The first step taken towards the formation of the European Union was the creation of

Main article: History of the European Union

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of European Union history.

Further information: Treaties of the European Union and European integration

Further information: Ideas of European unity before 1948

After the First World War, but particularly with Second World War, internationalism was gaining, with the creation of the Bretton Woods System in 1944, the United Nations in 1945 and the French Union (1946‍–‍1958), the latter directing decolonization by possibly integrating its colonies into a European community.[24] In this light European integration was seen, already during the war, as an antidote to the extreme nationalism which had devastated parts of the continent.[25]

The Ventotene prison Manifesto of 1941 by Altiero Spinelli propagated European integration through the Italian Resistance and after 1943 through the European Federalist Movement. Winston Churchill called in 1943 for a post-war "Council of Europe"[26][27] and on 19 September 1946, at the University of Zürich, coincidentally[28] parallel to the Hertenstein Congress of the Union of European Federalists, for a United States of Europe.[29] Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, who successfully established during the interwar period the oldest organization for European integration, the Paneuropean Union, founded in June 1947 the European Parliamentary Union (EPU).

The Allied Powers decided during the war at the 1943 Moscow Conference to establish the European Advisory Commission in 1944, which resulted with the end of the war 1945 in the Allied Control Council. In March 1947 the United Kingdom and France signed the Dunkirk Treaty. Immediately following the February 1948 coup d'état by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, the London Six-Power Conference was held, resulting in the Soviet boycott of the Allied Control Council, an event marking the beginning of the Cold War.

Initial years and the Paris Treaty (1948‍–‍1957)

Main article: History of the European integration (1948–1957)

The year 1948 marked the beginning of the institutionalised modern European integration. In March 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed, establishing the Western Union (WU), followed by the International Authority for the Ruhr. Furthermore, the Organization for European Economic Co-operation, the predecessor of the OECD, was also founded in 1948 to manage the Marshall Plan, triggering as a Soviet response formation of the Comecon. The ensuing Hague Congress of May 1948 was a pivotal moment in European integration, as it led to the creation of the European Movement International, the College of Europe[30] and most importantly to the foundation of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949 (today its Europe day). The Council of Europe was one of the first institutions to bring the sovereign nations of (then only Western) Europe together, raising great hopes and fevered debates in the following two years for further European integration.[citation needed] It has since been a broad forum to further cooperation and shared issues, achieving for example the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950. Essential for the actual birth of the institutions of the EU was the Schuman Declaration on 9 May 1950 (the day after the fifth Victory in Europe Day) and the decision by six nations (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, West Germany and Italy) to follow Schuman and draft the Treaty of Paris. This treaty created in 1952 the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which was built on the International Authority for the Ruhr, installed by the Western Allies in 1949 to regulate the coal and steel industries of the Ruhr area in West Germany.[31] Backed by the Marshall Plan with large funds coming from the United States since 1948, the ECSC became a milestone organization, enabling European economic development and integration and being the origin of the main institutions of the EU such as the European Commission and Parliament.[32] Founding fathers of the European Union understood that coal and steel were the two industries essential for waging war, and believed that by tying their national industries together, a future war between their nations became much less likely.[33] In parallel with Schuman, the Pleven Plan of 1951 tried but failed to tie the institutions of the developing European community under the European Political Community, which was to include the also proposed European Defence Community, an alternative to West Germany joining NATO which was established in 1949 under the Truman Doctrine. In 1954 the Modified Brussels Treaty transformed the Western Union into the Western European Union (WEU). West Germany eventually joined in 1955 both WEU and NATO, prompting the Soviet Union to form the Warsaw Pact in 1955 as a institutional framework for its military dominatin in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Assessing the progress of European integration the Messina Conference was held in 1955, ordering the Spaak report, which in 1956 recommended the next significant steps of European integration.

Treaty of Rome (1957‍–‍1992)

Main articles: History of the European Communities (1958–1972) and History of the European Communities (1973–1993)

In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (EEC) and established a customs union. They also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for co-operation in developing nuclear power. Both treaties came into force in 1958.[33]

The EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC and they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein (Hallstein Commission) and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand (Armand Commission) and then Étienne Hirsch. Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear power while the EEC would develop a customs union among members.[34][35] The OEEC was in turn reformed in 1961 into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and its membership was extended to non-European states, the USA and Canada.

During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power. Nevertheless, in 1965 an agreement was reached, and on 1 July 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities.[36][37] Jean Rey presided over the first merged commission (Rey Commission).[38]

In 1973, the communities were enlarged to include Denmark (including Greenland, which later left the Communities in 1985, following a dispute over fishing rights), Ireland, and the United Kingdom.[39] Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum. In 1979, the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held.[40]

Greece joined in 1981, Portugal and Spain following in 1986.[41] In 1985, the Schengen Agreement paved the way for the creation of open borders without passport controls between most member states and some non-member states.[42] In 1986, the European flag began to be used by the EEC[43] and the Single European Act was signed.

In 1990, after the fall of the Eastern Bloc, the former East Germany became part of the communities as part of a reunified Germany.[44]

Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice treaties (1993‍–‍2004)

Main article: History of the European Union (1993–2004)

The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty—whose main architects were Horst Köhler,[45] Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand—came into force on 1 November 1993.[21][46] The treaty also gave the name European Community to the EEC, even if it was referred to as such before the treaty. With further enlargement planned to include the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Cyprus and Malta, the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the EU were agreed upon in June 1993. The expansion of the EU introduced a new level of complexity and discord.[47] In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU.

In 2002, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. Since then, the eurozone has increased to encompass 19 countries. The euro currency became the second-largest reserve currency in the world. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined the union.[48]

Consolidation, the Treaty of Lisbon and Brexit (2004‍–‍present)

Main article: History of the European Union (2004–present)

In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became EU members. Later that year, Slovenia adopted the euro,[48] followed by Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014, and Lithuania in 2015.

On 1 December 2009, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force and reformed many aspects of the EU. In particular, it changed the legal structure of the European Union, merging the EU three pillars system into a single legal entity provisioned with a legal personality, created a permanent president of the European Council, the first of which was Herman Van Rompuy, and strengthened the position of the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy.[49][50]

In 2012, the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe".[51][52] In 2013, Croatia became the 28th EU member.[53]

From the beginning of the 2010s, the cohesion of the European Union has been tested by several issues, including a debt crisis in some of the Eurozone countries, increasing migration from Africa and Asia, and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU.[54] A referendum in the UK on its membership of the European Union was held in 2016, with 51.9 per cent of participants voting to leave.[55] The UK formally notified the European Council of its decision to leave on 29 March 2017, initiating the formal withdrawal procedure for leaving the EU; following extensions to the process, the UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, though most areas of EU law continued to apply to the UK for a transition period which lasted until 23:00 GMT on 31 December 2020.[56]

Main articles: Geography of the European Union and Demographics of the European Union

Mont Blanc, meaning literally 'White Mountain' in French, is the highest mountain in the Alps, of France and of the European Union

Coast of Zakynthos, in the Ionian Islands of Greece

The European Union's member states cover an area of 4,233,262 square kilometres (1,634,472 sq mi).[d] The EU's highest peak is Mont Blanc in the Graian Alps, 4,810.45 metres (15,782 ft) above sea level.[57] The lowest points in the EU are Lammefjorden, Denmark, and Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands, at 7 m (23 ft) below sea level.[58] The landscape, climate, and economy of the EU are influenced by its coastline, which is 65,993 kilometres (41,006 mi) long.

