European Union (EU)
Posted by Ripon Abu Hasnat on Friday, June 13, 2014 | 0 comments
The European Union
(EU) is an economic and political union of 28 member states that are
primarily located in Europe.
The EU operates through a system of supranational independent institutions and
intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member states. Institutions of
the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the
European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European
Central Bank, the Court of Auditors, and the European Parliament. The European
Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens.
The EU traces its
origins from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European
Economic Community (EEC), formed by the Inner Six countries in 1951 and 1958,
respectively. In the intervening years, the community and its successors have
grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the
addition of policy areas to its remit. The Maastricht Treaty established the
European Union under its current name in 1993.[ The latest major
amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came
into force in 2009.
The EU has developed a
single market through a standardized system of laws that apply in all member
states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished.
EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and
capital,
enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on
trade, agriculture,
fisheries, and regional development.
The monetary union was
established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002. It is currently composed
of 18 member states that use the euro as their legal tender. Through the Common
Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations
and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the
world and represents itself at the United Nations, the WTO, the G8, and the
G-20.
With a combined
population of over 500 million inhabitants, or 7.3% of the world
population, the EU in 2012 generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of
16.584 trillion US dollars, constituting approximately 23% of global nominal
GDP and 20% when measured in terms of purchasing power parity, which is the
largest economy by nominal GDP and the second largest economy by GDP (PPP) in
the world. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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