Eeropean Union

The European Union
Basic information on the European Union The European Union is a unique economic and political partnership between 27 European countries.
It has delivered half a century of peace, stability, and prosperity, helped raise living standards, launched a single European currency, and is progressively building a single Europe-wide market in which people, goods, services, and capital move among Member States as freely as within one country.
The EU was created in the aftermath of the second world war. The first steps were to foster economic cooperation: countries that trade with one another are economically interdependent and will thus avoid conflict.
Since then, the union has developed into a huge single market with the euro as its common currency. What began as a purely economic union has evolved into an organisation spanning all areas, from development aid to environmental policy.
•The EU actively promotes human rights and democracy and has the most ambitious emission reduction targets for fighting climate change in the world. Thanks to the abolition of border controls between EU countries, it is now possible for people to travel freely within most of the EU. It has also become much easier to live and work in another EU country.
EU symbols
The EU is recognisable by
several symbols, the most
well-known being the
circle of yellow stars on a
blue background.
The European flag
The 12 stars in a circle symbolise the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe.
Europe Day
The ideas behind the European Union were first put forward on 9 May 1950 by French foreign minister Robert Schuman. This is why 9 May is celebrated as a key date for the EU.
The EU motto
"United in diversity" is the motto of the European Union.
It signifies how Europeans have come together, in the form of the EU, to work for peace and prosperity, while at the same time being enriched by the continent's many different cultures, traditions and languages.
The History of EU
The European Union is set up with the aim of ending the frequent and bloody wars between neighbours, which culminated in the Second World War.
•18 April 1951
the European Coal and Steel Community （Founding Member States: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.）
•25 March 1957
the Treaty of Rome creates the European Economic Community (EEC), or ‘Common Market’.
•8 April 1965
the Treaty of Brussels decides to merge the executives of the three Communities (ECSC, EEC, Euratom). It will enter into force on July 1, 1967.
•1 January 1973
The six become nine when Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom formally enter the EU.
•1 January 1981
Membership of the EU reaches double figures when Greece joins. It has been eligible to join since its military regime was overthrown and democracy restored in 1974.
•1 January 1986
Spain and Portugal enter the EU, bringing membership
to 12.
•7 February 1992
The Treaty on European Union is signed in Maastricht.Under the treaty, the name ‘European Union’officially replaces ‘European Community’.
•1 January 1995
Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU. The 15 members now cover almost the whole of western Europe.
•1 May 2004
Eight countries of central and eastern Europe —the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia —join the EU, finally ending the division of Europe decided by the Great Powers 60 years earlier at Yalta. Cyprus and Malta also become members.
•1 January 2007
Two more countries from eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Romania, now join the EU, brining the number of member states to 27 countries.
•13 December 2007
The 27 EU countries sign the Treaty of Lisbon, which amends the previous Treaties. It is designed to make the EU more democratic, efficient and transparent, and thereby able to tackle global challenges such as climate change, security and sustainable development. Before the Treaty can come into force, it has to be ratified by each of the 27 Member StatesCroatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey are also candidates for future membership.
Now, the EU is trying to deal with the debt crisis on the global economy in Europe. Recently, the Euro Summit has been held to make a series of agreements.
The euro is at the core of our European project of peace, stability and prosperity.
They have agreed on a comprehensive set of measures to restore confidence and address the current tensions in financial markets. These measures reflect their unwavering determination to overcome together the current difficulties and to take all the necessary steps towards a deeper economic union
commensurate with their monetary union.。