Including the overseas territories of France which are located outside the continent of Europe, but which are members of the union, the EU experiences most types of climate from Arctic (north-east Europe) to tropical (French Guiana), rendering meteorological averages for the EU as a whole meaningless. The majority of the population lives in areas with a temperate maritime climate (North-Western Europe and Central Europe), a Mediterranean climate (Southern Europe), or a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate (Central Europe and Southeastern Europe).[59]

Population

On 1 January 2021, the population of the European Union was about 447 million people (5.8 per cent of the world population).[60][61] In 2015, 5.1 million children were born in the EU-28 corresponding to a birth rate of 10 per 1,000, which is 8 births below the world average.[62] For comparison, the EU-28 birth rate had stood at 10.6 in 2000, 12.8 in 1985 and 16.3 in 1970.[63] Its population growth rate was positive at an estimated 0.23 per cent in 2016.[64]

In 2010, 47.3 million people who lived in the EU were born outside their resident country. This corresponds to 9.4 per cent of the total EU population. Of these, 31.4 million (6.3 per cent) were born outside the EU and 16.0 million (3.2 per cent) were born in another EU member state. The largest absolute numbers of people born outside the EU were in Germany (6.4 million), France (5.1 million), the United Kingdom (4.7 million), Spain (4.1 million), Italy (3.2 million), and the Netherlands (1.4 million).[65] In 2017, approximately 825,000 people acquired citizenship of a member state of the European Union. The largest groups were nationals of Morocco, Albania, India, Turkey, and Pakistan.[66] 2.4 million immigrants from non-EU countries entered the EU in 2017.[67][68]

Urbanisation

See also: List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits and list of urban areas in the European Union

The EU's population is highly urbanised: some 75 per cent of inhabitants lived in urban areas in 2006. Cities are largely spread out across the EU with a large grouping in and around the Benelux.[69] The EU contains about 40 urban areas with populations of over 1 million. With a population of over 13 million,[70] Paris is the largest metropolitan area and the only megacity in the EU.[71] Paris is followed by Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, the Ruhr, Milan, and Rome, all with a metropolitan population of over 4 million.[72]

The EU also has numerous polycentric urbanised regions like Rhine-Ruhr (Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf et al.), Randstad (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht et al.), Frankfurt Rhine-Main (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Mainz et al.), the Flemish Diamond (Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven, Ghent et al.) and Upper Silesian area (Katowice, Ostrava et al.).[71]

Languages

Main article: Languages of the European Union

See also: Euro English

The European Union has 24 official languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish. Important documents, such as legislation, are translated into every official language and the European Parliament provides translation for documents and plenary sessions.[78][79] In 2020, the EU stated that translation and interpreting costs were less than 1% of its annual budget of €148 billion.[80]

Due to the high number of official languages, most of the institutions use only a handful of working languages. The European Commission conducts its internal business in three procedural languages: English, French, and German[81] Similarly, the Court of Justice of the European Union uses French as the working language,[82] while the European Central Bank conducts its business primarily in English.[83][84]

Even though language policy is the responsibility of member states, EU institutions promote multilingualism among its citizens.[h][85] In 2012, English was the most widely spoken language in the EU, being understood by 51 per cent of the EU population when counting both native and non-native speakers. However, following the UK's exit from the bloc in early 2020, the percentage of the EU population who spoke English as their native language fell from 13 per cent to 1 per cent.[86] German is the most widely spoken mother tongue (18 per cent of the EU population), and the second most widely understood foreign language, followed by French (13 per cent of the EU population). In addition, both are official languages of several EU member states. More than half (56 per cent) of EU citizens are able to engage in a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue.[87]

A total of twenty official languages of the EU belong to the Indo-European language family, represented by the Balto-Slavic,[i] the Italic,[j] the Germanic,[k] the Hellenic,[l] and the Celtic[m] branches. Only four languages, namely Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian (all three Uralic), and Maltese (Semitic), are not Indo-European languages.[88] The three official alphabets of the European Union (Cyrillic, Latin, and modern Greek) all derive from the Archaic Greek scripts.[89][90]

Luxembourgish (in Luxembourg) and Turkish (in Cyprus) are the only two national languages that are not official languages of the EU. On 26 February 2016, it was made public that Cyprus has asked to make Turkish an official EU language, in a "gesture" that could help solve the division of the country.[91]

Besides the 24 official languages, there are about 150 regional and minority languages, spoken by up to 50 million people.[88] Catalan, Galician and Basque are not recognised official languages of the European Union but have official status in one member state (Spain): therefore, official translations of the treaties are made into them and citizens have the right to correspond with the institutions in these languages.[92][93] The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ratified by most EU states provides general guidelines that states can follow to protect their linguistic heritage. The European Day of Languages is held annually on 26 September and is aimed at encouraging language learning across Europe.[94]

Religion

Main article: Religion in the European Union

The EU has no formal connection to any religion. Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union[95] recognises the "status under national law of churches and religious associations" as well as that of "philosophical and non-confessional organisations".[96]

The preamble to the Treaty on European Union mentions the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe".[96] Discussion over the draft texts of the European Constitution and later the Treaty of Lisbon included proposals to mention Christianity or a god, or both, in the preamble of the text, but the idea faced opposition and was dropped.[97]

Christians in the European Union are divided among members of Catholicism (both Roman and Eastern Rite), numerous Protestant denominations (Anglicans, Lutherans, and Reformed forming the bulk of this category), and the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 2009, the EU had an estimated Muslim population of 13 million,[98] and an estimated Jewish population of over a million.[99] The other world religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism are also represented in the EU population.

According to new polls about religiosity in the European Union in 2015 by Eurobarometer, Christianity is the largest religion in the European Union, accounting for 71.6 per cent of the EU population. Catholics are the largest Christian group, accounting for 45.3 per cent of the EU population, while Protestants make up 11.1 per cent, Eastern Orthodox make up 9.6 per cent, and other Christians make up 5.6 per cent.[1]

Eurostat's Eurobarometer opinion polls showed in 2005 that 52 per cent of EU citizens believed in a god, 27 per cent in "some sort of spirit or life force", and 18 per cent had no form of belief.[100] Many countries have experienced falling church attendance and membership in recent years.[101] The countries where the fewest people reported a religious belief were Estonia (16 per cent) and the Czech Republic (19 per cent).[100] The most religious countries were Malta (95 per cent, predominantly Catholic) as well as Cyprus and Romania (both predominantly Orthodox) each with about 90 per cent of citizens professing a belief in God. Across the EU, belief was higher among women, older people, those with religious upbringing, those who left school at 15 or 16, and those "positioning themselves on the right of the political scale".[100]

Health

Further information: Healthcare in Europe, Health Threat Unit, Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, TRACES, and EUROPHYT

The Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union affirms that "A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities". The European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumers seeks to align national laws on the protection of people's health, on the consumers' rights, on the safety of food and other products.[102][103][104]

All EU and many other European countries offer their citizens a free European Health Insurance Card which, on a reciprocal basis, provides insurance for emergency medical treatment insurance when visiting other participating European countries.[105] A directive on cross-border healthcare aims at promoting co-operation on health care between member states and facilitating access to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare for European patients.[106][107][108]

The EU has some of the highest levels of life expectancy in the world, with Spain, Italy, Sweden, France, Malta, Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Greece all among the world's top 20 countries with the highest life expectancy.[109] In general, life expectancy is lower in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe.[110] In 2018, the EU region with the highest life expectancy was Madrid, Spain at 85.2 years, followed by the Spanish regions of La Rioja and Castilla y León both at 84.3 years, Trentino in Italy at 84.3 years and Île-de-France in France at 84.2 years. The overall life expectancy in the EU in 2018 was 81.0 years, higher than the World average of 72.6 years.[111]

Main article: Member state of the European Union

Through successive enlargements, the European Union has grown from the six founding states (Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) to 27 members. Countries accede to the union by becoming party to the founding treaties, thereby subjecting themselves to the privileges and obligations of EU membership. This entails a partial delegation of sovereignty to the institutions in return for representation within those institutions, a practice often referred to as "pooling of sovereignty".[112][113]

Several overseas territories and dependencies of various member states are also formally part of the EU.[114]

To become a member, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen. These require a stable democracy that respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. Evaluation of a country's fulfilment of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council.[115] Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty provides the basis for a member to leave the EU. Two territories have left the union: Greenland (an autonomous province of Denmark) withdrew in 1985;[116] the United Kingdom formally invoked Article 50 of the Consolidated Treaty on European Union in 2017, and became the only sovereign state to leave when it withdrew from the EU in 2020.

