Portal:European Union

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The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The Union has a total area of 4,233,255 km² (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 449 million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.

Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$16.6 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately one sixth of global nominal GDP. Additionally, all EU states except Bulgaria have a very high Human Development Index according to the United Nations Development Programme. Its cornerstone, the Customs Union, paved the way to establishing an internal single market based on standardised legal framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area. The eurozone is a group composed of the 20 EU member states that have fully implemented the economic and monetary union and use the euro currency. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the union has developed a role in external relations and defence. It maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7 and the G20. Due to its global influence, the European Union has been described by some scholars as an emerging superpower.

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

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The Flag of Europe is the flag and emblem of the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CoE). It consists of a circle of 12 golden (yellow) stars on a blue background. It was created in 1955 by the CoE and adopted by the EU, then the European Communities, in the 1980s.

The CoE and EU are distinct in membership and nature. The CoE is a 47-member international organisation dealing with human rights and rule of law, while the EU is a quasi-federal union of 28 states focused on economic integration and political cooperation. Today, the flag is mostly associated with the latter.

It was the intention of the CoE that the flag should come to represent Europe as a whole, and since its adoption the membership of the CoE covers nearly the entire continent. This is why the EU adopted the same flag. The flag has been used to represent Europe in sporting events and as a pro-democracy banner outside the Union.

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House of the Blackheads (Riga)

Photograph: David Iliff

The House of the Blackheads is a building in the old town of Riga, Latvia. The original building was erected during the early 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, with major work completed in 1580 and 1886. In 1941, the original building was bombed by the Germans; the ruins were demolished by the Soviets seven years later. The current reconstruction was erected from 1995 to 1999.

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Did you know?

...that Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City all mint their own euro coins, with their own national symbols on the back, despite not being EU members?

...that Slovenia joined the Euro on January 1, 2007?

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Brussels is the capital of Belgium, of the French Community of Belgium, of the Flemish Community, and is the headquarters of the European Union's institutions. Brussels is in the centre of Belgium, and also the largest municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region. This municipality inside Brussels is correctly named The City of Brussels, which is one of 19 municipalities that make up the Brussels-Capital Region, with a total population of 1,018,804 inhabitants (1 January 2006). The municipality has a population of about 140,000. The Metropolitan area has about 2,090,000 inhabitants. Brussels is also the political seat of NATO, the Western European Union (WEU) and EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation.

In 977 AD, the Holy Roman emperor Otto II gave the duchy of Lower Lotharingia on the empire's western frontier to Charles, the banished son of King Louis IV of France. Mention was already made of Brussels at the time: Bishop Saint-Gery of Cambrai-Arras settled a chapel on a small island (695). However, the founding of Brussels is usually said to be when a small castle was built by Charles around 979 on Saint-Géry island in the Zenne or Senne river.

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General images

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

Image 1After two devastating world wars, the political climate favoured an international unity that could preserve peace in Europe effectively (Hamburg, after a massive Allied bombing in 1943 in the picture). (from History of the European Union)
Image 2Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 3Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 4José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004-2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 5Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 6Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 7Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 8Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 9The population density of the EU is 106 people per km². N.B. the light in the North Sea is from oil platforms. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 10Hearing of Josep Borrell, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 11Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 12Winston Churchill (right, during the Atlantic Conference), consistent advocate of continential European integration, later along with his son-in-law Duncan Sandys (from History of the European Union)
Image 13A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 14Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 15Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 16Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 17The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 18The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 19Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 20Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 21Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 22A cartogram depicting the population distribution between old EU-27 member states in 2008 (including the UK and excluding Croatia). 57.8% of all citizens of the EU live in the four largest member states: Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 23The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 241922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 25The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 26Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 27Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 28Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 29Political groups of the European Parliament in the Louise Weiss building after the election 2024:
  Group of the European People's Party (EPP)
  Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)
  Patriots for Europe (PfE)
  European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)
  Renew Europe (Renew)
  The Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)
  The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL (The Left)
  Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN)
  Non-Inscrits (NI)
  Vacant (1)
(from Politics of the European Union)
Image 30Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 31The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 32Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 33Organigram of the political system. The seven organs of the Union are in blue, national / intergovernmental elements in orange. (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 34The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 35Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 36The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)