European Union

The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.[7][8] 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.[9][10]

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European Union (in other official languages) Bulgarian: Европейски съюз Croatian: Europska unija Czech: Evropská unie Danish: Den Europæiske Union Dutch: Europese Unie Estonian: Euroopa Liit Finnish: Euroopan unioni French: Union européenne German: Europäische Union Greek: Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση Hungarian: Európai Unió Irish: An tAontas Eorpach Italian: Unione europea Latvian: Eiropas Savienība Lithuanian: Europos Sąjunga Maltese: Unjoni Ewropea Polish: Unia Europejska Portuguese: União Europeia Romanian: Uniunea Europeană Slovak: Európska únia Slovene: Evropska unija Spanish: Unión Europea Swedish: Europeiska unionen
Flag
Motto: "In Varietate Concordia" (Latin) "United in Diversity"
Anthem: "Anthem of Europe"
Show globe Show special territories Show special territories and their exclusive economic zones Location of the European Union (dark green) in Europe (dark grey)
Capital	Brussels (de facto)[1]
Institutional seats	Brussels Commission European Council Council of the EU Parliament (secondary) Frankfurt Central Bank Luxembourg City Court of Auditors Court of Justice Council of the EU (April, June and October sessions) Secretariat of the Parliament Commission (various departments and services) Strasbourg Parliament
Largest metropolis	Paris
Official languages	24 languages 3 main official languages English French German
Official scripts	Latin Greek Cyrillic
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  Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria  Croatia  Cyprus  Czech Republic  Denmark  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Hungary  Ireland  Italy  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden
Government	Mixed intergovernmental directorial parliamentary confederation
• President of the European Council	Charles Michel
• President of the Commission	Ursula von der Leyen
Legislature	The European Parliament and the Council
• Upper house	Council of the European Union
• Lower house	European Parliament
Formation[3]
• Treaty of Brussels	17 March 1948
• 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	448,387,872[4]
• Density	106/km2 (274.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$25.399 trillion[5]
• Per capita	$56,928[5]
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$17.818 trillion[5]
• Per capita	$39,940
Gini (2020)	30.0[6] medium
Currency	Euro (€) (EUR) Others Bulgarian lev (BGN) Czech koruna (CZK) Danish krone (DKK) Hungarian forint (HUF) Polish złoty (PLN) Romanian leu (RON) Swedish krona (SEK)
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)[lower-alpha 1]
Internet TLD	.eu[lower-alpha 2]
Website europa.eu

Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020,[lower-alpha 3] the EU generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$16.6 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately one sixth of global nominal GDP and the third-biggest global economy after the United States and China.[12] 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;[13] enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade,[14] agriculture,[15] fisheries and regional development.[16] Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area.[17] 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.[18][19][20]

The union was established along with its citizenship when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993, and was subsequently incorporated as an international law juridical person upon entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, [21] but its beginnings may be traced to its earliest predecessors incorporated primarily by a group of founding states known as the Inner Six (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany) at the start of modern institutionalised European integration in 1948 and onwards, namely to the Western Union (WU, 1954 renamed Western European Union, WEU), the International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC, 1993 renamed European Community, EC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), established, respectively, by the 1948 Treaty of Brussels, the 1948 London Six-Power Conference, the 1951 Treaty of Paris, the 1957 Treaty of Rome and the 1957 Euratom Treaty. These increasingly amalgamated bodies, later known collectively as the European Communities have grown since, along with their legal successor, the EU, both in size through accessions of further 21 states as well as in power through acquisitions of various policy areas to their remit by the virtue of the abovementioned treaties, as well as numerous other ones, such as the Modified Brussels Treaty, the Merger Treaty, the Single European Act, the Treaty of Amsterdam and the Treaty of Nice. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[22]

After the creation by six states, 22 other states joined the union in 1973–2013. The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU in 2020;[23] ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it.