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 is often 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. 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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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.

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Ambrosius Bosschaert

Painting credit: Ambrosius Bosschaert

Ambrosius Bosschaert (1573–1621) was a Flemish-born Dutch still-life painter and art dealer. A rising interest in botany and a passion for flowers led to an increase in still-life paintings of flowers at the end of the 1500s in the Netherlands and Germany, and Bosschaert was the first great Dutch specialist in the genre. In this oil-on-copper painting, butterflies, a dragonfly, a bumblebee and a caterpillar are nestled among roses, forget-me-nots, lilies-of-the-valley, tulips and other flowers. The painting is in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.

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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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Sofia is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Bulgaria, with a population of 1,246,791, and some 1,377,761 in the metropolitan area, the Capital Municipality. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of the mountain massif Vitosha, and is the administrative, cultural, and economic centre of the country.

The history of Sofia dates back to the 8th century B.C, when Thracians established a settlement there. Sofia has had several names in the different periods of its existence, and remnants of the city's millenary history can still be seen today alongside modern landmarks. Sofia is one of the oldest capital cities in Europe, blending its past and present in a remarkable architectural style. Historic landmarks include the 10th-century Boyana Church, the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, and the early Byzantine Saint Sofia Church. More modern architecture is represented by the Bulgarian National Opera and Ballet, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the Rakovski Str theatre district, Slaveykov Square's outdoor book market, and the NDK. Sofia is the see of an Eastern Orthodox and of a Roman Catholic diocese.

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General images

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

Image 1Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 2The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 3Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 4Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (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 6Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 7Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 8The 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 9The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 10The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 11Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 12After 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 13José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004–2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 14Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 15A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 16Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 17Mario Draghi (from History of the European Union)
Image 18Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 19The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 20Organigram 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 21Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 22Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 23The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols 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 25Political 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 26The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 27Kaja Kallas, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 28Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 29Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 30A 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 31Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 32Donald Trump President of the United States (from History of the European Union)
Image 33Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 34Winston 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 35Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 36Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 371922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 38The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 39Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)