Gend en Loos', European Court Reports 1963, p. 1.
Jump up ^ Single European Act, Article 100a, Approximation of Laws.
Jump up ^ For example, David Marquand says it is 'less than a federation but more than a confederation'; Brigid Laffan and Kimmo Kiljunen both see it residing 'between a confederation and a federation'; Thomas Hueglin and Alan Fenna locate it 'somewhere between federation and confederation'; and Kalypso Nicolaidis argues 'it is more than a confederation of sovereign states; ... (however, it) should not become a federal state'.
Michael Burgess enlarges: the EU 'is not a federation but it is also more than a confederation understood in the classical sense. It exists, then, in a kind of conceptual limbo, a twilight zone ... which has no name'.
Paul Magnette illuminates the nature of the perceived 'in-betweenness': 'Since the seventeenth century, legal theorists have repeated that only two forms of union between states are possible: either the confederation, born of an international treaty concluded between sovereign states, where all decisions are unanimously adopted by state representatives; or the federal state, established by a constitution, where the law voted on by a bicameral parliament applies directly to the citizens. Tertium non datur. There is no third way ... In these, classic, political terms, the European Union is, strictly speaking, inconceivable'.
Burgess, Michael (2000) Federalism and European Union: The Building of Europe 1950–2000, Routledge, London, pp. 41–2. Hueglin, Thomas and Fenna, Alan (2006) Comparative Federalism: A Systematic Inquiry, Broadview, Peterborough, p. 13. Kiljunen, Kimmo (2004) The European Constitution in the Making, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, p. 22. Laffan, Brigid (2002) The Future of Europe Debate, Institute of European Affairs, Dublin, p. 10. Magnette, Paul (2005) What Is the European Union? Nature and Prospects, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 4–5, 190. Marquand, David (2006) 'Federalism and the British: Anatomy of a Neurosis', in Political Quarterly, Vol. 77, No. 2, p. 175. Nicolaidis, Kalypso (2004) 'We, the Peoples of Europe ...', in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 83, No. 6, pp. 101–2.
Jump up ^ Jacques Delors, the President of the European Commission upon entry into force of the Single European Act, which introduced the widespread use of majority voting to complete the single market, saw it as having at that stage become an 'Unidentified Political Object'. Speech at the People's University, Lille, 8 March 1987.
^ Jump up to: a b Schütze, Robert (2012). European Constitutional Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 47–79. ISBN 978-0-521-73275-8.
Jump up ^ "Is Europe still sui generis? Signals from The White Paper on European Governance". Retrieved 12 February 2016. ... we see the notions of governance deployed in the White Paper as undermining the description of the EU as sui generis. It is becoming like a national state, but we differ from many of the critics (or enthusiasts) of the White Paper in one major way. Rather than seeing the EU becoming a state-like object, taking on the trappings of a 19th—or more correctly 20th—century state, we see national states moving towards the EU, adopting many of the governing practices advocated by the White Paper.
Jump up ^ For the derivation of this concept, see the Introduction of the entry on Federalism.
Law, John (2013) "How Can We Define Federalism?". Perspectives on Federalism, Vol. 5, No. 3, p. E104.
Jump up ^ "Federal Constitutional Court Press Release No. 72/2009 of 30 June 2009. Judgment of 30 June 2009: Act Approving the Treaty of Lisbon compatible with the Basic Law; accompanying law unconstitutional to the extent that legislative bodies have not been accorded sufficient rights of participation". Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012. Due to this structural democratic deficit, which cannot be resolved in an association of sovereign national states (Staatenverbund), further steps of integration that go beyond the status quo may undermine neither the States' political power of action nor the principle of conferral. The peoples of the Member States are the holders of the constituent power. The Basic Law does not permit the special bodies of the legislative, executive and judicial power to dispose of the essential elements of the constitution, i.e. of the constitutional identity (Article 23.1 sentence 3, Article 79.3 GG). The constitutional identity is an inalienable element of the democratic self-determination of a people.
Jump up ^ Moravcsik, Andrew; Moravcsik, Andrew (2009) [2004]. "Liberal Intergovernmentalism". In Wiener, Antje; Diez, Thomas. European Integration Theory (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-922609-2. Every constitutional system reaches a point where it is mature, where it no longer needs to move forward to remain stable. The EU has reached that point. The EU is not a state in the making: it is the most ambitious and successful of international organisations.
Jump up ^ Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union/Title III: Provisions on the Institutions
Jump up ^ Wellfire Interactive. "MEPs must be elected on the basis of proportional representation, the threshold must not exceed 5%, and the electoral area may be subdivided in constituencies if this will not generally affect the proportional nature of the voting system". Fairvote.org. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
Jump up ^ "Institutions: The European Parliament". Europa web portal. Archived from the original on 24 June 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
Jump up ^ "How does the EU work". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 12 July 2007.
Jump up ^ With US or against US?: European trends in American perspective Parsons, Jabko. European Union Studies Association, p.146:
Fourth, the European Council acts a "collective head of state" for the EU.
