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Verkäufer: anddownthewaterfall ✉️ (33.941) 99.7%, Artikelstandort: Manchester, GB, Versand nach: WORLDWIDE, Artikelnummer: 315390126466 Brexit Gold Silbermünze Britannia Boris Johnson Signatur Europa EU Union Jack. Brexit Commemorative Coin with Boris Johnson Autograph Card This is a Silver & Gold Plated coin to commemorate Brexit when Britain left the European Union Front has a map of the UK with the Union Jack Flag and Europe with the EU Flag with the words "Brexit UK EU Referendum 23 June 2016" The back has an image of Britannia with both the Union Jack and the EU Flag Also included is a Photo card of Boris Signing the Withdrawal agreement plus the back has a agreement with Bo Jos signature The coin is 40mm in diameter, weighs about 1 oz The card is the size of a standard business card 55mm x 85mm Comes in air-tight acrylic coin holder. A Beautiful coin and Magnificent Keepsake Souvenir to Mark the Exit of the United Kingdom from the EU. A Very Special Day in the UKs History In Excellent Condition Sorry about the poor quality photos. They dont do the coin justice which looks a lot better in real life Like all my Auctions...Bidding Starts at 1p..With No Resever Would make an Excellent Present or Collectable Keepsake souvineer of a truelly great and remarkable lady I have a lot of Royal Memorabilia on Ebay so Please Check out my other items ! Bid with Confidence - Check My almost 100% Positive Feedback Check out my other items ! All Payment Methods in All Major Currencies Accepted. Be sure to add me to your favourites list ! All Items Dispatched within 24 hours of Receiving Payment . Thanks for Looking and Best of Luck with the Bidding!! I have sold items to coutries such as Afghanistan * Albania * Algeria * American Samoa (US) * Andorra * Angola * Anguilla (GB) * Antigua and Barbuda * Argentina * Armenia * Aruba (NL) * Australia * Austria * Azerbaijan * Bahamas * Bahrain * Bangladesh * Barbados * Belarus * Belgium * Belize * Benin * Bermuda (GB) * Bhutan * Bolivia * Bonaire (NL) * Bosnia and Herzegovina * Botswana * Bouvet Island (NO) * Brazil * British Indian Ocean Territory (GB) * British Virgin Islands (GB) * Brunei * Bulgaria * Burkina Faso * Burundi * Cambodia * Cameroon * Canada * Cape Verde * Cayman Islands (GB) * Central African Republic * Chad * Chile * China * Christmas Island (AU) * Cocos Islands (AU) * Colombia * Comoros * Congo * Democratic Republic of the Congo * Cook Islands (NZ) * Coral Sea Islands Territory (AU) * Costa Rica * Croatia * Cuba * Curaçao (NL) * Cyprus * Czech Republic * Denmark * Djibouti * Dominica * Dominican Republic * East Timor * Ecuador * Egypt * El Salvador * Equatorial Guinea * 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Svalbard (NO) * Swaziland * Sweden * Switzerland * Syria * Taiwan * Tajikistan * Tanzania * Thailand * Togo * Tokelau (NZ) * Tonga * Trinidad and Tobago * Tunisia * Turkey * Turkmenistan * Turks and Caicos Islands (GB) * Tuvalu * U.S. Minor Pacific Islands (US) * U.S. Virgin Islands (US) * Uganda * Ukraine * United Arab Emirates * United Kingdom * United States * Uruguay * Uzbekistan * Vanuatu * Vatican City * Venezuela * Vietnam * Wallis and Futuna (FR) * Yemen * Zambia * Zimbabwe and major cities such as Tokyo, Yokohama, New York City, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Mexico City, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Manila, Mumbai, Delhi, Jakarta, Lagos, Kolkata, Cairo, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Shanghai, Karachi, Paris, Istanbul, Nagoya, Beijing, Chicago, London, Shenzhen, Essen, Düsseldorf, Tehran, Bogota, Lima, Bangkok, Johannesburg, East Rand, Chennai, Taipei, Baghdad, Santiago, Bangalore, Hyderabad, St Petersburg, Philadelphia, Lahore, Kinshasa, Miami, Ho Chi Minh City, Madrid, Tianjin, Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, Milan, Shenyang, Dallas, Fort Worth, Boston, Belo Horizonte, Khartoum, Riyadh, Singapore, Washington, Detroit, Barcelona,, Houston, Athens, Berlin, Sydney, Atlanta, Guadalajara, San Francisco, Oakland, Montreal, Monterey, Melbourne, Ankara, Recife, Phoenix/Mesa, Durban, Porto Alegre, Dalian, Jeddah, Seattle, Cape Town, San Diego, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Rome, Naples, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Tel Aviv, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Manchester, San Juan, Katowice, Tashkent, f*ckuoka, Baku, Sumqayit, St. Louis, Baltimore, Sapporo, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Taichung, Warsaw, Denver, Cologne, Bonn, Hamburg, Dubai, Pretoria, Vancouver, Beirut, Budapest, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Campinas, Harare, Brasilia, Kuwait, Munich, Portland, Brussels, Vienna, San Jose, Damman , Copenhagen, Brisbane, Riverside, San Bernardino, Cincinnati and Accra Brexit United Kingdom referendum proposal Written by Fact-checked by Last Updated: Mar 26, 2024 • Article History Brexit postal ballot Brexit postal ballot See all media Category: History & Society Date: June 23, 2016 - present Participants: Europe United Kingdom Key People: David Cameron Nigel Farage Philip Hammond Recent News Mar. 26, 2024, 1:53 AM ET (AP) UK farmers in tractors head to Parliament to protest rules they say threaten livelihoods Brexit, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), which formally occurred on January 31, 2020. The term Brexit is a portmanteau coined as shorthand for British exit. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, some 52 percent of those British voters who participated opted to leave the EU, setting the stage for the U.K. to become the first country ever to do so. The details of the separation were negotiated for more than two years following the submission of Britain’s formal request to leave in March 2017, and British Prime Minister Theresa May, whose legacy is inextricably bound to Brexit, was forced to resign in July 2019 after she repeatedly failed to win approval from Parliament for the separation agreement that she had negotiated with the EU. Ultimately, Brexit was accomplished under her successor, Boris Johnson. David Cameron and the Brexit referendum Nigel Farage Nigel Farage United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage unveiling an anti-immigration poster prior to the Brexit vote on June 23, 2016. In 2013, responding to growing Euroskepticism within his Conservative Party, British Prime Minister David Cameron first pledged to conduct a referendum on whether the U.K. should remain in the EU. Even before the surge of immigration in 2015 that resulted from upheaval in the Middle East and Africa, many Britons had become distressed with the influx of migrants from elsewhere in the EU who had arrived through the EU’s open borders. Exploiting this anti-immigrant sentiment, the Nigel Farage-led nationalist United Kingdom Independence Party made big gains in elections largely at the expense of the Conservatives. Euroskeptics in Britain were also alarmed by British financial obligations that had come about as a result of the EU’s response to the euro-zone debt crisis and the bailout of Greece (2009–12). They argued that Britain had relinquished too much of its sovereignty. Moreover, they were fed up with what they saw as excessive EU regulations on consumers, employers, and the environment. The Labour and Liberal Democratic parties generally favoured remaining within the EU, and there were still many Conservatives, Cameron among them, who remained committed to British membership, provided that a minimum of reforms could be secured from the U.K.’s 27 partners in the EU. Having triumphed in the 2015 U.K. general election, Cameron prepared to make good on his promise to hold a referendum on EU membership before 2017, but first he sought to win concessions from the European Council that would address some of the concerns of those Britons who wanted out of the EU (an undertaking Cameron characterized as “Mission Possible”). In February 2016 EU leaders agreed to comply with a number of Cameron’s requests, including, notably, allowing the U.K. to limit benefits for migrant workers during their first four years in Britain, though this so-called “emergency brake” could be applied only for seven years. Britain also was to be exempt from the EU’s “ever-closer union” commitment, was permitted to maintain the pound sterling as its currency, and was reimbursed for money spent on euro-zone bailouts. With that agreement in hand, Cameron scheduled the referendum for June 2016 and took the lead in the “remain” campaign, which focused on an organization called Britain Stronger in Europe and argued for the benefits of participation in the EU’s single market. The “leave” effort, which coalesced around the Vote Leave campaign, was headed up by ex-London mayor Boris Johnson, who was widely seen as a challenger for Cameron’s leadership of the Conservative Party. Johnson repeatedly claimed that the EU had “changed out of all recognition” from the common market that Britain had joined in 1973, and Leavers argued that EU membership prevented Britain from negotiating advantageous trade deals. Both sides made gloom-and-doom proclamations regarding the consequences that would result from their opponents’ triumph, and both sides lined up expert testimony and studies supporting their visions. They also racked up celebrity endorsem*nts that ranged from the powerful (U.S. Pres. Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde on the remain side and former British foreign minister Lord David Owen and Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on the leave side) to the glamorous (actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Sir Patrick Stewart backing the remain effort and actor Sir Michael Caine and former cricket star Ian Botham being in the leave ranks). United Kingdom Brexit referendum United Kingdom Brexit referendum The majority vote by region in the 2016 referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union. Opinion polling on the eve of the referendum showed both sides of the Brexit question fairly evenly divided, but, when the votes were tallied, some 52 percent of those who voted had chosen to leave the EU. Cameron resigned in order to allow his successor to conduct the negotiations on the British departure. In announcing his resignation, he said, “I don’t think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.” Theresa’s May’s Brexit failure The road to the Chequers plan Theresa May and Brexit Theresa May and Brexit British Prime Minister Theresa May signing the official letter of intent to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, March 28, 2017. The delivery of the letter to EU Pres. Donald Tusk the following day marked the formal start of Brexit proceedings. Although Johnson had appeared to be poised to replace Cameron, as events played out, Home Secretary Theresa May became the new leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister in July 2016. May, who had opposed Brexit, came into office promising to see it to completion, On March 29, 2017, she formally submitted a six-page letter to European Council Pres. Donald Tusk invoking article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, thus opening a two-year window for negotiations between the U.K. and the EU over the details of separation. In the letter, May pledged to enter the discussions “constructively and respectfully, in a spirit of sincere cooperation.” She also hoped that a “bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement” would result from the negotiations. Special offer for students! Check out our special academic rate and excel this spring semester! Attempting to secure a mandate for her vision of Brexit, May called a snap election for Parliament for June 2017. Instead of gaining a stronger hand for the Brexit negotiations, however, she saw her Conservative Party lose its governing majority in the House of Commons and become dependent on “confidence and supply” support from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). May’s objective of arriving at a cohesive approach for her government’s Brexit negotiations was further complicated by the wide disagreement that persisted within the Conservative Party both on details related to the British proposal for separation and on the broader issues involved. Despite forceful opposition by “hard” Brexiters, a consensus on the nuts and bolts of the government’s Brexit plan appeared to emerge from a marathon meeting of the cabinet in July at Chequers, the prime minister’s country retreat. The working document produced by that meeting committed Britain to “ongoing harmonization” with EU rules and called for the creation of a “joint institutional framework” under which agreements between the U.K. and the EU would be handled in the U.K. by British courts and in the EU by EU courts. Although the proposal mandated that Britain would regain control over how many people could enter the country, it also outlined a “mobility framework” that would permit British and EU citizens to apply for work and for study in each other’s territories. May’s “softer” approach, grounded in policies aimed at preserving economic ties with the EU, looked to have won the day, but in short order the government’s apparent harmony was disrupted by the resignations of Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Davis (who complained that May’s plan gave up too much, too easily), and foreign secretary Johnson, who wrote in his letter of resignation that the dream of Brexit was being “suffocated by needless self-doubt.” Confronted with the possibility of a vote of confidence on her leadership of the Conservative Party, May reportedly warned fellow Tories to back her Brexit plan or risk handing power to a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government. In November the leaders of the EU’s other member countries formally agreed to the terms of a withdrawal deal (the Chequers plan) that May claimed “delivered for the British people” and set the United Kingdom “on course for a prosperous future.” Under the plan Britain was to satisfy its long-term financial obligations by paying some $50 billion to the EU. Britain’s departure from the EU was set for March 29, 2019, but, according to the agreement, the U.K. would continue to abide by EU rules and regulations until at least December 2020 while negotiations continued on the details of the long-term relationship between the EU and the U.K. The Northern Ireland backstop plan and the challenge to May’s leadership The agreement, which was scheduled for debate by the House of Commons in December, still faced strong opposition in Parliament, not only from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru, and the DUP but also from many Conservatives. Meanwhile, a call for a new referendum on Brexit was gaining traction, but May adamantly refused to consider that option, countering that the British people had already expressed their will. The principal stumbling block for many of the agreement’s opponents was the so-called Northern Ireland backstop plan, which sought to preserve the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement by maintaining an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit. The backstop plan called for a legally binding customs arrangement between the EU and Northern Ireland to go into effect should the U.K. and the EU not reach a long-term agreement by December 2020. Opponents of the backstop were concerned that it created the possibility of effectively establishing a customs border down the Irish Sea by setting up regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. The issue came to the fore in the first week of December, when the government was forced to publish in full Attorney General Geoffrey Cox’s legal advice for the government on the Brexit agreement. In Cox’s opinion, without agreement between the U.K. and the EU, the terms of the backstop plan could persist “indefinitely,” leaving Britain legally prevented from ending the agreement absent EU approval. This controversial issue loomed large as the House of Commons undertook five days of debate in advance of a vote on the Brexit agreement scheduled for December 11. With a humiliating rejection of the agreement by the House of Commons likely, on December 10 May chose to dramatically interrupt the debate after three days and postpone the vote, promising to pursue new assurances from the EU regarding the backstop. The opposition responded by threatening to hold a vote of confidence and to call for an early election, but a more immediate threat to May’s version of Brexit came when a hard-line Brexit faction within the Conservative Party forced a vote on her leadership. Needing the votes of 159 MPs to survive as leader, May received 200, and, under Conservative Party rules, she could not be challenged as party leader for another year. The longer it remained unsettled, the more the matter of Brexit became the defining issue of British politics. With opinions on May’s version of Brexit and on Brexit in general crossing ideological lines, both Labour and the Conservatives were roiling with internecine conflict. Theresa May Theresa May In pursuit of greater support in Parliament for her revised Brexit plan, May secured new promises of cooperation on the backstop plan from EU leaders. Agreement was reached on a “joint legally binding instrument” under which Britain could initiate a “formal dispute” with the EU if the EU were to attempt to keep Britain bound to the backstop plan indefinitely. Another “joint statement” committed the U.K. and the EU to arriving at a replacement for the backstop plan by December 2020. Moreover, a “unilateral declaration” by May’s government stressed that there was nothing to prevent the U.K. from abandoning the backstop should negotiations on an alternative arrangement with the EU collapse without the likelihood of resolution. According to Attorney General Cox, the new assurances reduced the risk of the U.K.’s being indefinitely confined by the backstop agreement, but they did not fundamentally change the agreement’s legal status. Ongoing opposition to May’s revised Brexit plan, deadline extensions, “indicative votes,” and May’s resignation On March 12 the House of Commons again rejected May’s plan (391–242), and the next day it voted 312–308 against a no-deal Brexit—that is, leaving the EU without a deal in place. On March 14 May barely survived a vote that would have robbed her of control of Brexit and given it to Parliament. On March 20 she asked the EU to extend the deadline for Britain’s departure to June 30. The EU responded by delaying the Brexit deadline until May 22 but only if Parliament had accepted May’s withdrawal plan by the week of March 24. In the meantime, on March 23 hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of London demanding that another referendum on Brexit be held. On March 25 the House of Commons voted 329–302 to take control of Parliament’s agenda from the government so as to conduct “indicative votes” on alternative proposals to May’s plan. Eight of those proposals were voted upon on March 27. None of them gained majority support, though a plan that sought to create a “permanent and comprehensive U.K.