There are seven countries that are recognised as candidates for membership: Albania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine.[117][118] Norway, Switzerland and Iceland have submitted membership applications in the past, but subsequently frozen or withdrawn them.[119] Additionally, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Kosovo are officially recognised as potential candidates,[117][120] with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia having submitted membership applications.[121]

The four countries forming the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are not EU members, but have partly committed to the EU's economy and regulations: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which are a part of the single market through the European Economic Area, and Switzerland, which has similar ties through bilateral treaties.[122][123] The relationships of the European microstates, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City include the use of the euro and other areas of co-operation.[124]

Main article: Politics of the European Union

The European Union operates through a hybrid system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making,[125][126] and according to the principles of conferral (which says that it should act only within the limits of the competences conferred on it by the treaties) and of subsidiarity (which says that it should act only where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states acting alone). Laws made by the EU institutions are passed in a variety of forms.[127] Generally speaking, they can be classified into two groups: those which come into force without the necessity for national implementation measures (regulations) and those which specifically require national implementation measures (directives).[128]

EU policy is in general promulgated by EU directives, which are then implemented in the domestic legislation of its member states, and EU regulations, which are immediately enforceable in all member states. Lobbying at EU level by special interest groups is regulated to try to balance the aspirations of private initiatives with public interest decision-making process.[129]

Legal framework and legislation

Further information: European Union law, Treaties of the European Union, and European Union legislative procedure

See also: European Citizens' Initiative

Constitutionally, the EU bears some resemblance to both a confederation and a federation,[130][131] but has not formally defined itself as either. (It does not have a formal constitution: its status is defined by the Treaty of European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). It is more integrated than a traditional confederation of states because the general level of government widely employs qualified majority voting in some decision-making among the member states, rather than relying exclusively on unanimity.[132][133] It is less integrated than a federal state because it is not a state in its own right: sovereignty continues to flow 'from the bottom up', from the several peoples of the separate member states, rather than from a single undifferentiated whole. This is reflected in the fact that the member states remain the 'masters of the Treaties', retaining control over the allocation of competences to the union through constitutional change (thus retaining so-called Kompetenz-kompetenz); in that they retain control of the use of armed force; they retain control of taxation; and in that they retain a right of unilateral withdrawal under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. In addition, the principle of subsidiarity requires that only those matters that need to be determined collectively are so determined.

The European Union is based on a series of treaties. These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties.[134] These are power-giving treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislation[p] which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants.[q] The EU has legal personality, with the right to sign agreements and international treaties.[135]

Under the principle of supremacy, national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, and thus the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions.[r]

The direct effect and supremacy doctrines were not explicitly set out in the European Treaties but were developed by the Court of Justice itself over the 1960s, apparently under the influence of its then most influential judge, Frenchman Robert Lecourt[136]

The main legal acts of the European Union come in three forms: regulations, directives, and decisions. Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures,[s] and automatically override conflicting domestic provisions.[p] Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them discretion as to how to achieve the result. The details of how they are to be implemented are left to member states.[t] When the time limit for implementing directives passes, they may, under certain conditions, have direct effect in national law against member states.

Decisions offer an alternative to the two above modes of legislation. They are legal acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a particular member state. They are most often used in competition law, or on rulings on State Aid, but are also frequently used for procedural or administrative matters within the institutions. Regulations, directives, and decisions are of equal legal value and apply without any formal hierarchy.[137]

The European Ombudsman was established by the Maastricht Treaty. The ombudsman is elected by the European Parliament for the length of the parliament's term, and the position is renewable.[138] Any EU citizen or entity may appeal to the ombudsman to investigate an EU institution on the grounds of maladministration (administrative irregularities, unfairness, discrimination, abuse of power, failure to reply, refusal of information or unnecessary delay).[139] Emily O'Reilly has been the ombudsman since 2013.[140]

Budget

Main article: Budget of the European Union

EU funding programmes 2014-2020
(€1,087 billion)[141]

  Sustainable Growth/Natural Resources (38.6%)

  Competitiveness for Growth and Jobs (13.1%)

  Global Europe (6.1%)

  Economic, Territorial and Social Cohesion (34.1%)

  Administration (6.4%)

  Security and Citizenship (1.7%)

The European Union had an agreed budget of €120.7 billion for the year 2007 and €864.3 billion for the period 2007–2013,[142] representing 1.10 per cent and 1.05 per cent of the EU-27's GNI forecast for the respective periods. In 1960, the budget of the European Community was 0.03 per cent of GDP.[143]

In the 2010 budget of €141.5 billion, the largest single expenditure item was "cohesion & competitiveness" with around 45 per cent of the total budget.[144] Next was "agriculture" with approximately 31 per cent of the total.[144] "Rural development, environment and fisheries" takes up around 11 per cent.[144] "Administration" accounts for around 6 per cent.[144] The "EU as a global partner" and "citizenship, freedom, security and justice" had approximately 6 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.[144]

In November 2020, two members of the union, Hungary and Poland, blocked approval to the EU's budget at a meeting in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), citing a proposal that linked funding with adherence to the rule of law. The budget included a COVID-19 recovery fund of €750 billion. The budget may still be approved if Hungary and Poland withdraw their vetoes after further negotiations in the council and the European Council.[145][146]

Bodies combatting fraud have also been established, including the European Anti-fraud Office and the European Public Prosecutor's Office. The latter is a decentralized independent body of the European Union (EU), established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 22 of the 27 states of the EU following the method of enhanced cooperation.[147] The European Public Prosecutor's Office investigate and prosecute fraud against the budget of the European Union and other crimes against the EU's financial interests including fraud concerning EU funds of over €10,000 and cross-border VAT fraud cases involving damages above €10 million.

Governance

Main articles: Bodies of the European Union and the Euratom and Institutions of the European Union

Member states retain all powers not explicitly handed to the European Union. In some areas the EU enjoys exclusive competence. These are areas in which member states have renounced any capacity to enact legislation. In other areas the EU and its member states share the competence to legislate. While both can legislate, member states can only legislate to the extent to which the EU has not. In other policy areas the EU can only co-ordinate, support and supplement member state action but cannot enact legislation with the aim of harmonising national laws.[148]

That a particular policy area falls into a certain category of competence is not necessarily indicative of what legislative procedure is used for enacting legislation within that policy area. Different legislative procedures are used within the same category of competence, and even with the same policy area.

The distribution of competences in various policy areas between member states and the union is divided in the following three categories:

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The European Union has seven principal decision-making bodies, its institutions: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the European Court of Auditors. Competence in scrutinising and amending legislation is shared between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, while executive tasks are performed by the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council (not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of the European Union). The monetary policy of the eurozone is determined by the European Central Bank. The interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EU budget is scrutinised by the European Court of Auditors. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area.

Institutions of the European Union

Executive

European Council

Main article: European Council

The European Council gives political direction to the EU. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the president of the European Council (presently Charles Michel), the president of the European Commission and one representative per member state (either its head of state or head of government). The high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy (presently Josep Borrell) also takes part in its meetings. It has been described by some as the union's "supreme political authority".[150] It is actively involved in the negotiation of treaty changes and defines the EU's policy agenda and strategies.

The European Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreements over controversial issues and policies. It acts externally as a "collective head of state" and ratifies important documents (for example, international agreements and treaties).[151]

Tasks for the president of the European Council are ensuring the external representation of the EU,[152] driving consensus and resolving divergences among member states, both during meetings of the European Council and over the periods between them.

The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an international organisation independent of the EU and based in Strasbourg.

European Commission

Main article: European Commission

The European Commission acts both as the EU's executive arm, responsible for the day-to-day running of the EU, and also the legislative initiator, with the sole power to propose laws for debate.[153][154][155] The commission is 'guardian of the Treaties' and is responsible for their efficient operation and policing.[156] It has 27 European commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state, though commissioners are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state.

One of the 27 is the president of the European Commission (presently Ursula von der Leyen for 2019–2024), appointed by the European Council, subject to the Parliament's approval. After the President, the most prominent commissioner is the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy, who is ex-officio a vice-president of the European Commission and is also chosen by the European Council.[157] The other 26 commissioners are subsequently appointed by the Council of the European Union in agreement with the nominated president. The 27 commissioners as a single body are subject to approval (or otherwise) by vote of the European Parliament.

