European Union NO DATA

In the aftermath and devastation of the two World Wars, a number of far-sighted European leaders in the late 1940s sought to respond to the overwhelming desire for peace and reconciliation on the continent. In 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed pooling the production of coal and steel in Western Europe, which would bring France and West Germany together and be open to other countries as well. The following year, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members -- Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands -- signed the Treaty of Paris. Within a few years, the ECSC was so successful that member states decided to further integrate their economies. In 1957, envisioning an "ever closer union," the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), which eliminated trade barriers among the six member states to create a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and a legislative body known today as the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but direct elections began in 1979 and have been held every five years since. In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC added Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. The 1980s saw further membership expansion, with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for fur…

Europe between the North Atlantic Ocean in the west and Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the east

total : 4,236,351 sq km rank by area (sq km): 1. France (includes five overseas regions) 643,801 2. Spain 505,370 3. Sweden 450,295 4. Germany 357,022 5. Finland 338,145 6. Poland 312,685 7. Italy 301,340 8. Romania 238,391 9. Greece 131,957 10. Bulgaria 110,879 11. Hungary 93,028 12. Portugal 92,090 13. Austria 83,871 14. Czechia 78,867 15. Ireland 70,273 16. Lithuania 65,300 17. Latvia 64,589 18. Croatia 56,594 19. Slovakia 49,035 20. Estonia 45,228 21. Denmark 43,094 22. Netherlands 41,543 23. Belgium 30,528 24. Slovenia 20,273 25. Cyprus 9,251 26. Luxembourg 2,586 27. Malta 316

iron ore, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, uranium, potash, salt, hydropower, arable land, timber, fish

flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic Sea region

total: 451,815,312 (2024 est.) male: 220,631,332 female: 231,183,980

Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish note: only the 24 official languages are listed; German, the major language of Germany and Austria, is the most widely spoken mother tongue - about 16% of the EU population; English is the most widely spoken foreign language - about 29% of the EU population is conversant with it; English is an official language in Ireland and Malta and thus remained an official EU language after the UK left the bloc (2020)

Roman Catholic 41%, Orthodox 10%, Protestant 9%, other Christian 4%, Muslim 2%, other 4% (includes Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu), atheist 10%, non-believer/agnostic 17%, unspecified 3% (2019 est.)

various forms of air, soil, and water pollution; see individual country entries

a hybrid and unique intergovernmental and supranational organization

name: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Luxembourg, Frankfurt (Germany) geographic coordinates: (Brussels) 50 50 N, 4 20 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1 hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October time zone note: the 27 European Union member states are spread across three time zones note: the European Council and the Council of the European Union meet in Brussels, Belgium, except for Council of the EU meetings held in Luxembourg in April, June, and October; the European Parliament meets in Brussels and Strasbourg, France, and has administrative offices in Luxembourg; the Court of Justice of the European Union is located in Luxembourg; and the European Central Bank is located in Frankfurt, Germany

three EU institutions have functions that can be regarded as executive in nature: European Council - composed of member-state heads of state or government, along with the president of the European Commission; meets at least four times a year to issue general policy guidance; the president of the European Council is appointed by leaders of the EU member states for a 2 1/2 year term, renewable once president: Ant nio Costa (since 1 December 2024) Council of the European Union - consists of member-state officials, ranging from working-level diplomats to cabinet ministers in specific policy fields such as foreign affairs, agriculture, or economy; has policymaking, coordinating, and legislative functions president: the six-month presidency rotates among the member states European Commission - composed of 27 commissioners (one from each member state), including the president; the president assigns each commissioner one or more policy areas, called portfolios; the Commission has the sole right to initiate EU legislation, except for foreign and security/defense policy, and is responsible for monitoring the application of EU law, implementing/executing the EU budget, negotiating in certain policy areas, and ensuring the EU's external representation in some policy areas; the president is nominated for a 5-year term by the European Council and confirmed by the European Parliament; the European Parliament also confirms the entire Commission for a 5-year term president: Ursula von der Leyen (since 1 December 2019) note: for external representation and foreign policy, member-state leaders appoint a High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; the High Representative's concurrent appointment as Vice President of the European Commission is meant to bring more coherence to the EU s foreign policy; the High Representative helps develop and implement the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defense Policy, chairs the Council of the EU's meetings of member-state foreign ministers, represents and acts for the EU in many international contexts, and oversees the European External Action Service, the EU's diplomatic corps

