European Union

The European Union (EU) is a regional intergovernmental organization motivated to deepen and widen cooperation among the nation-states of Europe through adherence to a series of multilateral treaties negotiated and approved by its members. The aim of the EU as stated in the founding Treaty of Rome is to achieve—with a degree of subsequent variation and disagreement among its members—an “ever closer union.” In its initial form, the EU was composed of the three organizations of the European Communities (the European Coal and Steel Community, implemented in 1952, and the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community [EEC], both implemented in 1958) whose objectives were to promote economic interdependence and political cooperation and thereby reduce the potential for violent conflict within Europe and ...