Legislature

Council of the European Union

Main article: Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union (also called the Council[158] and the "Council of Ministers", its former title)[159] forms one half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a representative from each member state's government and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed. Notwithstanding its different configurations, it is considered to be one single body. In addition to the legislative functions, members of the council also have executive responsibilities, such as the development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy and the coordination of broad economic policies within the Union.[160] The Presidency of the council rotates between member states, with each holding it for six months. Beginning on 1 July 2022, the position is held by Czechia.[161]

European Parliament

Main article: European Parliament

The European Parliament is one of three legislative institutions of the EU, which together with the Council of the European Union is tasked with amending and approving the European Commission's proposals. 705 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years on the basis of proportional representation. MEPs are elected on a national basis and they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats and is divided into sub-national constituencies where this does not affect the proportional nature of the voting system.[162]

In the ordinary legislative procedure, the European Commission proposes legislation, which requires the joint approval of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to pass. This process applies to nearly all areas, including the EU budget. The parliament is the final body to approve or reject the proposed membership of the commission, and can attempt motions of censure on the commission by appeal to the Court of Justice. The president of the European Parliament carries out the role of speaker in Parliament and represents it externally. The president and vice-presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years.[163]

Judiciary

Court of Justice of the European Union

Main article: Court of Justice of the European Union

The judicial branch of the European Union is formally called the Court of Justice of the European Union and consists of two courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court.[164] The Court of Justice primarily deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions, and cases referred to it by the courts of member states.[165] Because of the doctrines of direct effect and supremacy, many judgments of the Court of Justice are automatically applicable within the internal legal orders of the member states.

The General Court mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts,[166] and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal adjudicates in disputes between the European Union and its civil service.[167] Decisions from the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on a point of law.[168]

Other institutions

European Court of Auditors

Main article: European Court of Auditors

The Court of Auditors is legally obliged to provide the parliament and the council (specifically, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council) with "a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions".[169] The Court also gives opinions and proposals on financial legislation and anti-fraud actions.[170] The parliament uses this to decide whether to approve the commission's handling of the budget.

The European Court of Auditors has signed off the European Union accounts every year since 2007 and, while making it clear that the European Commission has more work to do, has highlighted that most of the errors take place at national level.[171][172] In their report on 2009 the auditors found that five areas of Union expenditure, agriculture and the cohesion fund, were materially affected by error.[173] The European Commission estimated in 2009 that the financial effect of irregularities was €1,863 million.[174]

European Central Bank

Main articles: European Central Bank and European System of Central Banks

The European Central Bank is at the centre of the European System of Central Banks, which comprehends all EU national central banks and is controlled by its General Council, consisting of the President of the ECB, who is appointed by the European Council, the vice-president of the ECB, and the governors of the national central banks of all 27 EU member states.[175]

Main article: Economy of the European Union

As a political entity, the European Union is represented in the World Trade Organization (WTO). EU member states own the estimated second largest after the United States (US$105 trillion) net wealth in the world, equal to around 20 per cent (~€60 trillion) of the US$36 trillion (~€300 trillion)[176] global wealth.[177]

Of the top 500 largest corporations in the world measured by revenue in 2010, 161 had their headquarters in the EU.[178] In 2016, unemployment in the EU stood at 8.9 per cent[179] while inflation was at 2.2 per cent, and the account balance at −0.9 per cent of GDP. The average annual net earnings in the European Union was around €24,000 (US$30,000)[180] in 2015.

There is a significant variation in nominal GDP per capita within individual EU states. The difference between the richest and poorest regions (281 NUTS-2 regions of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) ranged, in 2017, from 31 per cent (Severozapaden, Bulgaria) of the EU28 average (€30,000) to 253 per cent (Luxembourg), or from €4,600 to €92,600.[181]

Two of the original core objectives of the European Economic Community were the development of a common market, subsequently becoming a single market, and a customs union between its member states.

Customs union and external trade policy

Main articles: European Union Customs Union and Common Commercial Policy (EU)

The customs union involves the application of a common external tariff on all goods entering the market. Once goods have been admitted into the market they cannot be subjected to customs duties, discriminatory taxes or import quotas, as they travel internally. The non-EU member states of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland participate in the single market but not in the customs union.[122] Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU.[182]

The European Union is the largest exporter in the world[183] and in 2008 was the largest importer of goods and services.[184][185] Internal trade between the member states is aided by the removal of barriers to trade such as tariffs and border controls. In the eurozone, trade is helped by not having any currency differences to deal with amongst most members.[186]

The European Union Association Agreement does something similar for a much larger range of countries, partly as a so-called soft approach ('a carrot instead of a stick') to influence the politics in those countries. The European Union represents all its members at the World Trade Organization (WTO), and acts on behalf of member states in any disputes. When the EU negotiates trade related agreement outside the WTO framework, the subsequent agreement must be approved by each individual EU member state government.[186]

The European Union has concluded free trade agreements (FTAs)[187] and other agreements with a trade component with many countries worldwide and is negotiating with many others.[188]

The European Union's services trade surplus rose from $16 billion in 2000 to more than $250 billion in 2018.[189]

In 2020, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, China became the EU's largest trading partner, displacing the United States.[190]

Single market

Main articles: European Single Market and Digital Single Market

The single market involves the free circulation of goods, capital, people, and services within the EU,[191]

The free movement of services and of establishment allows self-employed persons to move between member states to provide services on a temporary or permanent basis. While services account for 60 per cent to 70 per cent of GDP, legislation in the area is not as developed as in other areas. This lacuna has been addressed by the Services in the Internal Market Directive 2006 which aims to liberalise the cross border provision of services.[192] According to the treaty the provision of services is a residual freedom that only applies if no other freedom is being exercised.

Competition and consumer protection

Further information: European Union competition law, European consumer law, European Commissioner for Competition, and Silicon Docks

The EU operates a competition policy intended to ensure undistorted competition within the single market.[u]

In 2001 the commission for the first time prevented a merger between two companies based in the United States (General Electric and Honeywell) which had already been approved by their national authority.[193] Another high-profile case, against Microsoft, resulted in the commission fining Microsoft over €777 million following nine years of legal action.[194]

Energy

Main article: Energy policy of the European Union

In 2006, the EU-27 had a gross inland energy consumption of 1,825 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe).[195] Around 46 per cent of the energy consumed was produced within the member states while 54 per cent was imported.[195] In these statistics, nuclear energy is treated as primary energy produced in the EU, regardless of the source of the uranium, of which less than 3 per cent is produced in the EU.[196]

The EU has had legislative power in the area of energy policy for most of its existence; this has its roots in the original European Coal and Steel Community. The introduction of a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was approved at the meeting of the European Council in October 2005, and the first draft policy was published in January 2007.[197]

The EU has five key points in its energy policy: increase competition in the internal market, encourage investment and boost interconnections between electricity grids; diversify energy resources with better systems to respond to a crisis; establish a new treaty framework for energy co-operation with Russia while improving relations with energy-rich states in Central Asia[199] and North Africa; use existing energy supplies more efficiently while increasing renewable energy commercialisation; and finally increase funding for new energy technologies.[197]

In 2007, EU countries as a whole imported 82 per cent of their oil, 57 per cent of their natural gas[200] and 97.48 per cent of their uranium[196] demands. The three largest suppliers of natural gas to the European Union are Russia, Norway and Algeria, that amounted for about three quarters of the imports in 2019.[201] There is a strong dependence on Russian energy that the EU has been attempting to reduce.[202] However, in May 2022, it was reported that the European Union is preparing another sanction against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. It is expected to target Russian oil, Russian and Belarusian banks, as well as individuals and companies. According to an article by Reuters, two diplomats stated that the European Union may impose a ban on imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022.[203] In May 2022, the EU Commission published the 'RePowerEU' initiative, a €300 billion plan outlining the path towards the end of EU dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2030 and the acceleration on the clean energy transition.[204]