-wide customs union with the EU” came within six votes of success. That same day May announced that she would resign as party leader and prime minister if the House of Commons were to approve her plan. On March 29 Speaker of the House John Bercow invoked a procedural rule that limited that day’s vote to the withdrawal agreement portion of May’s plan (thus excluding the “political declaration” that addressed the U.K. and EU’s long-term relationship). This time the vote was closer than previous votes had been (286 in support and 344 in opposition), but the plan still went down in defeat. Time was running out. By April 12 the U.K. had to decide whether it would leave the EU without an agreement on that day or request a longer delay that would require it to participate in elections for the European Parliament. May asked the EU to extend the deadline for Brexit until June 30, and on April 11 the European Council granted the U.K. a “flexible extension” until October 31. After failing to win sufficient support from Conservatives for her Brexit plan, May entered discussions with Labour leaders on a possible compromise, but these efforts also came up empty. May responded by proposing a new version of the plan that included a temporary customs relationship with the EU and a promise to hold a parliamentary vote on whether another referendum on Brexit should be staged. Her cabinet revolted, and on May 24 May announced that she would step down as party leader on June 7 but would remain as caretaker premier until the Conservatives had chosen her successor. Boris Johnson and the Brexit finish line Boris Johnson Boris Johnson Boris Johnson speaking at a Vote Leave rally in London, June 2016. May’s successor as party leader and prime minister, Boris Johnson, promised to remove the U.K. from the EU without an exit agreement if the deal May had negotiated was not altered to his satisfaction; however, he faced broad opposition (even among Conservatives) to his advocacy of a no-deal Brexit. Johnson’s political maneuvering (including proroguing Parliament just weeks before the revised October 31 departure deadline) was strongly countered by legislative measures advanced by those opposed to leaving the EU without an agreement in place. In early September a vote of the House of Commons forced the new prime minister to request a delay of the British withdrawal from the EU until January 31, 2020, despite the fact that on October 22 the House approved, in principle, the agreement that Johnson had negotiated, which replaced the backstop with the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, a plan to keep Northern Ireland aligned with the EU for at least four years from the end of the transition period. Boris Johnson Boris Johnson Boris Johnson speaks at a cabinet meeting in 2021. In search of a mandate for his vision of Brexit, Johnson tried and failed several times to call a snap election. Because the election would fall outside the five-year term stipulated by the Fixed Terms of Parliament Act, Johnson needed opposition support to achieve the approval of two-thirds of the House of Commons required for the election to be held. Finally, after the possibility of no-deal Brexit was blocked, Labour leader Corbyn agreed to allow British voters once again to decide the fate of Brexit. In the election, held on December 12, 2019, the Conservatives recorded their most decisive victory since 1987, adding 48 seats to secure a solid Parliamentary majority of 365 seats and setting the stage for the realization of a Johnson-style Brexit. At 11:00 pm London time on January 31, the United Kingdom formally withdrew from the European Union. The freedom to work and move freely between the U.K. and the EU became a thing of the past. Although Britain’s formal departure from the EU was completed, final details relating to a new trade deal between the U.K. and the EU remained to be resolved. On December 24, 2020, the December 31 deadline for that resolution was only barely met. The resultant 2,000-page agreement clarified that there would be no limits or taxes on goods sold between U.K. and EU parties; however, an extensive regimen of paperwork for such transactions and transport of goods was put in place. In June 2022 Johnson sought to jettison part of the trade agreement, introducing legislation in Parliament that would remove checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from elsewhere in the U.K. The Johnson government averred that overly stringent application of the customs rules by the EU was undermining business and threatening peace in Northern Ireland. Unionists had complained that these customs checks were jeopardizing Northern Ireland’s relationship with the rest of the U.K., and the DUP refused to re-enter Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive until the checks were eliminated. Opponents of Johnson’s action, including May, argued that the move was illegal, and the EU threatened retaliation. European Union Article Talk Read View source View history Tools Page semi-protected From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "EU" redirects here. For other uses, see EU (disambiguation). This article is about the principal framework for European political integration since World War II. For a more general description of the same phenomenon, which also includes other organisations established in the same period, see European integration. European Union (in other official languages) Circle of 12 gold stars on a blue background Flag Motto: "In Varietate Concordia" (Latin) "United in Diversity" Anthem: "Anthem of Europe" Duration: 1 minute and 1 second.1:01 Show globe Show special territories Show all Location of the European Union (dark green) in Europe (dark grey) Capital Brussels (de facto)[1] Institutional seats Brussels Frankfurt Luxembourg Strasbourg Largest metropolis Paris Official languages 24 languages Official scripts LatinGreekCyrillic Religion (2015)[2] 71.6% Christianity 45.3% Catholic 11.1% Protestant 9.6% Eastern Orthodox 5.6% other Christian 24.0% no religion 1.8% Islam 2.6% other Demonym(s) European Type Continental union Membership 27 members Government Mixed intergovernmental directorial parliamentary confederation • President of the European Council Charles Michel • President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen • Presidency of the Council of the European Union Belgium[3] • President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola Legislature The European Parliament and the Council • Upper house Council of the European Union • Lower house European Parliament Formation[4] • Treaty of Paris 18 April 1951 • Treaty of Rome 1 January 1958 • Single European Act 1 July 1987 • Treaty of Maastricht 1 November 1993 • Treaty of Lisbon 1 December 2009 Area • Total 4,233,262 km2 (1,634,472 sq mi) • Water (%) 3.08 Population • 2023 estimate Neutral increase 448,387,872[5] • Density 106/km2 (274.5/sq mi) GDP (PPP) 2023 estimate • Total Increase $25.399 trillion[6] • Per capita Increase $56,928[6] GDP (nominal) 2023 estimate • Total Increase $17.818 trillion[6] • Per capita Increase $39,940 Gini (2020) Positive decrease 30.0[7] medium Currency Euro (€) (EUR) Others Time zone UTC to UTC+2 (WET, CET, EET) • Summer (DST) UTC+1 to UTC+3 (WEST, CEST, EEST) (see also Summer time in Europe)[a] Internet TLD .eu, .ею, .ευ[b] Website europa.eu The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.[8][9] The Union has a total area of 4,233,255 km2 (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 448 million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity (without precedent or comparison) combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.[10][11] Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020,[c] EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$16.6 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately one sixth of global nominal GDP.[13] Additionally, all EU states except Bulgaria have a very high Human Development Index according to the United Nations Development Programme. Its cornerstone, the Customs Union, paved the way to establishing an internal single market based on standardised legal framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market;[14] enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade,[15] agriculture,[16] fisheries and regional development.[17] Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area.[18] The eurozone is a group composed of the 20 EU member states that have fully implemented the economic and monetary union and use the euro currency. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the union has developed a role in external relations and defence. It maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7 and the G20. Due to its global influence, the European Union has been described by some scholars as an emerging superpower.[19][20][21] The EU was established, along with its citizenship, when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993, and was incorporated as an international legal juridical person[clarification needed] upon entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009.[22] Its beginnings can be traced to the Inner Six states (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany) at the start of modern European integration in 1948, and to the W/Union, the International Authority for the Ruhr, the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, which were established by treaties. These increasingly amalgamated bodies grew, with their legal successor the EU, both in size through the accessions of a further 22 states from 1973 to 2013, and in power through acquisitions of policy areas. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[23] The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU, in 2020;[24] ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it. Etymology Main article: Europe This paragraph is an excerpt from Europe § Name.