legislature name: Council of the European Union (Council) and the European Parliament (EP) (separate legislative bodies; see note 2 ) number of seats: Council - 27; EP - 720 electoral system: Council - none, composed of ministers from EU member states; EP - proportional representation scope of elections: EP - full renewal term in office: 5 years note: for the EP most recent election date: EP - 6/9/2024 parties elected and seats per party: EP - PP (188); S D (136); PfE (84); ECR (78); Renew (77); Greens/EFA (53); GUE-NGL (46); ESN (25); non-attached (12); other (21) percentage of women in chamber: 39.8% note: for the EP expected date of next election: EP - June 2029 note 1: the European Parliament (EP) President, Roberta METSOLA, was elected in January 2022 and reelected in July 2024 by a majority of EP members (MEPs) note 2: the EP and the Council of the EU share responsibilities for adopting the bulk of EU legislation; the European Commission proposes legislation, and the two other bodies have to agree for the proposal to become law -- except in the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy, which is governed by consensus of the EU member-state governments

$24.441 trillion (2024 est.) $24.17 trillion (2023 est.) $24.036 trillion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

$54,300 (2024 est.) $53,800 (2023 est.) $53,700 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

2.4% (2024 est.) 6.3% (2023 est.) 8.8% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

US 20%, UK 12%, China 10%, Switzerland 7%, Turkey 4% (2023) note: top five non-EU export partners based on percentage share of external exports; does not include internal trade among EU member states

China 21%, US 14%, UK 7%, Switzerland 6%, Norway 5% (2023) note: top five non-EU import partners based on percentage share of external imports; does not include internal trade among EU member states

the EU's Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) provides the civilian, military, and political structures for EU crisis management and security issues; the highest bodies are: the Political and Security Committee (PSC), which meets at the ambassadorial level as a preparatory body for the Council of the EU; it assists with defining policies and preparing a crisis response the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) is the EU's highest military body; it is composed of the chiefs of defense (CHODs) of the Member States, who are regularly represented by their permanent Military Representatives; the EUMC provides the PSC with advice and recommendations on all military matters within the EU the Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management (CIVCOM) provides advice and recommendations to the PSC in parallel with the EUMC on civilian aspects of crisis management the Politico-Military Group (PMG) provides advice and recommendations to the PSC on political aspects of EU military and civil-military issues, including concepts, capabilities and operations and missions, and monitors implementation other bodies set up under the CSDP include the Security and Defense Policy Directorate (SECDEFPOL), the Integrated approach for Security and Peace Directorate (ISP), the EU Military Staff (EUMS), the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC), the Civilian Operations Headquarters (CivOpsHQ), the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC), the European Defense Agency (EDA), the European Security and Defense College (ESDC), the EU Institute for Security Studies, the EU Satellite Center, the Peace, Partnerships and Crisis Management Directorate (PCM) (2025) note 1: Frontex is the European Border and Coast Guard Agency that supports EU Member States and Schengen-associated countries in the management of the EU s external borders and the fight against cross-border crime; it has a standing corps of uniformed border guard officers directly employed by Frontex as staff members and regularly deployed to border guarding missions, plus thousands of other officers seconded by EU member states note 2: in 2017, the EU set up the Permanent Structured Cooperation on Defense (PESCO), a mechanism for deepening defense cooperation amongst member states through binding commitments and collaborative programs on a variety of military-related capabilities such as cyber, maritime surveillance, medical support, operational readiness, procurement, and training

1.9% of GDP (2024 est.) 1.8% of GDP (2023 est.) 1.6% of GDP (2022 est.) 1.6% of GDP (2021 est.) 1.6% of GDP (2020 est.) note 1: the European Defense Fund (EDF) has a budget of approximately $8 billion for 2021-2027; about $2.7 billion is devoted to funding collaborative defense research while about $5.3 billion is allocated for collaborative capability development projects that complement national contributions; the EDF identifies critical defense domains that it will support note 2: NATO is separate from the EU and is resourced through the direct and indirect contributions of its members; NATO s common funds are direct contributions to collective budgets, capabilities and programs, which equate to only 0.3% of total NATO defense spending to develop capabilities and run NATO, its military commands, capabilities, and infrastructure; NATO's 2014 Defense Investment Pledge called for NATO members to meet the 2% of GDP guideline for defense spending and the 20% of annual defense expenditure on major new equipment by 2024