European Union

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The European Union or EU is an intergovernmental and supranational organisation of European countries, which currently has 25 member states. The Union was established under that name by the Treaty on European Union (commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty) in 1992. However, many aspects of the EU existed before that date through a series of predecessor organisations, dating back to the 1950s. The EU has several smaller territories outside Europe. The European Union's activities cover all policy areas, from health and economic policy to foreign affairs and defence

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The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, commonly referred to as the European Constitution, is an international treaty intended to create a constitution for the European Union. It was signed in 2004 by representatives of the member states of the Union. Its main aims are to replace the overlapping set of existing treaties that comprise the Union's current constitution, and to streamline decision-making in what is now a 25-member organisation. Despite its name, it only covers the European Union, not the whole of Europe in the geographical sense.

The constitutional treaty was signed by representatives of the member states on October 29, 2004, and is now in the process of ratification by all of the member states. If this were successful, the treaty would have been scheduled to enter into force on November 1, 2006. However, in 2005, French (May 29) and Dutch (June 1) voters rejected the treaty in referenda, prompting other countries to postpone their ratification procedures and leaving the Constitution with a highly uncertain future.

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The Entrance to the European Parliament in Brussels.

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Member States

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Austria Belgium Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Republic of Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom

Did you know

...that Greenland is the only country to ever leave the European Union?
...If The EU were a country, it would be the seventh largest in the world by area and the third largest by population after China and India?
...that within the Eurozone the European Central Bank has the exclusive authority to set monetary policy?
...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?