Jump up ^ "President of the European Council" (PDF). General Secretariat of the Council of the EU. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
Jump up ^ The Latin word consilium is occasionally used when a single identifier is required, as on the Council Web site.
Jump up ^ "Institutional affairs: Council of the European Union". Europa. European Commission. 6 January 2010. It is commonly called the Council of Ministers .
Jump up ^ "Institutions: The Council of the European Union". Europa web portal. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
Jump up ^ Treaty on European Union: Article 17:7
Jump up ^ "The EU budget 2011 in figures – Financial Programming and Budget". Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
Jump up ^ "Q&A on Interinstitutional Agreement on Budgetary Discipline and Sound Financial Management 2007–2013".
Jump up ^ David Smith., David (1999). Will Europe work?. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-102-8.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e European Commission. "EU Budget in detail 2010". Europa web portal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
Jump up ^ Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (ex Article 248 TEC).
Jump up ^ "Institutions: Court of Auditors". Europa (web portal). Archived from the original on 22 December 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
Jump up ^ "2012 annual report". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 13 November 2015. >
Jump up ^ "European auditors point to errors but sign off EU's accounts – some UK media decline to listen to what the auditors say". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 13 November 2015. >
Jump up ^ "Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on the implementation of the budget concerning the financial year 2009, together with the institutions' replies" (PDF). p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
Jump up ^ "Protection of the European Union's financial interests – Fight against fraud – Annual Report 2009 (vid. pp. 6, 15)" (PDF). Europa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2010.
Jump up ^ "Competences and consumers". Retrieved 25 November 2010.
Jump up ^ "Sources of EU law". European Commission. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
Jump up ^ de Schoutheete, Philippe; Andoura, Sami (2007). "The Legal Personality of the European Union" (PDF). Studia Diplomatica. LX (1). Retrieved 15 November 2010. Its examples are the ratifications of United Nations Convention against Corruption and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by EU. And Article 47 of the Consolidated Treaty on European Union.
Jump up ^ "Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
Jump up ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44366898
Jump up ^ "Court of Justice: presentation". Europa web portal. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
Jump up ^ "General Court: presentation". Europa web portal. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
Jump up ^ "Civil Service Tribunal: presentation". Europa web portal. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
Jump up ^ Article 256(1) (ex article 225(1)) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on eur-lex.europa.eu
Jump up ^ Article 2, Treaty on European Union (consolidated 1 December 2009)
Jump up ^ Case 11/70, Internationale Handelsgesellschaft v. Einfuhr und Vorratstelle für Getreide und Futtermittel; Article 6(2) of the Maastricht Treaty (as amended).
Jump up ^ "Respect for fundamental rights in the EU – general development". European Parliament Fact Sheets. The European Parliament. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
Jump up ^ "EU Policy on Death Penalty". Europa. European Union External Action Service. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
Jump up ^ "How EU takes decisions". Archived from the original on 2 January 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
Jump up ^ "European police office now in full swing". Europa web portal. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
Jump up ^ "Eurojust coordinating cross-border prosecutions at EU level". Europa web portal. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
Jump up ^ Frontex. "What is Frontex?". Europa web portal. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
Jump up ^ "European arrest warrant replaces extradition between EU Member States". Europa web portal. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
Jump up ^ "Jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and in matters of parental responsibility (Brussels II)". Europa web portal. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
Jump up ^ "Minimum standards on the reception of applicants for asylum in Member States". Europa web portal. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
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Gross inland consumption is defined as primary production plus imports, recovered products and stock change, less exports and fuel supply to maritime bunkers (for seagoing ships of all flags) ...
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Nuclear energy and renewable energy are treated differently from oil, gas, and coal in this respect.
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Sources
Barnard, Catherine (2010). The Substantive Law of the EU: The four freedoms (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 447. ISBN 978-0199562244.
Craig, Paul; De Burca, Grainne (2011). EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0199576999.
Demey, Thierry (2007). Brussels, capital of Europe. S. Strange (trans.). Brussels: Badeaux. p. 387. ISBN 978-2960041460.
Piris, Jean-Claude (2010). The Lisbon Treaty: A Legal and Political Analysis (Cambridge Studies in European Law and Policy). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 448. ISBN 978-0521197922.
Simons, George F., ed. (2002). EuroDiversity (Managing Cultural Differences). Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. p. 110. ISBN 978-0877193814.
