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 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; 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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Same-sex marriage in Spain was legalised in 2005. In 2004, the new Socialist government, led by President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, began a campaign for its legalization, which would include adoption by same-sex couples. After much debate, a law permitting same-sex marriage was passed by the Cortes Generales on 30 June 2005 and published on 2 July 2005. Same-sex marriage officially became legal in Spain on Sunday, 3 July 2005. The ratification of this law has not been devoid of conflict, despite support from 66% of Spaniards. Catholic authorities in particular were adamantly opposed to it, fearing the weakening of the meaning of marriage. Demonstrations for and against the law drew thousands of people from all parts of Spain.

Approximately 4,500 same-sex couples have married in Spain during the first year of the law. Shortly after the law was passed, questions arose about the legal status of marriage to non-Spaniards whose country did not permit same-sex marriage. A ruling from the Spanish Justice ministry stated that the country's same-sex marriage law allows a Spanish citizen to marry a non-Spaniard regardless of whether that person's homeland recognizes the partnership. At least one partner must be a Spanish citizen to marry.

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Photo credit: User:Immanuel Giel
The European Coal and Steel Community was founded in 1951 to pool the steel and coal resources of its member-states, thus preventing another European war.

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Did you know?

...that Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the European Union on January 1, 2007?

...that the European Union's member states combined represent the world's largest economy by GDP, larger than the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Japan, the seventh largest territory in the world by area and the third largest by population after China and India?

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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 11922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 2Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 3Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 4The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 5Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 6The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 7Winston 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 8Organigram 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 9Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics 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 12Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 13The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 14The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 15Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 16A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 17Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 18Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 19After 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 20Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 21The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 22The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 23A 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 24Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 25The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 26The population density of the EU is 106 people per km². N.B. the light in the North Sea is from oil platforms. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 27Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 28Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 29José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004-2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 30Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 31Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 32Political 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 33Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 34Hearing of Josep Borrell, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 35Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 36Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)