Portal:European Union

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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 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.

Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020, 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. Additionally, all member states except Bulgaria have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme, and as of 2025, every country except Romania is a democracy (either full or flawed), according to the Economist Democracy Index. 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 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.

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

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The European Commission forms part of the executive branch of the European Union. It is one of the Union's three main political Institutions. It is a cabinet government of 27 Commissioners led by a Commission President. The current President is Ursula von der Leyen, who leads the von der Leyen Commission and assumed office in 2019. It is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union.

The Commission is based in the Berlaymont building in Brussels and is supported by an administrative body of about 23,000 European civil servants divided into departments called Directorate-General. The term "Commission" can either mean the entire administrative body of the Commission or just the college of 27 Commissioners. Its internal working languages are English, French and German.

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House of the Blackheads (Riga)

Photograph: David Iliff

The House of the Blackheads is a building in the old town of Riga, Latvia. The original building was erected during the early 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, with major work completed in 1580 and 1886. In 1941, the original building was bombed by the Germans; the ruins were demolished by the Soviets seven years later. The current reconstruction was erected from 1995 to 1999.

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Did you know?

...that Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City all mint their own euro coins, with their own national symbols on the back, despite not being EU members?

...that Slovenia joined the Euro on January 1, 2007?

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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Named after goddess Athena, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis with a population of 3.7 million people. The Athens metropolitan area constitutes the center of economic, financial, industrial, cultural and political life in Greece. The city is also rapidly becoming a business center in the European Union.

Ancient Athens was a powerful polis city-state and a renowned center of learning, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum. It is often referred to as the cradle of Western civilization, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE on the rest of the then known European Continent. The classical era heritage is still evident in the city, portrayed through a number of ancient monuments and artworks, the most famous being the Parthenon on the Acropolis. Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games and, more recently, of the 2004 Summer Olympics.

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General images

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

Image 1Kaja Kallas, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 2The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 3Political 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 4José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004–2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 51922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 6The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 7Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 8After 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 9Mario Draghi (from History of the European Union)
Image 10Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 11Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 12Percentage 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 13Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 14Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 15Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 16Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 17Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 18The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 19The 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 20Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 21A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 22The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 23Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 24Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 25Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 26The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 27Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 28Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 29Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 30Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 31Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 32The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 33Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 34The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 35Winston 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 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 37Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 38A 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 39Donald Trump President of the United States (from History of the European Union)