Short description : Overview of and topical guide to the European Union
in Europe.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community.[ 5] With about 445 million citizens, the EU generates an estimated 30% share (US$18.4 trillion in 2008) of the nominal gross world product .[ 6] The EU has seven principal decision-making bodies known as the Institutions of the European Union, while the adoption of laws and coordination of EU policies is the role of the Council of the European Union which currently meets in ten different configurations.
Origins
History of the European Union
Ideas of European unity before 1945
History of the European Coal and Steel Community (1945–57)
History of the European Communities (1958–72)
History of the European Communities (1973–93)
History of the European Union (1993–2004)
History of the European Union since 2004
Location of the EU and its special territories European Communities
Single market , Trade bloc and Value-added tax
Subsidiarity
See treaties below
Identity
Symbols of Europe, symbols of the European Union
Flag of Europe
Anthem of Europe
Europe Day
Structures
Members
Member states
Dependent Territories of Member States
Enlargement
Withdrawal
Institutions
Other bodies
European Committee of the Regions
European Economic and Social Committee
European System of Central Banks
European Investment Bank
European Investment Fund
Agencies of the European Union
European Ombudsman
European External Action Service
Related Organisations
Law and policy
Treaties of the European Union – Founding and amending treaties (primary legislation)
Treaty of Paris (1951)
Treaty of Rome (1957)
Merger Treaty (1965)
Single European Act (1986)
Maastricht Treaty (1992)
Amsterdam Treaty (1997)
Treaty of Nice (2001)
Treaty of Accession 2003
Treaty of Accession 2005
Treaty of Lisbon (2007)
Treaty of Accession 2011
Related documents
Schengen Agreement
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
EU Policy Areas
Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (Euro)
European Political Cooperation
Common Agricultural Policy
Common Fisheries Policy
Regional policy of the European Union
Trans-European Networks
Energy
European Union law
Forms of Secondary Legislation
Directive
Regulation
Recommendation
Topics of Secondary Legislation
Copyright law of the European Union
Directives and Regulations of Secondary Legislation:
A topographic map of Europe
Miscellaneous
A satellite composite image of Europe
Economy of the European Union
European Neighbourhood Policy
European Union statistics
Euroscepticism , Europhobe
European Union Association Agreement
Pro-Europeanism , Europhiles
List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits
Morocco–European Union relations
Sport policies of the European Union
United States of Europe
Trade war
Statewatch
Supranational union
See also
European Union
References
↑ Jackson, James K. (9 March 2009). "The Financial Crisis: Impact on and Response by the European Union" . Federation of American Scientists: Congressional Research Service. p. 28. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40415.pdf . "The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 member states, formally established in 1993 by the Treaty of Maastricht out of existing structures that had evolved in steps since the 1950s."
↑ Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations. "What is the European Union?" . http://www.franceonu.org/spip.php?rubrique764 . "Europe is a geographical and cultural notion. The European Union is a political and economic union among 27 States on the European continent"
↑ "Cabinet statement on German EU Presidency" . Regierung Online . Press and Information Office of the [German] Federal Government. 5 November 2006. http://www.bundesregierung.de/nn_6564/Content/EN/Pressemitteilungen/BPA/2006/11/2006-11-05-eu-ratspraesidentschaft__en.html . "The European Union is a political union..."
↑ "European Union", New Oxford Dictionary of English , Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 635, ISBN 0-19-860441-6 :"an economic and political association of certain European countries as a unit with internal free trade and common external tariffs...."
↑ Craig, Paul; Grainne De Burca; P. P. Craig (2006). EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 15. ISBN 978-0-19-927389-8 . ; "Treaty of Maastricht on European Union" . Activities of the European Union . Europa (web portal). http://europa.eu/scadplus/treaties/maastricht_en.htm .
↑ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2009 Edition" . International Monetary Fund . April 2009. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2007&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=001%2C998&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPSH&grp=1&a=1&pr.x=50&pr.y=9 . " Gross domestic product, current prices; US dollars, Billions; 2007 = 16,927.173 2008=18,394.115 2009=15,342.908 [projection] Gross domestic product based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) valuation of country GDP; Current international dollar, Billions; 2007 = 14,762.109 2008 = 15,247.163 2009 = 14,774.525 [projection] GDP based on PPP share of world total 2007 = 22.605% 2008 = 22.131% 2009 = 21.609% [projection] World "GDP", current prices; US dollars, Billions; 2007 = 54,840.873 2008= 60,689.812 2009= 54,863.551 [projection] These data were published in 2009. Data for 2009 are projections based on a number of assumptions."