European+Union

The **European Union** (**EU**) is an economic and [|political union] of 27 [|member states], located primarily in [|Europe]. It was established by the [|Treaty of Maastricht] on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing [|European Economic Community]. With almost 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates an estimated 30% share ([|US$]16.8 trillion in 2007) of the nominal [|gross world product]. The EU has developed a [|single market] through a standardised system of laws which apply in all member states, guaranteeing the [|freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital]. It maintains a common trade policy, [|agricultural] and [|fisheries] policies, and a [|regional development policy]. Sixteen member states have adopted a common currency, the [|euro]. It has developed a role in [|foreign policy], representing its members in the [|World Trade Organisation], at [|G8] summits, and at the [|United Nations]. Twenty-one EU countries are members of [|NATO]. The EU has developed a role in justice and home affairs, including the abolition of passport controls between many member states under the [|Schengen Agreement], which also incorporates non-EU member states. The EU operates through a hybrid system of [|intergovernmentalism] and [|supranationalism]. In certain areas it depends upon agreement between the member states. However, it also has supranational bodies, able to make decisions without unanimity between all national governments. Important institutions and bodies of the EU include the [|European Commission], the [|European Parliament], the [|Council of the European Union], the [|European Council], the [|European Court of Justice] and the [|European Central Bank]. [|EU citizens] elect the Parliament every five years. The EU traces its origins to the [|European Coal and Steel Community] formed among six countries in 1951 and the [|Treaty of Rome] in 1957. Since then the union has grown in size through the accession of new countries, and new policy areas have been added to the remit of the EU's institutions.
 * __EUROPEAN UNION__**