Infrastructure and transport

Main articles: Trans-European Networks, Transport in the European Union, European Common Aviation Area, Single European Sky, and European Rail Traffic Management System

The European Union is working to improve cross-border infrastructure, for example through the Trans-European Networks (TEN). Projects under TEN include the Channel Tunnel, LGV Est, the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, the Öresund Bridge, the Brenner Base Tunnel and the Strait of Messina Bridge. In 2010 the estimated network covers: 75,200 kilometres (46,700 mi) of roads; 78,000 kilometres (48,000 mi) of railways; 330 airports; 270 maritime harbours; and 210 internal harbours.[205][206]

Rail transport in Europe is being synchronised with the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), an initiative to greatly enhance safety, increase efficiency of trains and enhance cross-border interoperability of rail transport in Europe by replacing signalling equipment with digitised mostly wireless versions and by creating a single Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems.[citation needed]

The developing European transport policies will increase the pressure on the environment in many regions by the increased transport network. In the pre-2004 EU members, the major problem in transport deals with congestion and pollution. After the recent enlargement, the new states that joined since 2004 added the problem of solving accessibility to the transport agenda.[207] The Polish road network was upgraded such as the A4 autostrada.[208]

Telecommunications and space

Main articles: European Union roaming regulations and European Union Space Programme

Mobile communication roaming charges are abolished throughout the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The Galileo positioning system is an EU infrastructure project. Galileo is a proposed Satellite navigation system, to be built by the EU and launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). The Galileo project was launched partly to reduce the EU's dependency on the US-operated Global Positioning System, but also to give more complete global coverage and allow for greater accuracy, given the aged nature of the GPS system.[209]

Agriculture and fisheries

Main articles: Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the long lasting policies of the European Community.[210] The policy has the objectives of increasing agricultural production, providing certainty in food supplies, ensuring a high quality of life for farmers, stabilising markets, and ensuring reasonable prices for consumers.[w] It was, until recently, operated by a system of subsidies and market intervention. Until the 1990s, the policy accounted for over 60 per cent of the European Community's annual budget, and in 2013 accounted for around 34 per cent.[211]

The policy's price controls and market interventions led to considerable overproduction. These were intervention stores of products bought up by the community to maintain minimum price levels. To dispose of surplus stores, they were often sold on the world market at prices considerably below Community guaranteed prices, or farmers were offered subsidies (amounting to the difference between the community and world prices) to export their products outside the community. This system has been criticised for under-cutting farmers outside Europe, especially those in the developing world.[212] Supporters of CAP argue that the economic support which it gives to farmers provides them with a reasonable standard of living.[212]

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the CAP has been subject to a series of reforms. Initially, these reforms included the introduction of set-aside in 1988, where a proportion of farm land was deliberately withdrawn from production, milk quotas and, more recently, the 'de-coupling' (or disassociation) of the money farmers receive from the EU and the amount they produce (by the Fischler reforms in 2004). Agriculture expenditure will move away from subsidy payments linked to specific produce, toward direct payments based on farm size. This is intended to allow the market to dictate production levels.[210] One of these reforms entailed the modification of the EU's sugar regime, which previously divided the sugar market between member states and certain African-Caribbean nations with a privileged relationship with the EU.[213]

Labour market

See also: EURES

The free movement of persons means that EU citizens can move freely between member states to live, work, study or retire in another country. This required the lowering of administrative formalities and recognition of professional qualifications of other states.[214]

The EU seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.7 per cent in September 2018.[215] The euro area unemployment rate was 8.1 per cent.[215] Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.3 per cent), Germany and Poland (both 3.4 per cent), and the highest in Spain (14.9 per cent) and Greece (19.0 in July 2018).</ref>

Economic and monetary union

Main articles: Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union and The European Semester

The creation of a European single currency became an official objective of the European Economic Community in 1969. In 1992, having negotiated the structure and procedures of a currency union, the member states signed the Maastricht Treaty and were legally bound to fulfil the agreed-on rules including the convergence criteria if they wanted to join the monetary union. The states wanting to participate had first to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. To prevent the joining states from getting into financial trouble or crisis after entering the monetary union, they were obliged in the Maastricht treaty to fulfil important financial obligations and procedures, especially to show budgetary discipline and a high degree of sustainable economic convergence, as well as to avoid excessive government deficits and limit the government debt to a sustainable level, as agreed in the European Fiscal Pact.

Financial institutions and capital markets union

Main articles: Capital Markets Union and European System of Financial Supervision

Free movement of capital is intended to permit movement of investments such as property purchases and buying of shares between countries.[216] Until the drive towards economic and monetary union the development of the capital provisions had been slow. Post-Maastricht there has been a rapidly developing corpus of ECJ judgements regarding this initially neglected freedom. The free movement of capital is unique insofar as it is granted equally to non-member states.

The European System of Financial Supervision is an institutional architecture of the EU's framework of financial supervision composed by three authorities: the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority. To complement this framework, there is also a European Systemic Risk Board under the responsibility of the central bank. The aim of this financial control system is to ensure the economic stability of the EU.[217]

Eurozone and banking union

Main articles: Eurozone, Eurosystem, Eurogroup, Euro summit, European banking union, Euro Stoxx 50, and Eurobond (eurozone)

Left: The seat of the European Central Bank in Ostend, Frankfurt. Right: 19 of the 27 EU member states have adopted the euro as their legal tender. The eurozone (dark blue) represents 340 million people.

In 1999, the currency union started to materialise through introducing a common accounting (virtual) currency in eleven of the member states. In 2002, it was turned into a fully-fledged conventible currency, when euro notes and coins were issued, while the phaseout of national currencies in the eurozone (consisting by then of 12 member states) was initiated. The eurozone (constituted by the EU member states which have adopted the euro) has since grown to 19 countries.[218][x]

19 member states known as the eurozone have fully implemented the currency union through supersededing their national currencies the single currency euro. The currency union represents 342 million EU citizens.[191] The euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar.[219][220][221]

The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it in agreement with the EU, are under the control of the ECB.[222] The ECB is the central bank for the eurozone, and thus controls monetary policy in that area with an agenda to maintain price stability. It is at the centre of the Eurosystem, which comprehends all the Eurozone national central banks.[175]

The ECB is also the central institution of the Banking Union established within the eurozone and manages its Single Supervisory Mechanism. These is also a Single Resolution Mechanism in case of a bank default.

Further information: Area of freedom, security and justice and Citizenship of the European Union

Since the creation of the European Union in 1993, it has developed its competencies in the area of justice and home affairs; initially at an intergovernmental level and later by supranationalism. Accordingly, the union has legislated in areas such as extradition,[223] family law,[224] asylum law,[225] and criminal justice.[226]

Police and judicial co-operation

The EU has also established agencies to co-ordinate police, prosecution and civil litigations across the member states: Europol for police co-operation, CEPOL for training of police forces[227] and the Eurojust for co-operation between prosecutors and courts.[228] It also operates the EUCARIS database of vehicles and drivers, the Eurodac, the European Criminal Records Information System, the European Cybercrime Centre, FADO, PRADO and others.

Schengen Area, migration and asylum

Main articles: Schengen Area and Migration and asylum policy of the European Union

The Schengen Area is an area comprising 26 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. It mostly functions as a single jurisdiction under a common visa policy for international travel purposes. The area is named after the 1985 Schengen Agreement and the 1990 Schengen Convention, both signed in Schengen, Luxembourg. The Area comprises 22 EU member states, the four states of the European Free Trade Association and several European microstates.[citation needed]

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) is an agency of the EU aiming to detect and stop illegal immigration, human trafficking and terrorist infiltration, having since 2015 a stronger role and mandate along with national authorities for border management.[229] The EU also operates the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, the Entry/Exit System, the Schengen Information System, the Visa Information System and the Common European Asylum System which provide common databases for police and immigration authorities. The impetus for the development of this co-operation was the advent of open borders in the Schengen Area and the associated cross-border crime.[17]

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  eu-LISA building, Tallinn, Estonia

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  Europol Headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands

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  Eurojust Headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands

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  Seat of Frontex in Warsaw, Poland

Equality, fundamental rights and values

Main article: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

Prohibitions against discrimination have a long standing in the treaties. In more recent years, these have been supplemented by powers to legislate against discrimination based on race, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation.[y] The treaties declare that the European Union itself is "founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities ... in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail."[230] By virtue of these powers, the EU has enacted legislation on sexism in the work-place, age discrimination, and racial discrimination.[z]

In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty gave legal effect to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The charter is a codified catalogue of fundamental rights against which the EU's legal acts can be judged. It consolidates many rights which were previously recognised by the Court of Justice and derived from the "constitutional traditions common to the member states."[231] The Court of Justice has long recognised fundamental rights and has, on occasion, invalidated EU legislation based on its failure to adhere to those fundamental rights.[232]

Signing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership.[aa] Previously, the EU itself could not accede to the convention as it is neither a state[ab] nor had the competence to accede.[ac] The Lisbon Treaty and Protocol 14 to the ECHR have changed this: the former binds the EU to accede to the convention while the latter formally permits it.

