European Union

The **European Union** (**EU**) is a group o 27 memmer states that are locatit primarily in Europe. The Union wis pitten thegither fir cultural an economic ettils. Monie kintras in the Union bruiks the same siller, the *[[euro]]*.

The EU traces its origins frae the European Coal an Steel Community (ECSC) an the European Economic Community (EEC), formed bi the Inner Sax kintras in 1951 and 1958, respectively. In the intervenin years the commonty an its successors hae grown in size bi the accession o new member states an in pouer bi the addeetion o policy auries tae its remit. The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union unner its current name in 1993. The latest major amendment tae the constitutional basis o the EU, the Treaty o Lisbon, came intae force in 2009.

The EU haes developed a single market throu a standardised seestem o laws that apply in aw member states. Within the Schengen Aurie (which includes 22 EU an 4 non-EU states) passport controls hae been abolished. EU policies aim tae ensur the free movement o fowk, guids, services, an caipital, enact legislation in juistice an home affairs, an maintain common policies on trade, agricultur, fisheries, an regional development.

The monetary union wis established in 1999 and came intae full force in 2002. Hit is currently componed o 18 member states that uise the euro as thair legal tender. Throu the Common Foreign an Security Policy the EU haes developed a role in freemit relations an defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the warld an represents itself at the Unitit Naitions, the WTO, the G8, an the G-20.

The EU is considered bi mony tae be a potential superpouer. Wi a combined population o ower 500&nbsp;million indwallers, or 7.3% o the warld population, the EU in 2012 generatit a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) o 16.584 trillion US dollars, constitutin approximately 23% o global nominal GDP an 20% when measured in terms o purchasin pouer parity, which is the lairgest nominal GDP an GDP PPP in the warld. The EU wis the recipient o the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.

## Memmer states

Memmers o the EU:

Yeir o ingang: 1)1958 (founders), 2)1973, 3)1981, 4)1986, 5)1995, 6)2004, 7)2007, 8)2013.

 Eftir the cumin thegither o Germany in 1990, the umwhyl territorie o the GDR jyn'd the European Union.

Croatie wul lyk jyn the EU in 2009, North Macedonie wis makkit a candidate kintra in 2006, an Turkey haes been a canidate kintra in 1999 altho thay didna corrieneuch till 2005.

As o 31st o January 2020 the Uniteet Kinrik isnae longer pairt o the European Union.

## Leids o the European Union
### Offeicial leids o the European Union
The syn in the ingang o the European Pairliament biggin in Brussels is written in the 20 offeecial leids bruikit in the European Union as o Julie 2006.
The offeicial leids o the European Union, as stipulatit in the amendit EEC Council: Regulation Nummer 1 determinin the leids ti be bruikit bi the European Economic Communitie o 1958-04-15, ar: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/languages/index_en.html 

No aw naitional offeicial leids haes bin grantit the status o offeicial leids o the EU. Luxembourgish, an offeecial leid o Luxembourg syn 1984, haesna. Nor haes Turkis, an offeecial leid o Cyprus.

### Regional an minoritie leids
Thar's monie mair leids that 's recognised bi the EU (in fak its the Cooncil o Europe, a different organization) as "Regional an Minority Leids". Thir includes the Scots leid an the Scots Gaelic leid as regional leids.

## Siller
The creation o a European single siller acame an offeecial objective o the European Economic Community in 1969. Houiver, it wis anly wi the advent o the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 that member states wur legally boond tae stairt the monetary union no later nor 1 Januar 1999. On this date the euro wis duly launched bi eleven o the then 15 member states o the EU. It remained an accoontin currency till 1 Januar 2002, when euro notes an coins wur issued an naitional currencies began tae phase oot in the eurozone, which bi then consisted o 12 member states. The eurozone (constituted bi the EU member states which hae adoptit the euro) haes syne grown tae 18 kintras, the maist recent bein Latvie which jyned on 1 Januar 2014.

Aw ither EU member states, except Denmark are legally boond tae jyn the euro when the convergence criteria are met, houiver anly a few kintras hae set target dates fir accession. Swaden haes circumventit the requirement tae jyn the euro bi nae meetin the membership criteria.

## Criticism (Euroscepticism)
A bodie thit is critical o the European Union mey be callit a **Eurosceptic**. Sic fowk mey oppone membership ootricht (*hard Euroscepticism*), or juist be critical o wee aspects o the bloc (*soft Euroscepticism*). Euroscepticism in the Unitit Kinrick is maistlins *hard*, an can be seen bi the rise o the UK Independence Party (UKIP) an Brexit.

## See an aa
*Memmer o the European Pairlament (MEP)

## Notes


## References


## Fremmit airtins
*  European Union yett, in mony leids
*  European Pairlament yett, in mony leids