Portal:European Union

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Welcome to the European Union Portal!

The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of 4,233,255 km² (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated population of over 449 million as of 2024. The EU is often described as a sui generis political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.

Containing 5.5% of the world population in 2023, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around €17.935 trillion in 2024, accounting for approximately one sixth of global economic output. 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; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area. The eurozone is a group composed of the 20 EU member states that have fully implemented the EU's 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.

In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2020, the United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU; ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it. (Full article...)

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered on the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea, on the east by Poland and the Czech Republic, on the south by Austria and Switzerland, and on the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Germany is a democratic parliamentary federal republic of 16 states. The country previously consisted of several sovereign states with their own history, culture, and religious affiliation. Germany was first unified as a nation-state amidst the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.

The Federal Republic of Germany is a member state of the United Nations, NATO, the G8 and the G4 nations, and is a founding member of the European Union. It has the largest population and largest economy of all European Union member states. Germany is both the world's third largest economy and its largest exporter of goods. Germany is facing major demographic change. Its fertility rate of 1.39 children per mother is one of the lowest in the world, and the federal statistics office estimates the population will shrink to approximately 75 million by 2050. Chemnitz is thought to be the city with the lowest birth rate in the world.

Euro sign

Diagram credit: Erina

The euro sign (€) is the currency symbol used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and a few other European countries. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996, and consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon) crossed by two lines instead of one. While the Commission intended the euro sign to be a prescribed glyph, type designers made it clear that they intended instead to adapt the design to be consistent with the typefaces to which the symbol was to be added. Euro banknotes and coins entered into circulation on 1 January 2002, making it the day-to-day operating currency of its original members. This diagram shows the construction of the euro sign as formally specified by the European Commission.

...that "Nocturne" is the Eurovision Song Contest winner with the fewest words, the Norwegian language original having only 25?

...that the Eastgate Clock (pictured) in Chester is the second most photographed timepiece in the United Kingdom, after Big Ben?

...that "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" received three perfect scores at the start of voting in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 before ultimately coming in fourth, making Hungary the only debuting nation to lead the voting?

Rome is the capital of Italy and of its region, called Lazio. It is located across the confluence of the Tiber and Aniene rivers. It was once the capital of the Roman Empire, the most powerful, largest and longest lasting empire of classical Western civilization. The Vatican, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church and the home of the Pope.

Rome is the largest comune in Italy and it is also one of the largest European capital cities in land area, with an area of 1,285 square kilometers. Within the city limits, the population is about 2.5 million; almost 3.8 million live in the urbanised area of Rome, as represented by the province of Rome, making it second in population to Milan. With a gross domestic product of €97 billion in the year 2005, Rome produced 6.7% of Italy's GDP.

The following are images from various European Union-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 2Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 3Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 4The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 5Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 6The fertility rate in the EU was 1.38 in 2023 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 7The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 8Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 9The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 10Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 11Winston Churchill (right, during the Atlantic Conference), consistent advocate of continential European integration, later along with his son-in-law Duncan Sandys (from History of the European Union)
Image 12Donald Trump President of the United States (from History of the European Union)
Image 13José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004–2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 14The population density of the EU is 106 people per km². Note that the lights in the North Sea are from oil platforms. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 15Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 16Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 17After two devastating world wars, the political climate favoured an international unity that could preserve peace in Europe effectively (Hamburg, after a massive Allied bombing in 1943 in the picture). (from History of the European Union)
Image 18Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 19Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 20A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 21Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 221922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)

Percentage responding that their country on balance benefited from being a member of the EU at Eurobarometer 2023:

91–100%

81–90%

71–80%

61–70%

51–60%

(from Politics of the European Union)

Image 24Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 25Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 26The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 27The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 28Kaja Kallas, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 29The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 30Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 31Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 32Mario Draghi (from History of the European Union)
Image 33Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 34Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 35A cartogram depicting the population distribution between old EU-27 member states in 2008 (including the UK and excluding Croatia). 57.8% of all citizens of the EU live in the four largest member states: Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 36Organigram of the political system. The seven organs of the Union are in blue, national / intergovernmental elements in orange. (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 37Political groups of the European Parliament in the Louise Weiss building after the election 2024:
  Group of the European People's Party (EPP)
  Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)
  Patriots for Europe (PfE)
  European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)
  Renew Europe (Renew)
  The Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)
  The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL (The Left)
  Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN)
  Non-Inscrits (NI)
  Vacant (1)
(from Politics of the European Union)
Image 38Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 39Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)