Portal:European Union

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

Introduction

Portal subpages

Main page Institutions Competences Structural evolution Member states

Welcome to the European Union Portal!

Shortcut

P:EU

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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article

The flag of Portugal consists of a rectangle vertically divided into green, at the hoist, and red, at the fly, with the minor version of the national coat of arms (armillary sphere and Portuguese shield) centered over the boundary between the colors. It was officially adopted on 30 June 1911, replacing the flag used under the constitutional monarchy, after it was chosen among several proposals by a special commission, whose members included Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, João Chagas and Abel Botelho.

The current flag represents a sweeping change in the evolution of the Portuguese flag, which was always intimately associated with the royal arms. Since the country's foundation, the national flag developed from King Afonso I's blue-cross-on-white armorial square banner to the liberal monarchy's royal arms over a blue-and-white rectangle. In between, major changes associated with important political events contributed to the evolution of the national shield into its current design.

More selected articles...

edit

Selected picture

Hall of Mirrors

Photograph: Myrabella

The Hall of Mirrors is the central gallery of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. Construction of the room began in 1678, lasting until 1684. It has since been used for various state functions, including the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

More selected pictures

edit

Did you know?

...that "Nocturne" is the Eurovision Song Contest winner with the fewest words, the Norwegian language original having only 25?

...that the Eastgate Clock (pictured) in Chester is the second most photographed timepiece in the United Kingdom, after Big Ben?

...that "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" received three perfect scores at the start of voting in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 before ultimately coming in fourth, making Hungary the only debuting nation to lead the voting?

More did you know...

edit

Selected city

Amsterdam, capital city of the Netherlands, lies on the banks of two bodies of water, the IJ bay and the Amstel river. Founded in the late 12th century as a small fishing village on the banks of the Amstel, it is now the largest city in the country and is a financial and cultural centre. In 2006, the population of the municipality proper was 741,329; the population of the official Greater Amsterdam area is approximately 1.5 million, but the real agglomeration is estimated at 2 to 2.5 million. Amsterdam is also one of the core urban centres of the greater metropolitan area called Randstad (English: "Ring City") which encompasses other Dutch cities and has a population of over 7.5 million.

Amsterdam has one of the largest historic city centres in Europe, dating largely from the 17th century. At this time, a series of concentric, semi-circular canals (grachten) were dug around the old city centre. Along the canals houses and warehouses were built. The canals still define Amsterdam's layout and appearance today. Amsterdam is famous for its free-spirited liberalism, diversity and tolerance.

Read more...

More selected cities...

General images

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

Image 1Hearing of Josep Borrell, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 2Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 3The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 4Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 5Winston 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 6Political 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 7The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 8The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 9Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 101922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 11Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 12Organigram 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 13Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 14The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 15The 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 16Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 17A 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 18After 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 19The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 20Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 21José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004-2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 22Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 23The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 24Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 25The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 26Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 27Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 28Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 29Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 30Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 31Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 32Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 33A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 34Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 35Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 36Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)