European Union

European Union (in other official languages) Bulgarian Европейски съюз Czech Evropská unie Danish Den Europæiske Union German Europäische Union Greek Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση Spanish Unión Europea Estonian Euroopa Liit Finnish Euroopan unioni French Union européenne Irish An tAontas Eorpach Croatian Europska unija Hungarian Európai Unió Italian Unione europea Lithuanian Europos Sąjunga Latvian Eiropas Savienība Maltese Unjoni Ewropea Dutch Europese Unie Polish Unia Europejska Portuguese União Europeia Romanian Uniunea Europeană Slovak Európska únia Slovene Evropska unija Swedish Europeiska unionen
Flag
Motto: "In Varietate Concordia" (Latin) "United in Diversity"
Anthem: "Anthem of Europe"
Show globe Show special territories 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 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
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 Confederation (de facto)
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 supranational and intergovernmental directorial parliamentary confederation
• President of the European Council	Charles Michel
• President of the European Commission	Ursula von der Leyen
• Presidency of the Council of the European Union	Hungary[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	4,225,104 km2 (1,631,322 sq mi)[5]
• Water (%)	2.93
Population
• 2024 estimate	449,206,579[6]
• Density	106.3/km2 (275.3/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	$28.044 trillion[7]
• Per capita	$62,660[7]
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	$19.403 trillion[7]
• Per capita	$43,194
Gini (2023)	29.6[8] low inequality
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)[a]
Internet TLD	.eu, .ευ, .ею[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.^[9][10] The Union has a total area of 4,233,255 km² (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 449 million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.^[11][12]

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.^[14] 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;^[15] enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade,^[16] agriculture,^[17] fisheries and regional development.^[18] Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area.^[19] 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.^[20][21][22]

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.^[23] 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 Western 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.^[24] The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU, in 2020;^[25] ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it.

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