[edit] The place name Evros was first used by the ancient Greeks to refer to their northernmost province, which bears the same name today. The principal river there – Evros (today's Maritsa) – flows through the fertile valleys of Thrace,[25] which it self was also called Europe, before the term meant the continent.[26] History 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 Background: World Wars and aftermath Further information: Ideas of European unity before 1948 Internationalism and visions of European unity had been around since well before the 19th century, but gained particularly as a reaction to World War I and its aftermath. In this light first advances for the idea of European integration were made. In 1920 John Maynard Keynes proposed a European customs union for the struggling post-war European economies,[27] and in 1923 the oldest organization for European integration, the Paneuropean Union was founded, led by Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, who later would found in June 1947 the European Parliamentary Union (EPU). As French prime minister and follower of the Paneuropean Union Aristide Briand (Nobel Peace Prize laureate for the Locarno Treaties) delivered a widely recognized speech at the League of Nations in Geneva on 5 September 1929 for a federal Europe to secure Europe and settle the historic Franco-German enmity.[28][29] With large scale war being waged in Europe once again in the 1930s and becoming World War II, the question of what to fight against and what for, had to be agreed on. A first agreement was the Declaration of St James's Palace of 1941, when Europe's resistance gathered in London. This was expanded on by the 1941 Atlantic Charter, establishing the Allies and their common goals, inciting a new wave of global international institutions like the United Nations (founded 1945) or the Bretton Woods System (1944).[30] During the 1943 Moscow Conference and Tehran Conference plans to establish joint institutions for a post-war world and Europe became increasingly an agenda. This led to a decision at the Yalta Conference in 1944 to form a European Advisory Commission, later replaced by the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Allied Control Council, following the German surrender and the Potsdam Agreement in 1945. By the end of the war European integration became seen as an antidote to the extreme nationalism which caused the war.[31] On 19 September 1946 in a much recognized speech Winston Churchill reiterated his calls since 1930 for a "European Union" and "Council of Europe", at the University of Zürich, coincidentally[32] parallel to the Hertenstein Congress of the Union of European Federalists,[33] one of the then founded and later constituting members of the European Movement. One month later the French Union was installed by the new Fourth French Republic to direct the decolonization of its colonies so that they would become parts of a European community.[34] Though by 1947 a growing rift between the western Allied Powers and the Soviet Union became evident as a result of the rigged 1947 Polish legislative election, which constituted an open breach of the Yalta Agreement. This was followed by the announcement of the Truman Doctrine on 12 March 1947, and on 4 March 1947, the signing of the Treaty of Dunkirk between France and the United Kingdom for mutual assistance, in the event of future military aggression against any of the pair. The rationale for the treaty was the threat of a potential future military attack, specifically a Soviet one in practice, though publicised under the disguise of a German one, according to the official statements. 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 and its incapacitation, an event marking the beginning of the Cold War. The remainder of the year 1948 marked the beginning of institutionalised European integration. Initial years and the Paris Treaty (1948 – 1957) Main article: History of European integration (1948–1957) Duration: 28 seconds.0:28Subtitles available.CC An excerpt of the Schuman Declaration, by Robert Schuman on the 9 May 1950 (Europe Day) Treaty of Paris (1951), establishing the ECSC The year 1948 marked the beginning of the institutionalised modern European integration. In March 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed, establishing the W/Union (WU), followed by the International Authority for the Ruhr. Furthermore, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), 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[35] and most importantly to the foundation of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949 (which is now 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 was 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.[36] 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.[37] 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.[38] 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 WUnion into the Western European Union (WEU). West Germany eventually joined both the WEU and NATO in 1955, prompting the Soviet Union to form the Warsaw Pact in 1955 as an institutional framework for its military domination 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 (1958 – 1972) Main article: History of the European Communities (1958–1972) Signing ceremony of the Treaty of Rome (1957), establishing the ECC 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 cooperation in developing nuclear power. Both treaties came into force in 1958.[38] Although the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, 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 (Hirsch Commission).[39][40] The OEEC was in turn reformed in 1961 into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its membership was extended to states outside of Europe, the United States 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.[41][42] Jean Rey presided over the first merged commission (Rey Commission).[43] First enlargement and European co-operation (1973 – 1993) Main article: History of the European Communities (1973–1993) Gerald Ford and the American delegation at the CSCE (1975) In 1973, the communities were enlarged to include Denmark (including Greenland), Ireland, and the United Kingdom.[44] Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum. The Ostpolitik and the ensuing détente led to establishment of a first truly pan-European body, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), predecessor of the modern Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1979, the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held.[45] Greece joined in 1981. In 1985, Greenland left the Communities, following a dispute over fishing rights. During the same year, the Schengen Agreement paved the way for the creation of open borders without passport controls between most member states and some non-member states.[46] In 1986, the Single European Act was signed. Portugal and Spain joined in 1986.[47] In 1990, after the fall of the Eastern Bloc, the former East Germany became part of the communities as part of a reunified Germany.[48] Treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice (1993 – 2004) Main article: History of the European Union (1993–2004) Maastricht Treaty (1992), establishing the EU The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty—whose main architects were Horst Köhler,[49] Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand—came into force on 1 November 1993.[22][50] 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.[51] 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 20 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.[52] Treaty of Lisbon and Brexit (2004 – present) Main article: History of the European Union (2004–present) Signing ceremony of the Treaty of Lisbon (2007) The ancient Roman Agora in Athens illuminated with a Next Generation EU sign In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became EU members. Later that year, Slovenia adopted the euro,[52] 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.[53][54] 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".[55][56] In 2013, Croatia became the 28th EU member.[57] 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.[58] 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.[59] 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 31 December 2020.[60] The early 2020s saw Denmark abolishing one of its three opt-outs and Croatia adopting the Euro. After the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU leaders agreed for the first time to create common debt to finance the European Recovery Program called Next Generation EU (NGEU).[61] On 24 February 2022, after massing on the borders of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces undertook an attempt for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.[62][63] The European Union imposed heavy sanctions on Russia and agreed on a pooled military aid package to Ukraine for lethal weapons funded via the European Peace Facility off-budget instrument.[64] Preparing the Union for a new great enlargement is a political priority for the Union, with the goal of achieving over 35 member states by 2030. Institutional and budgetary reforms are being discussed in order to the Union to be ready for the new members.[65][66][67][68] Timeline Since the end of World War II, sovereign European countries have entered into treaties and thereby co-operated and harmonised policies (or pooled sovereignty) in an increasing number of areas, in the European integration project or the construction of Europe (French: la construction européenne). The following timeline outlines the legal inception of the European Union (EU)—the principal framework for this unification. The EU inherited many of its present responsibilities from the European Communities (EC), which were founded in the 1950s in the spirit of the Schuman Declaration. Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside European Union (EU) [Cont.] European Communities (EC) (Pillar I) European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) [Cont.] / / / European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (Distr. of competences) European Economic Community (EEC) Schengen Rules European Community (EC) 'TREVI' Justice and Home Affairs (JHA, pillar II) / North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) [Cont.] Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC, pillar II) Anglo-French alliance [Defence arm handed to NATO] European Political Co-operation (EPC) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP, pillar III) WUnion (WU) / Western European Union (WEU) [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU] [Social, cultural tasks handed to CoE] [Cont.] vte Council of Europe (CoE) Entente Cordiale S: 8 April 1904 Dunkirk Treaty[i] S: 4 March 1947 F: 8 September 1947 E: 8 September 1997 Brussels Treaty[i] S: 17 March 1948 F: 25 August 1948 T: 30 June 2011 London and Washington treaties[i] S: 5 May/4 April 1949 F: 3 August/24 August 1949 Paris treaties: ECSC and EDC[ii] S: 18 April 1951/27 May 1952 F: 23 July 1952/— E: 23 July 2002/— Protocol Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty[i] S: 23 October 1954 F: 6 May 1955 Rome treaties: EEC and EAEC S: 25 March 1957 F: 1 January 1958 WEU-CoE agreement[i] S: 21 October 1959 F: 1 January 1960 Brussels (Merger) Treaty[iii] S: 8 April 1965 F: 1 July 1967 Davignon report S: 27 October 1970 European Council conclusions S: 2 December 1975 Single European Act (SEA) S: 17/28 February 1986 F: 1 July 1987 Schengen Treaty and Convention S: 14 June 1985/19 June 1990 F: 26 March 1995 Maastricht Treaty[iv][v] S: 7 February 1992 F: 1 November 1993 Amsterdam Treaty S: 2 October 1997 F: 1 May 1999 Nice Treaty S: 26 February 2001 F: 1 February 2003 Lisbon Treaty[vi] S: 13 December 2007 F: 1 December 2009 Politics Main article: Politics of the European Union The European Union operates through a hybrid system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making,[69][70] and according to the principle 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.[71] 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).[d] 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 the EU level by special interest groups is regulated to try to balance the aspirations of private initiatives with public interest decision-making process.[72] Budget Main article: Budget of the European Union EU funding programmes 2014–2020 (€1,087 billion)[73] 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 €170.6 billion in 2022, The EU had a long-term budget of €1,082.5 billion for the period 2014–2020, representing 1.02% of the EU-28's GNI. In 1960, the budget of the European Community was 0.03 per cent of GDP.[74] Of this, €54bn subsidised agriculture enterprise, €42bn was spent on transport, building and the environment, €16bn on education and research, €13bn on welfare, €20bn on foreign and defence policy, €2bn in finance, €2bn in energy, €1.5bn in communications, and €13bn in administration. 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.[75][76][needs update] 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.[77] 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, Institutions of the European Union, and Subsidiarity (European Union) § EU competences Member states retain in principle all powers except those that they have agreed collectively to delegate to the Union as a whole, though the exact delimitation has on occasions become a subject of scholarly or legal disputes.[citation needed] In certain fields, members have awarded exclusive competence and exclusive mandate to the Union. These are areas in which member states have entirely renounced their own capacity to enact legislation. In other areas, the EU and its member states share the competence to legislate. While both can legislate, the 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.[78] 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 into the following three categories: Foreign relations Main article: Foreign relations of the European Union See also: European External Action Service Portrait of Josep Borrell Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy 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.[107] Steps for 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.[108] The stated 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.[109] 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.[110] 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[111] 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.[112] The EEAS serves as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the European Union.[113] 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.[114]: 762 This influence on the internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".[115] 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.[116] 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).[117] The EU's external action financing is divided into 'geographic' instruments and 'thematic' instruments.[117] 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.[117] 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.[117][118] 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.[119] International cooperation and development partnerships Main articles: Directorate-General for International Partnerships, ACP–EU development cooperation, European Solidarity Corps, European Union Global Strategy, European Neighbourhood Policy, Global Europe, and European Political Community Eastern Partnership Summit 2017, Brussels 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. Union for the Mediterranean meeting in Barcelona 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.[120] 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.[121] Defence Main article: Common Security and Defence Policy See also: Frontex, European Defence Agency, European Union Institute for Security Studies, and European Union Satellite Centre Map showing European membership of the EU and NATO EU member only NATO member only EU and NATO member Coat of arms of the Military Staff 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.[122] 22 EU members are members of NATO[123] and Sweden is in the process of accession while the remaining member states follow policies of neutrality.[124] The Western European Union, a military alliance with a mutual defence clause, closed in 2011[125] as its role had been transferred to the EU.[126] 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.[127] The EU Strategic Compass adopted in 2022 reaffirmed the bloc's partnership with NATO, committed to increased military mobility and formation of a 5,000-strong EU Rapid Deployment Capacity[128] 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.[129] Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium participate in NATO nuclear sharing.[130] Most EU member states opposed the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty.[131] EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from middle and northern Africa to the western Balkans and western Asia.[132] 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.[133] 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.[134] 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.[135] 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.[18] Member states Main article: Member state of the European Union Map showing the member states of the European Union (clickable) Through successive enlargements, the EU and its predecessors have grown from the six founding states of the EEC to 27 members. Countries accede to the union by becoming a 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".[136][137] In some policies, there are several member states that ally with strategic partners within the union. Examples of such alliances include the Baltic Assembly, the Benelux Union, the Bucharest Nine, the Craiova Group, the EU Med Group, the Lublin Triangle, the New Hanseatic League, the Three Seas Initiative, the Visegrád Group, and the Weimar Triangle. 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.[138] 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.[139][140] 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.