The EU is independent from the Council of Europe, although they share purpose and ideas, especially on the rule of law, human rights and democracy. Furthermore, the European Convention on Human Rights and European Social Charter, as well as the source of law for the Charter of Fundamental Rights are created by the Council of Europe. The EU has also promoted human rights issues in the wider world. The EU opposes the death penalty and has proposed its worldwide abolition. Abolition of the death penalty is a condition for EU membership.[233]

On 19 October 2020, the European Union revealed new plans to create a legal structure to act against human rights violations worldwide. The new plan was expected to provide the European Union with greater flexibility to target and sanction those responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses around the world.[234]

Examples of European Union identity, travel & traffic documents

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  A European national identity card (German version pictured)

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  A European driving licence card (Croatian version pictured)

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  A European passport, displaying the name of the member state, the national arms and the words "European Union" given in their official language(s). (Irish version pictured)

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  A European vehicle registration certificate (Dutch version pictured)

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  A European vehicle registration plate, consisting of a blue strip on the left side with the EU flag symbol, along with the country code of the member state in which the vehicle is registered. (Slovak version pictured)

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  A European disabled parking permit (Polish version pictured)

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  A European train driver's licence (Polish version)

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  A European drone licence (CAT A 1 and A2, German version)

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  A Schengen visa (German version)

Main articles: Foreign relations of the European Union, Common Foreign and Security Policy, and European External Action Service

A clickable Euler diagram[file] showing the relationships between various multinational European organisations and agreements.

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Foreign policy co-operation between member states dates from the establishment of the community in 1957, when member states negotiated as a bloc in international trade negotiations under the EU's common commercial policy.[235] Steps for a more wide-ranging co-ordination in foreign relations began in 1970 with the establishment of European Political Cooperation which created an informal consultation process between member states with the aim of forming common foreign policies. In 1987 the European Political Cooperation was introduced on a formal basis by the Single European Act. EPC was renamed as the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) by the Maastricht Treaty.[236]

The aims of the CFSP are to promote both the EU's own interests and those of the international community as a whole, including the furtherance of international co-operation, respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.[237] The CFSP requires unanimity among the member states on the appropriate policy to follow on any particular issue. The unanimity and difficult issues treated under the CFSP sometimes lead to disagreements, such as those which occurred over the war in Iraq.[238]

The coordinator and representative of the CFSP within the EU is the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy who speaks on behalf of the EU in foreign policy and defence matters, and has the task of articulating the positions expressed by the member states on these fields of policy into a common alignment. The high representative heads up the European External Action Service (EEAS), a unique EU department[239] that has been officially implemented and operational since 1 December 2010 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.[240] The EEAS will serve as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the European Union.[241]

Besides the emerging international policy of the European Union, the international influence of the EU is also felt through enlargement. The perceived benefits of becoming a member of the EU act as an incentive for both political and economic reform in states wishing to fulfil the EU's accession criteria, and are considered an important factor contributing to the reform of European formerly Communist countries.[242]: 762  This influence on the internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".[243]

In some policies, there are several member states that ally with strategic partners within the union. Examples of such alliances include the Visegrad Group, Benelux, the Baltic Assembly, the New Hanseatic League, the Three Seas Initiative, the Weimar Triangle, the Lublin Triangle, EU Med Group, the Craiova Group and Bucharest Nine.

External security and defence

Main articles: Common Security and Defence Policy and Berlin Plus agreement

The predecessors of the European Union were not devised as a military alliance because NATO was largely seen as appropriate and sufficient for defence purposes.[244] 21 EU members are members of NATO[245] while the remaining member states follow policies of neutrality.[246] The Western European Union, a military alliance with a mutual defence clause, was disbanded in 2010 as its role had been transferred to the EU.[247]

Since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, France is the only member officially recognised as a nuclear weapon state and the sole holder of a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. France and Italy are also the only EU countries that have power projection capabilities outside of Europe.[248] Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium participate in NATO nuclear sharing.[249]

Most EU member states opposed the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty.[250]

Following the Kosovo War in 1999, the European Council agreed that "the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and the readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO". To that end, a number of efforts were made to increase the EU's military capability, notably the Helsinki Headline Goal process. After much discussion, the most concrete result was the EU Battlegroups initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 personnel.[251]

EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from middle and northern Africa to the western Balkans and western Asia.[252] EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, European Union Satellite Centre and the European Union Military Staff.[253] The European Union Military Staff is the highest military institution of the European Union, established within the framework of the European Council, and follows on from the decisions of the Helsinki European Council (10–11 December 1999), which called for the establishment of permanent political-military institutions. The European Union Military Staff is under the authority of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Political and Security Committee. It directs all military activities in the EU context, including planning and conducting military missions and operations in the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy and the development of military capabilities, and provides the Political and Security Committee with military advice and recommendations on military issues. In an EU consisting of 27 members, substantial security and defence co-operation is increasingly relying on collaboration among all member states.[254]

Humanitarian aid

Further information: Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations

The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department, or "ECHO", provides humanitarian aid from the EU to developing countries. In 2012, its budget amounted to €874 million, 51 per cent of the budget went to Africa and 20 per cent to Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Pacific, and 20 per cent to the Middle East and Mediterranean.[255]

Humanitarian aid is financed directly by the budget (70 per cent) as part of the financial instruments for external action and also by the European Development Fund (30 per cent).[256] The EU's external action financing is divided into 'geographic' instruments and 'thematic' instruments.[256] The 'geographic' instruments provide aid through the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI, €16.9 billion, 2007–2013), which must spend 95 per cent of its budget on official development assistance (ODA), and from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), which contains some relevant programmes.[256] The European Development Fund (EDF, €22.7 billion for the period 2008–2013 and €30.5 billion for the period 2014–2020) is made up of voluntary contributions by member states, but there is pressure to merge the EDF into the budget-financed instruments to encourage increased contributions to match the 0.7 per cent target and allow the European Parliament greater oversight.[256][257]

In 2016, the average among EU countries was 0.4 per cent and five had met or exceeded the 0.7 per cent target: Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden and the United Kingdom.[258] If considered collectively, EU member states are the largest contributor of foreign aid in the world.[259][260]

International cooperation and development partnerships

Main articles: Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, ACP–EU development cooperation, European Solidarity Corps, European Union Global Strategy, European Neighbourhood Policy, and Global Europe

The European Union uses foreign relations instruments like the European Neighbourhood Policy which seeks to tie those countries to the east and south of the European territory of the EU to the union. These countries, primarily developing countries, include some who seek to one day become either a member state of the European Union, or more closely integrated with the European Union. The EU offers financial assistance to countries within the European Neighbourhood, so long as they meet the strict conditions of government reform, economic reform and other issues surrounding positive transformation. This process is normally underpinned by an Action Plan, as agreed by both Brussels and the target country.

There is also the worldwide European Union Global Strategy. International recognition of sustainable development as a key element is growing steadily. Its role was recognised in three major UN summits on sustainable development: the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa; and the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio de Janeiro. Other key global agreements are the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations, 2015). The SDGs recognise that all countries must stimulate action in the following key areas – people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership – in order to tackle the global challenges that are crucial for the survival of humanity.

