European Union

The european union (eu) is a union of 25 independent states joined to increase economic integration and cooperation. The EU was established by the Treaty on European Union, agreed between 12 member states on November 1, 1993. The Treaty on European Union, or Treaty of Maastricht, was ratified by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom (UK). In 1995 Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, and in May 2004, a further 10 countries became members: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The member states have set up common institutions to which they delegate some of their sovereignty so that decisions on specific matters of joint interest can be made democratically at the European level.

The EU is commonly understood as an economic and political bloc, synonymous with the project of European integration, and Europe itself, when the question of European identity is raised. The Treaty on European Union grants European citizenship to citizens of each member state. Customs and immigration agreements allow European citizens freedom to live, work, or study in any of the member states. A single European currency was introduced in 2002 when the euro replaced the national currencies of 12 EU nations. Denmark, Sweden, and the UK have not joined the single currency, and national currencies are still in use in the country members that took up membership in 2004.

The EU predecessor was the European Community (EC), an organization composed of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC, often referred to as the Common Market), and the European Atomic Energy Commission (Euratom). The three institutions merged and created European Community in 1965 (effective from 1967) and established headquarters in Brussels.