Wilkinson, Paul (2007). International Relations: A Very Short Introduction (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0192801579. The EU states have never felt the need to make the organisation into a powerful military alliance. They already have NATO to undertake that task.
Further reading
Berend, Ivan T. (2017). The Contemporary Crisis of the European Union: Prospects for the Future. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781138244191.
Bomberg, Elizabeth; Peterson, John; Corbett, Richard, eds. (2012). The European Union: How Does it Work? (New European Union) (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199570805.
Corbett, Richard; Jacobs, Francis; Shackleton, Michael (2011). The European Parliament (8th ed.). London: John Harper Publishing. ISBN 978-0956450852.
Craig, Paul; de Búrca, Gráinne (2007). EU Law, Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199273898.
Federiga, Bindi, ed. (2010). The Foreign Policy of the European Union: Assessing Europe's Role in the World (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 978-0815722526. The E.U.'s foreign-policy mechanisms and foreign relations, including with its neighbours.
Gareis, Sven; Hauser, Gunther; Kernic, Franz, eds. (2013). The European Union – A Global Actor?. Leverkusen, FRG: Barbara Budrich Publishers. ISBN 978-3-8474-0040-0.
Grinin, L.; Korotayev, A.; Tausch, A. (2016). Economic Cycles, Crises, and the Global Periphery. Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London: Springer International Publishing. ISBN 978-3-319-17780-9.
Jones, Erik; Anand, Menon; Weatherill, Stephen (2012). The Oxford Handbook of the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199546282.
Jordan, A.J.; Adelle, Camilla, eds. (2012). Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3rd ed.). Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-1849714693.
Kaiser, Wolfram (2009). Christian Democracy and the Origins of European Union (New Studies in European History). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0511497056.
Le Gales, Patrick; King, Desmond (2017). Reconfiguring European States in Crisis. Corby: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198793373.
McCormick, John (2007). The European Union: Politics and Policies (5th ed.). Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0813342023.
Pinder, John; Usherwood, Simon (2013). The European Union: A Very Short Introduction (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199681693. excerpt and text search
Rifkin, Jeremy (2005). The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream. City of Westminster, London: TarcherPerigee. ISBN 978-1585424351.
Smith, Charles (2007). International Trade and Globalisation (3rd ed.). Stocksfield: Anforme Ltd. ISBN 978-1905504107.
Staab, Andreas (2011). The European Union Explained: Institutions, Actors, Global Impact. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253223036. excerpt and text search
Steiner, Josephine; Woods, Lorna; Twigg-Flesner, Christian (2006). EU Law (9th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199279593.
Tausch, Arno (2012). Globalization, the Human Condition, and Sustainable Development in the Twenty-first Century: Cross-national Perspectives and European Implications. With Almas Heshmati and a Foreword by Ulrich Brand (1st ed.). Anthem Press, London. ISBN 9780857284105.
Yesilada, Birol A.; Wood, David M. (2009). The Emerging European Union (5th ed.). Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-0205723805.
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values: Европска Унија – Macedonian

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values:
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values: ევროპაშ რსხუ – Mingrelian

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values: Европын Холбоо – Mongolian

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values: ဥရောပ သမဂ္ဂ – Burmese

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values:
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values: Европан барт – Chechen

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values:
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values: Den europeiske unionen – Norwegian Nynorsk

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values:
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values: Европа Ушем – Eastern Mari

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values: اروپايي اتحاديه – Pashto

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values: Yuropiyan Yuunian – Jamaican Creole English

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values: Ӧтласа Европа – Komi-Permyak

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values: សហភាពអឺរ៉ុប – Khmer

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values: Европска унія – Rusyn

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values: Европейский союз – Russian

values:
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values: Эуропа Холбоhуга – Sakha

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values: یەکێتیی ئەورووپا – Central Kurdish

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values: Европска унија – Serbian

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values: Аурупа берлеге – Tatar

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values: ఐరోపా సమాఖ్య – Telugu

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values: สหภาพยุโรป – Thai

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values: Иттиҳоди Аврупо – Tajik

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values: Европа союз – Udmurt

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values: Європейський Союз – Ukrainian

values:
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values: یورپی اتحاد – Urdu

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values: אייראפעישער פארבאנד – Yiddish

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values: युरोपेली संघ – Doteli

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