EU development action is based on the European Consensus on Development, which was endorsed on 20 December 2005 by EU Member States, the council, the European Parliament and the commission.[261] It is applied from the principles of Capability approach and Rights-based approach to development. Funding is provided by the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and the Global Europe programmes.

Partnership and cooperation agreements are bilateral agreements with non-member nations.[262]

Main articles: European social model, European Social Fund, Welfare State, European Social Charter, European Voluntary Service, European labour law, and European Pillar of Social Rights

The European Union has long sought to mitigate the effects of free markets by protecting workers' rights and preventing social and environmental dumping. To this end it has adopted laws establishing minimum employment and environmental standards. These included the Working Time Directive and the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.

Social cohesion and employment equality

The EU has also sought to coordinate the social security and health systems of member states to facilitate individuals exercising free movement rights and to ensure they maintain their ability to access social security and health services in other member states. Social security main legislation is found in the Equal Treatment in Occupational Social Security Directive 86/378, the Equal Treatment in Social Security Directive 79/7/EEC, the Social Security Regulation 1408/71/EC and 883/2004/EC and the Directive 2005/36/EC.

The European Social Charter is the main body that recognises the social rights of European citizens.

A European unemployment insurance has been proposed among others by the commissioner of Jobs Nicolas Schmit.[264] A European Directive about Minimum Wage has also been discussed,[265] as well as a European Directive about Minimum Income.[266][267]

Since 2019 there has been a European commissioner for equality and the European Institute for Gender Equality has existed since 2007.

In 2020, the first ever European Union Strategy on LGBTIQ equality was approved under Helena Dalli mandate.[268] In December 2021, the commission announced the intention of codifying a union-wide law against LGBT hate crimes.[269]

Housing, youth, childhood, Functional diversity or elderly care are supportive competencies of the European Union and can be financed by the European Social Fund.

The European Pillar of Social Rights contains a preamble and 3 chapters with target values for 20 fields:

Chapter I: Equal opportunities and access to the labour market (general education, professional training and lifelong learning, gender equality, equal opportunities, active support for employment)

Chapter II: Fair working conditions (secure and adaptable employment, wages, information about employment conditions and protection in the event of dismissals, social dialogue and involvement of workers, work-life balance, healthy, safe and well-adapted working environments and data protection)

Chapter III: Social protection and inclusion (childcare and support for children, social protection, unemployment benefits, minimum income, old age income and pensions, healthcare, inclusion of people with disabilities, long-term care, housing and assistance for the homeless, access to essential services)

The EPSR is intended to act as a reference document of sorts, by means of which the labour markets and social standards in the Member States may approach the standards defined in the Pillar in the long term.[270]

Regional and local development

Main articles: Regional policy of the European Union, European Committee of the Regions, and European Investment Bank

  Less developed regions

  Transition regions

  More developed regions

The five European Structural and Investment Funds are supporting the development of the EU regions, primarily the underdeveloped ones, located mostly in the states of central and southern Europe.[271][272] Another fund (the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) provides support for candidate members to transform their country to conform to the EU's standard. Demographic transition to a society of ageing population, low fertility-rates and depopulation of non-metropolitan regions is tackled within this policies.

Environment and climate

Further information: Climate change in Europe, European Commissioner for the Environment, European Climate Change Programme, The LIFE Programme, and Natura 2000

In 1957, when the European Economic Community was founded, it had no environmental policy.[273] Over the past 50 years, an increasingly dense network of legislation has been created, extending to all areas of environmental protection, including air pollution, water quality, waste management, nature conservation, and the control of chemicals, industrial hazards, and biotechnology.[273] According to the Institute for European Environmental Policy, environmental law comprises over 500 Directives, Regulations and Decisions, making environmental policy a core area of European politics.[274]

European policy-makers originally increased the EU's capacity to act on environmental issues by defining it as a trade problem.[273] Trade barriers and competitive distortions in the Common Market could emerge due to the different environmental standards in each member state.[275] In subsequent years, the environment became a formal policy area, with its own policy actors, principles and procedures. The legal basis for EU environmental policy was established with the introduction of the Single European Act in 1987.[274]

Initially, EU environmental policy focused on Europe. More recently, the EU has demonstrated leadership in global environmental governance, e.g. the role of the EU in securing the ratification and coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol despite opposition from the United States. This international dimension is reflected in the EU's Sixth Environmental Action Programme,[276] which recognises that its objectives can only be achieved if key international agreements are actively supported and properly implemented both at EU level and worldwide. The Lisbon Treaty further strengthened the leadership ambitions.[273] EU law has played a significant role in improving habitat and species protection in Europe, as well as contributing to improvements in air and water quality and waste management.[274]

Mitigating climate change is one of the top priorities of EU environmental policy. In 2007, member states agreed that, in the future, 20 per cent of the energy used across the EU must be renewable, and carbon dioxide emissions have to be lower in 2020 by at least 20 per cent compared to 1990 levels.[277] In 2017, the EU emitted 9.1 per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.[278] The European Union claims that already in 2018, its GHG emissions were 23% lower that in 1990.[279]

The EU has adopted an emissions trading system to incorporate carbon emissions into the economy.[280] The European Green Capital is an annual award given to cities that focuses on the environment, energy efficiency, and quality of life in urban areas to create smart city.

In the 2019 elections to the European Parliament, the green parties increased their power, possibly because of the rise of post materialist values.[281]

Proposals to reach a zero carbon economy in the European Union by 2050 were suggested in 2018 – 2019. Almost all member states supported that goal at an EU summit in June 2019. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland disagreed.[282]

In June 2021 the European Union passed a European Climate Law with targets of 55% GHG emissions reduction by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.[283]

In 2021 the European Union and the United States pledged to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030. The pledge is considered as a big achievement for climate change mitigation.[284]

Further information: Culture of Europe, European Film Awards, and Cultural policies of the European Union

Cultural co-operation between member states has been an interest of the European Union since its inclusion as a community competency in the Maastricht Treaty.[285] Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 seven-year programme,[285] the European Cultural Month event,[286] and orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra.[287] The European Capital of Culture programme selects one or more cities in every year to assist the cultural development of that city.[288]

Education and research

Main articles: Educational policies and initiatives of the European Union and Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development

Basic education is an area where the EU's role is limited to supporting national governments. In higher education, the policy was developed in the 1980s in programmes supporting exchanges and mobility. The most visible of these has been the Erasmus Programme, a university exchange programme which began in 1987. In its first 20 years, it supported international exchange opportunities for well over 1.5 million university and college students and became a symbol of European student life.[289]

There are similar programmes for school pupils and teachers, for trainees in vocational education and training, and for adult learners in the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013. These programmes are designed to encourage a wider knowledge of other countries and to spread good practices in the education and training fields across the EU.[290][291] Through its support of the Bologna Process, the EU is supporting comparable standards and compatible degrees across Europe.

Scientific development is facilitated through the EU's Framework Programmes, the first of which started in 1984. The aims of EU policy in this area are to co-ordinate and stimulate research. The independent European Research Council allocates EU funds to European or national research projects.[292] EU research and technological framework programmes deal in a number of areas, for example energy where the aim is to develop a diverse mix of renewable energy to help the environment and to reduce dependence on imported fuels.[293]

Sport

Main article: Sport policies of the European Union

Sport is mainly the responsibility of the member states or other international organisations, rather than of the EU. There are some EU policies that have affected sport, such as the free movement of workers, which was at the core of the Bosman ruling that prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with European citizenship.[294]

The Treaty of Lisbon requires any application of economic rules to take into account the specific nature of sport and its structures based on voluntary activity.[295] This followed lobbying by governing organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, due to objections over the application of free market principles to sport, which led to an increasing gap between rich and poor clubs.[296] The EU does fund a programme for Israeli, Jordanian, Irish, and British football coaches, as part of the Football 4 Peace project.[297]

Symbols

Further information: European Heritage Label

The flag of Europe consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background. Originally designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe, the flag was adopted by the European Communities, the predecessors of the present European Union, in 1986. The Council of Europe gave the flag a symbolic description in the following terms,[298] though the official symbolic description adopted by the EU omits the reference to the "Western world":[299]

Against the blue sky of the Western world, the stars symbolise the peoples of Europe in a form of a circle, the sign of union. The number of stars is invariably twelve, the figure twelve being the symbol of perfection and entirety.

