Title: European Union Content: The European Union (abbreviation: EU) is a confederation of 27 member countries in Europe established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992-1993. The EU grew out of the European Economic Community (EEC) which was established by the Treaties of Rome in 1957. It has created a common economic area with Europe- wide laws allowing the citizens of EU countries to move and trade in other EU countries almost the same as they do on their own. Nineteen of these countries also share the same type of money: the euro. The name of Europe comes from the Latin Europa, which in turn derives from the Greek Εὐρώπη, from εὐρύς eurys "wide" and ὤψ ops "face". The Treaty of Lisbon is the most recent treaty that says how the Union is run. Every member state signed to say that they each agreed with what it says. Most importantly, it says which jobs (’powers’) the Union should do for the members and which jobs they should do themselves. The members decide how the Union should act by voting for or against proposals. The objective of the EU is to bring its member states closer together with respect of human rights and democracy. It does this with common rules about fair trading with each other, common agreements about law enforcement, a common style of passport, and other agreements. Most members share a common currency (the euro) and most allow people to travel from one country to another without having to show a passport. It does this with common rules about fair trading with each other, common agreements about law enforcement, and other agreements. It has a common style for (its) passports. == History == thumbnail|Quai d'Orsay (Paris). Robert Schuman gave the speech starting the plan for a European Coal and Steel Community in 1950 After World War II, the countries in Europe wanted to live peacefully together and help one another's economies. Instead of fighting each other for coal and steel, the first member countries (West) Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg created one European Coal and Steel Community in 1952. In 1957 in the Italian city of Rome, the member countries signed another treaty and made the European Economic Community. Now it was a community for coal, steel and for trade. Later it changed the name to the European Community. In 1993, with the Treaty of Maastricht it changed its name to the European Union. Now the member countries work together not only in politics and economy (coal, steel and trade), but also in money, justice (laws), and foreign affairs. With the Schengen Agreement, 22 member countries of the EU opened their borders to each other, so people can now travel from one country to the other without a passport or identity card. Many of the countries of the EU also share a currency, which is called the euro. 10 new countries became members of the EU in 2004, 2 more became members in 2007, and 1 more in 2013. In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU. Today there are 27 member countries altogether. == Free movement == A person who is a citizen of the European Union can live and work in any of the 27 member states without needing a work permit or visa. For example, a French person can move to Greece to work there, or just to live there, and he or she does not need permission from an authority in Greece. In the same way, products made in one member country can be sold in any other member country without any special permissions or extra taxes. For this reason, the members agree rules on product safety - they want to know that a product made in another country will be as safe as it would be if it had been made in their own. == Main institutions == Institutions of the European Union Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union/Title III: Provisions on the Institutions  == Brexit == On June 23, 2016, the UK held a referendum on whether it should stay in the EU or leave it. The majority [52% to 48%] favored leaving. Britain leaving the EU is commonly known as Brexit. The government of the UK invoked "Article 50" of the Treaty of European Union (the Treaty of Lisbon) on 29 March 2017. This began negotiations with fellow members of the EU on the terms of exit. The timetable for these negotiations is two years, which meant that the UK would remain a member of the EU until at least March 2019. However this deadline was later extended to October 31st 2019 at the request of the British Government. The United Kingdom left the European Union on the 31 of January 2020 at 23:00 (Greenwich Mean Time). Following the UK left from the European Union on January 31, the transition period expired on December 31, 2020 and ended on January 1, 2021. ==Related pages== * Citizenship of the European Union * Multilingualism * Brexit