[141] List of member states State Accession to EU Accession to EU predecessor Population[j][142] Area Population density MEPs People/MEP Austria 1 January 1995 8,978,929 83,855 km2 (32,377 sq mi) 107/km2 (280/sq mi) 19 472575 Belgium Founder (1993) 23 July 1952 11,617,623 30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi) 381/km2 (990/sq mi) 21 553220 Bulgaria 1 January 2007 6,838,937 110,994 km2 (42,855 sq mi) 62/km2 (160/sq mi) 17 402290 Croatia 1 July 2013 3,862,305 56,594 km2 (21,851 sq mi) 68/km2 (180/sq mi) 12 321859 Cyprus 1 May 2004 904,705 9,251 km2 (3,572 sq mi) 98/km2 (250/sq mi) 6 150784 Czech Republic 1 May 2004 10,516,707 78,866 km2 (30,450 sq mi) 133/km2 (340/sq mi) 21 500796 Denmark Founder (1993) 1 January 1973 5,873,420 43,075 km2 (16,631 sq mi) 136/km2 (350/sq mi) 14 419530 Estonia 1 May 2004 1,331,796 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi) 29/km2 (75/sq mi) 7 190257 Finland 1 January 1995 5,548,241 338,424 km2 (130,666 sq mi) 16/km2 (41/sq mi) 14 396303 France Founder (1993) 23 July 1952 67,871,925 640,679 km2 (247,368 sq mi) 106/km2 (270/sq mi) 79 859138 Germany Founder (1993) 23 July 1952[k] 83,237,124 357,021 km2 (137,847 sq mi) 233/km2 (600/sq mi) 96 867053 Greece Founder (1993) 1 January 1981 10,459,782 131,990 km2 (50,960 sq mi) 79/km2 (200/sq mi) 21 498085 Hungary 1 May 2004 9,689,010 93,030 km2 (35,920 sq mi) 104/km2 (270/sq mi) 21 461381 Ireland Founder (1993) 1 January 1973 5,060,004 70,273 km2 (27,133 sq mi) 72/km2 (190/sq mi) 13 389231 Italy Founder (1993) 23 July 1952 59,030,133 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) 196/km2 (510/sq mi) 76 776712 Latvia 1 May 2004 1,875,757 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi) 29/km2 (75/sq mi) 8 234470 Lithuania 1 May 2004 2,805,998 65,200 km2 (25,200 sq mi) 43/km2 (110/sq mi) 11 255091 Luxembourg Founder (1993) 23 July 1952 645,397 2,586 km2 (998 sq mi) 250/km2 (650/sq mi) 6 107566 Malta 1 May 2004 520,971 316 km2 (122 sq mi) 1,649/km2 (4,270/sq mi) 6 86829 Netherlands Founder (1993) 23 July 1952 17,590,672 41,543 km2 (16,040 sq mi) 423/km2 (1,100/sq mi) 29 606575 Poland 1 May 2004 37,654,247 312,685 km2 (120,728 sq mi) 120/km2 (310/sq mi) 52 724120 Portugal Founder (1993) 1 January 1986 10,352,042 92,390 km2 (35,670 sq mi) 112/km2 (290/sq mi) 21 492954 Romania 1 January 2007 19,042,455 238,391 km2 (92,043 sq mi) 80/km2 (210/sq mi) 33 577044 Slovakia 1 May 2004 5,434,712 49,035 km2 (18,933 sq mi) 111/km2 (290/sq mi) 14 388194 Slovenia 1 May 2004 2,107,180 20,273 km2 (7,827 sq mi) 104/km2 (270/sq mi) 8 263398 Spain Founder (1993) 1 January 1986 47,432,893 504,030 km2 (194,610 sq mi) 94/km2 (240/sq mi) 59 803947 Sweden 1 January 1995 10,452,326 449,964 km2 (173,732 sq mi) 23/km2 (60/sq mi) 21 497730 27 total 446,735,291 4,233,262 km2 (1,634,472 sq mi) 106/km2 (270/sq mi) 705 633667 Subdivisions Main article: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics Subdivisions of member-states are based on the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), a geocode standard for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003, is developed and regulated by the European Union, and thus only covers the member states of the EU in detail. The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics is instrumental in the European Union's Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund delivery mechanisms and for locating the area where goods and services subject to European public procurement legislation are to be delivered. Maps of Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) subdivisions (prior to 2018, including non-EU member states) NUTS 1 NUTS 1 NUTS 2 NUTS 2 NUTS 3 NUTS 3 Schengen Area Main article: Schengen Area Map of the Schengen Area Schengen Area Countries de facto participating Members of the EU committed by treaty to join the Schengen Area in the future The Schengen Area is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice policy of the EU, 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. Of the 27 EU member states, 23 participate in the Schengen Area. Of the four EU members that are not part of the Schengen Area, three—Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Romania—are legally obligated to join the area in the future; Ireland maintains an opt-out, and instead operates its own visa policy. The four European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, are not members of the EU, but have signed agreements in association with the Schengen Agreement. Also, three European microstates—Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City—maintain open borders for passenger traffic with their neighbours, and are therefore considered de facto members of the Schengen Area due to the practical impossibility of travelling to or from them without transiting through at least one Schengen member country. Candidate countries Main article: Potential enlargement of the European Union There are nine countries that are recognised as candidates for membership: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine.[143][144][145][146][147] Norway, Switzerland and Iceland have submitted membership applications in the past, but subsequently frozen or withdrawn them.[148] Additionally Kosovo is officially recognised as a potential candidate,[143][149] and submitted a membership application.[150] Former members 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;[151] 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. Geography Main article: Geography of the European Union Topographic map of Europe (EU highlighted) The EU's member states cover an area of 4,233,262 square kilometres (1,634,472 sq mi),[l] and therefore a large part of the European continent. The EU's highest peak is Mont Blanc in the Graian Alps, 4,810.45 metres (15,782 ft) above sea level.[152] The lowest points in the EU are Lammefjorden, Denmark, and Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands, at 7 m (23 ft) below sea level.[153] The landscape, climate, and economy of the EU are influenced by its coastline, which is 65,993 kilometres (41,006 mi) long. In addition to national territories in Europe, there are 32 special territories of members of the European Economic Area, not all of which are part of the EU. The largest by area is Greenland, which is not part of the EU but whose citizens are EU citizens, while the largest by population are the Canary Islands off Africa, which are part of the EU and the Schengen area. French Guiana in South America is part of the EU and the Eurozone, as is Mayotte, north of Madagascar. Climate Main article: Climate of Europe A Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Europe (including non-EU member states) The climate of the European Union is of a temperate, continental nature, with a maritime climate prevailing on the western coasts and a mediterranean climate in the south. The climate is strongly conditioned by the Gulf Stream, which warms the western region to levels unattainable at similar latitudes on other continents. Western Europe is oceanic, while eastern Europe is continental and dry. Four seasons occur in western Europe, while southern Europe experiences a wet season and a dry season. Southern Europe is hot and dry during the summer months. The heaviest precipitation occurs downwind of water bodies due to the prevailing westerlies, with higher amounts also seen in the Alps. Environment Main article: Climate change in Europe See also: European Environment Agency Increase of average yearly temperature in selected cities in Europe (1900–2017)[154] In 1957, when the European Economic Community was founded, it had no environmental policy.[155] 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.[155] 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.[156] European policy-makers originally increased the EU's capacity to act on environmental issues by defining it as a trade problem.[155] Trade barriers and competitive distortions in the Common Market could emerge due to the different environmental standards in each member state.[157] 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.[156] 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,[158] 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.[155] 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.[156] 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.[159] In 2017, the EU emitted 9.1 per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.[160] The European Union claims that already in 2018, its GHG emissions were 23% lower than in 1990.[161] The EU has adopted an emissions trading system to incorporate carbon emissions into the economy.[162] 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.[163] 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.[164] 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.[165] Also in the same year, 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.[166] Economy Main article: Economy of the European Union GDP (PPP) per capita in 2021 (including non-EU countries) The gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of economic activity, of EU member states was US$16.64 trillion in 2022, around 16.6 percent of the world GDP.[167] There is a significant variation in GDP per capita between and 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.[168] EU member states own the estimated third largest after the United States (US$140 trillion) and China (US$84 trillion) net wealth in the world, equal to around one sixth (US$76 trillion) of the US$454 trillion global wealth.[169] Of the top 500 largest corporations in the world measured by revenue in 2010, 161 had their headquarters in the EU.[170] In 2016, unemployment in the EU stood at 8.9 per cent[171] 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 €25,000[172] in 2021. Economic and monetary union Main article: Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union Economic and Monetary Union Members of the Eurozone ERM II member ERM II member with opt-out (Denmark) Other EU members The Euro is the official currency in 20 member states of the EU. 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. Capital Markets Union and financial institutions Main articles: Capital Markets Union, European System of Financial Supervision, and European Stability Mechanism See also: European Banking Authority, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, European Securities and Markets Authority, and Single Resolution Board European Investment Bank. Free movement of capital is intended to permit movement of investments such as property purchases and buying of shares between countries.[173] 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.[174] Eurozone and banking union Main articles: Eurozone and European banking union See also: Eurosystem and Eurogroup Euro banknotes from the Europa series (since 2013) 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 20 countries.