|
Culture · Geography · Health · History · Mathematics · Natural sciences · Philosophy · Religion · Society · Technology
 The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states with supranational and intergovernmental features, primarily located in Europe. It traces its origins to the European Economic Community (EEC) formed in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome between six European countries. Since then the EU has grown in size through the accession of new member states and has increased its powers by the addition of new policy areas to its remit. In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty established the current legal framework.  The EU creates a single market by a system of laws which apply in all member states, guaranteeing the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital. It maintains a common trade policy, agricultural and fisheries policies, and a regional development policy. In 1999 the EU introduced a common currency, the euro, which has been adopted by fifteen member states. It has also developed a role in foreign policy, and in justice and home affairs. Passport control between many member states has been abolished under the Schengen Agreement. With almost 500 million citizens the EU generates an estimated 31% share of the world's nominal GDP (€11.45 trillion or US$15.8 trillion) in 2007. It represents its members in the WTO and observes at G8 summits and at the UN. Twenty-one EU countries are members of NATO. Important institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank. EU citizens elect the Parliament every five years.  The EUFOR or European Union Force is an international military force under the supervision of the European Council. It is best known for operation Althea; their current involvement in Bosnia and Herzegovina to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Agreement. It replaced the NATO-led SFOR on the 2nd of December 2004. The EUFOR is led by the Political and Security Committee, and the civilian implementation of the agreement lies in the hands of the Office of High Representative. The efforts of both are coordinated by the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana. EUFOR has around 7,000 personnel from 33 countries, mostly from the countries of the European Union. There are however, additional troops from other European countries and also some from Canada and elsewhere. As of 2005, this is the largest purely European military operation.  Stockholm is the capital of Sweden, and consequently the site of its Government and Parliament as well as the residence of the Swedish head of state, King Carl XVI Gustaf. Stockholm has been Sweden's political and economic center since the 13th century. Today it is the largest municipality of Sweden, with a population of 776,000, while the populations of the Stockholm urban area and Metropolitan Stockholm are roughly 1.2 and 1.9 million, respectively. With its location on the east coast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, it is widely renowned for its beauty. The city is said to have been founded by Birger Jarl in order to protect Sweden from a sea invasion by foreign navies, and to stop the pillage of towns such as Sigtuna on Lake Mälaren. It is also said that the name derives from the spot where a log (stock) pushed into the waters, and following its currents, drifted upon an islet (holm). This location would thus constitute the best location for a harbour for returning ships.
  Photo credit: User:Diliff A panorama of the Colosseum in Rome, at dusk. 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg){kind=small}
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 16 November 2008, at 19:29.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by PediaView.com. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with PediaView.com.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Portal:European Union".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.