European Union

The European Union (EU) is a multinational democratic entity that consists of 27 Member States. There have been six periods of enlargement in the growth of the EU, and the largest occurred on May 1, 2004, when 10 states joined the existing 15. The most recent expansion was on January 1, 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania were accessioned. The current Member States of the EU are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

With such growth, there have been numerous issues of concern as well as the promise of an integrated Europe. One major area is that of language barriers ...