[175][176] The 20 EU member states known collectively as the eurozone have fully implemented the currency union by superseding their national currencies with the euro. The currency union represents 345 million EU citizens.[177] The euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar.[178][179][180] The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it in agreement with the EU, are under the control of the ECB.[181] 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.[182] The ECB is also the central institution of the Banking Union established within the eurozone, as the hub of European Banking Supervision. There is also a Single Resolution Mechanism in case of a bank default. Trade As a political entity, the European Union is represented in the World Trade Organization (WTO). 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. Single market Main article: European single market Further information: Digital Single Market European Single Market EU member states Non-EU states which participate The single market involves the free circulation of goods, capital, people, and services within the EU,[177] 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.[183] According to the treaty the provision of services is a residual freedom that only applies if no other freedom is being exercised. Customs union Main article: European Union Customs Union European Customs Union EU member states Non-EU states which participate 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.[139] Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU.[184] 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.[185] External trade Main article: Common Commercial Policy (EU) EU Free trade agreements European Union Agreement in force Agreement (in part) provisionally applied Agreement signed, but not applied Agreement initialed, not signed Agreement being negotiated Agreement negotiations on hold/suspended The European Union has concluded free trade agreements (FTAs)[186] and other agreements with a trade component with many countries worldwide and is negotiating with many others.[187] The European Union's services trade surplus rose from $16 billion in 2000 to more than $250 billion in 2018.[188] In 2020, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, China became the EU's largest trading partner, displacing the United States.[189] The European Union is the largest exporter in the world[190] and in 2008 was the largest importer of goods and services.[191][192] 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.[185] Competition and consumer protection Main articles: European Union competition law and European consumer law See also: European Union Intellectual Property Office The EU operates a competition policy intended to ensure undistorted competition within the single market.[m] 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 See also: European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators Total energy supply (2019)[195] Oil (31.7%) Natural gas (24.7%) Coal (10.9%) Nuclear (13.2%) Biofuels, waste, electricity, heat (19.4%) Energy Community. The total energy supply of the EU was 59 billion GJ in 2019, about 10.2 per cent of the world total. Approximately three fifths of the energy available in the EU came from imports (mostly of fossil fuels). Renewable energy contributed 18.1 per cent of the EU's total energy supply in 2019, and 11.1 per cent of the final energy consumption.[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[198] 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[199] and 97.48 per cent of their uranium[200] 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] Transport Main article: Transport in the European Union Further information: Trans-European Transport Network See also: European Union Aviation Safety Agency, European Maritime Safety Agency, and European Union Agency for Railways Map of the Trans-European Transport Network The European Union manages cross-border road, railway, airport and water infrastructure through the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), created in 1990,[205] and the Trans-European Combined Transport network. TEN-T comprises two network layers: the Core Network, which is to be completed by 2030; and the Comprehensive Network, which is to be completed by 2050. The network is currently made up of 9 core corridors: the Baltic–Adriatic Corridor, the North Sea–Baltic Corridor, the Mediterranean Corridor, the Orient/East–Med Corridor, the Scandinavian–Mediterranean Corridor, the Rhine–Alpine Corridor, the Atlantic Corridor, the North Sea–Mediterranean Corridor, and the Rhine–Danube Corridor. Road transportation was organized under the TEN-T by the Trans-European road network. Bundesautobahn 7 is the longest national motorway in the EU at 963 km (598 mi). Satellite photo of the Port of Rotterdam Maritime transportation is organized under the TEN-T by the Trans-European Inland Waterway network, and the Trans-European Seaport network. European seaports are categorized as international, community, or regional. The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest in the EU, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands.[206][207] The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), founded in 2002 in Lisbon, Portugal, is charged with reducing the risk of maritime accidents, marine pollution from ships and the loss of human lives at sea by helping to enforce the pertinent EU legislation. Air transportation is organized under the TEN-T by the Trans-European Airport network. European airports are categorized as international, community, or regional. The Charles de Gaulle Airport is the busiest in the EU, located in and near the city of Paris, in France.[208] The European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) is a single market in aviation. ECAA agreements were signed on 5 May 2006 in Salzburg, Austria between the EU and some third countries. The ECAA liberalises the air transport industry by allowing any company from any ECAA member state to fly between any ECAA member states airports, thereby allowing a "foreign" airline to provide domestic flights. The Single European Sky (SES) is an initiative that seeks to reform the European air traffic management system through a series of actions carried out in four different levels (institutional, operational, technological and control and supervision) with the aim of satisfying the needs of the European airspace in terms of capacity, safety, efficiency and environmental impact. Civil aviation safety is under the responsibility of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitoring. The idea of a European-level aviation safety authority goes back to 1996, but the agency was only legally established in 2002, and began operating in 2003. Rail transportation is organized under the TEN-T by the Trans-European Rail network, made up of the high-speed rail network and the conventional rail network. The Gare du Nord railway station is the busiest in the EU, located in and near the city of Paris, in France.[209][210] Rail transport in Europe is being synchronised with the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) with the goal of greatly enhancing safety, increase efficiency of train transports and enhance cross-border interoperability. This is done by replacing former national signalling equipment and operational procedures with a single new Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems. This system is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA). Transport documents used in the European Union European driving licence (Croatian version pictured) European driving licence (Croatian version pictured) European vehicle registration plate (Slovak version pictured) European vehicle registration plate (Slovak version pictured) European disabled parking permit (Polish version pictured) European disabled parking permit (Polish version pictured) Telecommunications and space Main articles: Telecommunications in the European Union and European Union Space Programme Further information: European Union roaming regulations See also: Agency for Support for BEREC, European Union Agency for the Space Programme, and European Space Agency Mobile communication roaming charges are abolished throughout the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Galileo control centre in Oberpfaffenhofen The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, was established in 2021 to manage the European Union Space Programme in order to implement the pre-existing European Space Policy, established on 22 May 2007 between the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA), known collectively as the European Space Council. This was the first common political framework for space activities established by the EU. Each member state has pursued to some extent their own national space policy, though often co-ordinating through the ESA. Günter Verheugen, the European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, has stated that even though the EU is "a world leader in the technology, it is being put on the defensive by the United States and Russia and that it only has about a 10-year technological advantage on China and India, which are racing to catch up." Galileo is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that went live in 2016, created by the EU through the ESA, operated by the EUSPA, with two ground operations centres in Fucino, Italy, and Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. The €10 billion project is named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. One of the aims of Galileo is to provide an independent high-precision positioning system so European political and military authorities do not have to rely on the US GPS, or the Russian GLONASS systems, which could be disabled or degraded by their operators at any time. The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) developed by the ESA and EUROCONTROL. Currently, it supplements the GPS by reporting on the reliability and accuracy of their positioning data and sending out corrections. The system will supplement Galileo in a future version. The Copernicus Programme is the EU's Earth observation programme coordinated and managed by EUSPA in partnership with ESA. It aims at achieving a global, continuous, autonomous, high quality, wide range Earth observation capacity, providing accurate, timely and easily accessible information to, among other things, improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change, and ensure civil security. Agriculture and fisheries Main articles: Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy See also: European Fisheries Control Agency and European Food Safety Authority The EU's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). At 25 million square kilometres, it is the largest in the world.