— Council of Europe. Paris, 7–9 December 1955.

United in Diversity was adopted as the motto of the union in 2000, having been selected from proposals submitted by school pupils.[300] Since 1985, the flag day of the union has been Europe Day, on 9 May (the date of the 1950 Schuman declaration). The anthem of the EU is an instrumental version of the prelude to the Ode to Joy, the 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony. The anthem was adopted by European Community leaders in 1985 and has since been played on official occasions.[301] Besides naming the continent, the Greek mythological figure of Europa has frequently been employed as a personification of Europe. Known from the myth in which Zeus seduces her in the guise of a white bull, Europa has also been referred to in relation to the present union. Statues of Europa and the bull decorate several of the EU's institutions and a portrait of her is seen on the 2013 series of euro banknotes. The bull is, for its part, depicted on all residence permit cards.[302]

Charles the Great, also known as Charlemagne (Latin: Carolus Magnus) and later recognised as Pater Europae ("Father of Europe"),[303][304][305] has a symbolic relevance to Europe. The commission has named one of its central buildings in Brussels after Charlemagne and the city of Aachen has since 1949 awarded the Charlemagne Prize to champions of European unification.[306] Since 2008, the organisers of this prize, in conjunction with the European Parliament, have awarded the Charlemagne Youth Prize in recognition of similar efforts led by young people.[307]

Media

Main articles: Media freedom in the European Union and European Broadcasting Union

Media freedom is a fundamental right that applies to all member states of the European Union and its citizens, as defined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.[308]: 1  Within the EU enlargement process, guaranteeing media freedom is named a "key indicator of a country's readiness to become part of the EU".[309]

The majority of media in the European Union are national-orientated, although some EU-wide media focusing on European affairs have emerged since the early 1990s, such as Euronews, Eurosport, EUobserver, EURACTIV or Politico Europe.[310][311] ARTE is a public Franco-German TV network that promotes programming in the areas of culture and the arts. 80 per cent of its programming are provided in equal proportion by the two member companies, while the remainder is being provided by the European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE GEIE and the channel's European partners.[312]

The MEDIA Programme of the European Union has supported the European popular film and audiovisual industries since 1991. It provides support for the development, promotion and distribution of European works within Europe and beyond.[313]

The European Union has had a significant positive economic effect on most member states.[314] According to a 2019 study of the member states who joined from 1973 to 2004, "without European integration, per capita incomes would have been, on average, approximately 10 per cent lower in the first ten years after joining the EU."[314] Greece was the exception reported by the study, which analysed up to 2008, "to avoid confounding effects from the global financial crisis".[314] A 2021 study in the Journal of Political Economy found that the 2004 enlargement had aggregate beneficial economic effects on all groups in both the old and new member states. The largest winners were the new member states, in particular unskilled labour in the new member states.[315]

The European Union has contributed to peace in Europe, in particular by pacifying border disputes,[316][317] and to the spread of democracy, especially by encouraging democratic reforms in aspiring Eastern European member states after the collapse of the USSR.[318][319] Scholar Thomas Risse wrote in 2009, "there is a consensus in the literature on Eastern Europe that the EU membership perspective had a huge anchoring effects for the new democracies."[319] However, R. Daniel Kelemen argues that the EU has proved beneficial to leaders who are overseeing democratic backsliding, as the EU is reluctant to intervene in domestic politics, gives authoritarian governments funds which they can use to strengthen their regimes, and because freedom of movement within the EU allows dissenting citizens to leave their backsliding countries. At the same time, the union provides an external constraint that prevents soft authoritarian regimes from progressing into hard dictatorships.[320]

•  European Union portal
•  Europe portal

• Outline of the European Union
• Special member state territories and the European Union
• List of country groupings
• List of multilateral free-trade agreements
• Euroscepticism
• Pan-European nationalism
• Brexit withdrawal agreement
• European Union–United Kingdom free trade agreement
• African Union

1. ^ With the exception of the Canary Islands and Madeira, the outermost regions observe different time zones not shown: Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin (UTC−4); French Guiana (UTC−3); Azores (UTC−1 / UTC); Mayotte (UTC+3); and La Réunion (UTC+4); which, other than the Azores, do not observe DST.
2. ^ .eu is representative of the whole of the EU; member states also have their own TLDs.
3. ^ This figure is from February 2020, and takes account of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. The population of the UK is roughly 0.9% of the world's population.[11]
4. ^ This figure includes the extra-European territories of member states that are part of the European Union, and excludes the European territories of member states which are not part of the Union. For more information, see Special member state territories and the European Union.
5. ^ Reference article dated February 2020,[74] taking survey data from 2012.[75]
6. ^ Native language[76]
7. ^ EU citizens able to hold a conversation in this language[77]
8. ^ See Articles 165 and 166 (ex Articles 149 and 150) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on eur-lex.europa.eu Archived 25 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine
9. ^ Slavic: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Slovak and Slovene. Baltic: Latvian and Lithuanian.
10. ^ French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish.
11. ^ Danish, Dutch, English, German and Swedish.
12. ^ Greek
13. ^ Irish
14. ^ 2021
15. ^ On 3 October 1990, the constituent states of the former German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, automatically becoming part of the EU.
16. ^ a b See Article 288 (ex Article 249 TEC) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on eur-lex.europa.eu Archived 25 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine
17. ^ According to the principle of Direct Effect first invoked in the Court of Justice's decision in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen, Eur-Lex (European Court of Justice 1963). See: Craig and de Búrca, ch. 5.
18. ^ According to the principle of Supremacy as established by the ECJ in Case 6/64, Falminio Costa v. ENEL [1964] ECR 585. See Craig and de Búrca, ch. 7. See also: Factortame litigation: Factortame Ltd. v. Secretary of State for Transport (No. 2) [1991] 1 AC 603, Solange II (Re Wuensche Handelsgesellschaft, BVerfG decision of 22 October 1986 [1987] 3 CMLR 225,265) and Frontini v. Ministero delle Finanze [1974] 2 CMLR 372; Raoul George Nicolo [1990] 1 CMLR 173.
19. ^ See: Case 34/73, Variola v. Amministrazione delle Finanze [1973] ECR 981
20. ^ To do otherwise would require the drafting of legislation which would have to cope with the frequently divergent legal systems and administrative systems of all of the now 28 member states. See Craig and de Búrca, p. 115
21. ^ Article 3(1)(g) of the Treaty of Rome
22. ^ Almost all uranium is imported and nuclear power is considered primary energy produced in the EU.
23. ^ Article 39 (ex Article 33) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on eur-lex.europa.eu
24. ^ "ERM II". Danish Finance Ministry. 20 March 2009. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
25. ^ See Article 2(7) of the Amsterdam Treaty on eur-lex.europa.eu Archived 17 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
26. ^ Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (OJ L 180, 19 July 2000, pp. 22–26); Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ L 303, 2 December 2000, pp. 16–22).
27. ^ and is effectively treated as one of the Copenhagen criteria.Assembly.coe.int. This is a political and not a legal requirement for membership. Archived 26 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
28. ^ The European Convention on Human Rights was previously only open to members of the Council of Europe (Article 59.1 of the Convention), and even now only states may become member of the Council of Europe (Article 4 of the Statute of the Council of Europe).
29. ^ Opinion (2/92) of the European Court of Justice on "Accession by the Community to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" 1996 E.C.R. I-1759 (in French), ruled that the European Community did not have the competence to accede to the ECHR.

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• EUROPA – official web portal
• Historical Archives of the European Union
• Eurostat – European Union Statistics Explained
• CIA World Factbook: European Union. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• The European Union: Questions and Answers Congressional Research Service
• Works by European Union at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about European Union at Internet Archive
• European Union on Nobelprize.org  

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