[211] The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Union. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce the EEC budget cost (from 73% in 1985 to 37% in 2017) and consider rural development in its aims. It has, however, been criticised on the grounds of its cost and its environmental and humanitarian effects. Likewise, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union. It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions and fishing subsidies. It was introduced in 2009 with the Treaty of Lisbon, which formally enshrined fisheries conservation policy as one of the handful of "exclusive competences" reserved for the European Union. Regional development Main article: Regional policy of the European Union See also: European Committee of the Regions and European Investment Bank Classification of regions from 2021 to 2027 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.[212][213] 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. Labour See also: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, European Labour Authority, European Training Foundation, and 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). The European Union has long sought to mitigate the effects of free markets by protecting workers' rights and preventing social and environmental dumping.[citation needed] 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. The European Directive about Minimum Wage, which looks to lift minimum wages and strengthen collective bargaining was approved by the European Parliament in September 2022.[216] Social rights and equality Main articles: European social model, European Social Fund Plus, Welfare State, European Social Charter, European Voluntary Service, European labour law, List of countries by guaranteed minimum income, and European Pillar of Social Rights 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. Since 2019 there has been a European commissioner for equality and the European Institute for Gender Equality has existed since 2007. A Directive on countering gender-based violence has been proposed.[217][218] In September 2022, a European Care strategy was approved in order to provide "quality, affordable and accessible care services".[219] The European Social Charter is the main body that recognises the social rights of European citizens. In 2020, the first ever European Union Strategy on LGBTIQ equality was approved under Helena Dalli mandate.[220] In December 2021, the commission announced the intention of codifying a union-wide law against LGBT hate crimes.[221] Freedom, security and justice Main article: Area of freedom, security and justice Further information: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union See also: eu-LISA, Eurojust, European Institute for Gender Equality, European Union Agency for Asylum, European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training, Europol, Frontex, and Fundamental Rights Agency The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union contains a wide range of political, social, and economic rights for EU citizens. 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,[222] family law,[223] asylum law,[224] and criminal justice.[225] 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[226] and the Eurojust for co-operation between prosecutors and courts.[227] 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. 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.[n] 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."[228] By virtue of these powers, the EU has enacted legislation on sexism in the work-place, age discrimination, and racial discrimination.[o] 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".[229] 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.[230] Signing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership.[p] Previously, the EU itself could not accede to the convention as it is neither a state[q] nor had the competence to accede.[r] 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.[231] 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.[232] Examples of identity, travel and health documents used in the EU An EEA national identity card (German version pictured) An EEA national identity card (German version pictured) A Schengen visa (German version) A Schengen visa (German version) A 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) A 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) A European Health Insurance Card (Slovenian version pictured) A European Health Insurance Card (Slovenian version pictured) Demographics Main article: Demographics of the European Union See also: European Union citizenship Map showing the population density by NUTS3 region, 2017, including non-EU countries The population of the EU in 2021 was about 447 million people, corresponding to 5.8 per cent of the world population.[142][233] The population density across the EU was 106 inhabitants per square kilometre, which is more than the world average.[234] It is highest in areas in central and western Europe, sometimes referred to as the "blue banana", while Sweden and Finland in the north are much more sparsely populated. The total population of the EU has been slightly decreasing for several years, contracting by 0.04 per cent in 2021.[235] This is due to a low birth rate of about 1.5 children per woman, less than the world average of 2.3.[236] In total, 4.1 million babies were born in the EU in 2021.[237] Immigration to Europe partially compensates for the natural population decrease. 5.3 per cent of the people residing in the EU are not EU citizens (a person who has the citizenship of an EU member state is automatically also an EU citizen).[234] There were 31 non-EU citizenships that each accounted for at least 1 per cent of non-EU citizens living in the EU, of which the largest were Moroccan, Turkish, Syrian and Chinese.[238] Around 1.9 million people immigrated to one of the EU member states from a non-EU country during 2020, and a total of 956 000 people emigrated from a member state to go to a non-EU country during the same year.[239] 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 Paris metropolitan area is the most populous urban area in the EU. More than two thirds (68.2%) of EU inhabitants lived in urban areas in 2020, which is slightly less than the world average.[234] Cities are largely spread out across the EU with a large grouping in and around the Benelux.[240] The EU contains about 40 urban areas with populations of over 1 million. With a population of over 13 million,[241] Paris is the largest metropolitan area and the only megacity in the EU.[242] Paris is followed by Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, the Ruhr, Milan, and Rome, all with a metropolitan population of over 4 million. 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.).[242] Largest population centres of the European Union metropolitan regions, Eurostat 2023[243] Rank City name State Pop. Rank City name State Pop. 1 Paris France 12,388,388 11 Brussels Belgium 3,395,581 2 Madrid Spain 6,871,903 12 Warsaw Poland 3,269,510 3 Barcelona Spain 5,797,356 13 Marseille France 3,183,476 4 Berlin Germany 5,481,613 14 Budapest Hungary 3,031,887 5 Ruhr Germany 5,147,820 15 Munich Germany 2,980,338 6 Milan Italy 4,329,748 16 Naples Italy 2,981,735 7 Rome Italy 4,227,059 17 Vienna Austria 2,971,753 8 Athens Greece 3,626,216 18 Lisbon Portugal 2,899,670 9 Hamburg Germany 3,423,121 19 Stuttgart Germany 2,816,924 10 Amsterdam Netherlands 3,397,323 20 Prague Czech Republic 2,796,717 Languages Main article: Languages of the European Union See also: Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union Official languages by percentage of speakers, 2012[s][failed verification] Language Native speakers[t] Total[u] German 18% 32% French 13% 26% Italian 12% 16% Spanish 8% 15% Polish 8% 9% Romanian 5% 5% Dutch 4% 5% Greek 3% 4% Hungarian 3% 3% Portuguese 2% 3% Czech 2% 3% Swedish 2% 3% Bulgarian 2% 2% English 1% 51% Slovak 1% 2% Danish 1% 1% Finnish 1% 1% Lithuanian 1% 1% Croatian 1% 1% Slovene
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Popularität - Brexit Gold Silbermünze Britannia Boris Johnson Signatur Europa EU Union Jack
1 beobachter, 0.5 neue Beobachter pro Tag, 2 days for sale on eBay. Normale beobachtend. 0 verkauft, 1 verfügbar.
Preis - Brexit Gold Silbermünze Britannia Boris Johnson Signatur Europa EU Union Jack
Verkäufer - Brexit Gold Silbermünze Britannia Boris Johnson Signatur Europa EU Union Jack
33.941+ artikel verkauft. 0.3% negativ bewertungen. Großer Verkäufer mit sehr gutem positivem Rückgespräch und über 50 Bewertungen.
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