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Motto:"United in diversity"[1][2][3] Anthem: Political centres Largest city London Official languages Demonym European[6] Member states Leaders - President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy (EPP) - President of the Commission Jos Manuel Barroso (EPP) Legislature Legislature of the European Union - Upper house Council of the European Union - Lower house European Parliament Establishment - Treaty of Paris 23 July 1952 - Treaty of Rome 1 January 1958 - Treaty of Maastricht 1 November 1993 Area - Total 4,381,376km2 (7tha) 1,691,658sqmi - Water(%) 3.08 Population - 2012estimate 507,890,191[7] (3rda) - Density 116.2/km2 300.9/sqmi GDP(PPP) 2011estimate - Total $15.821 trillion[8] (1sta) - Per capita $31,607[8] (15tha) GDP(nominal) 2011estimate - Total $17.577 trillion[8] (1sta) - Per capita $35,116[9] (14tha) Gini(2010) 30.4[10] medium HDI (2011) 0.876[11] very high 13th/ 25tha Currency Time zone (UTC+0 to +2) - Summer(DST) (UTC+1 to +3[12]) Calling code 28 codes Internet TLD .eu[13] Website europa.eu a. If considered as a single entity.

The European Union (abbreviation: EU) is a confederation of 28 member countries in Europe, started in 1957 as the European Economic Community (EEC). It has created a common economic area with Europe-wide laws allowing people to move and trade in other EU countries almost the same as they do in their own. Seventeen of these countries also share the same type of money: the euro.

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 a common style of passport, common rules about fair trading with each other, common agreements about law enforcement, 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.

After World War II, the countries in Europe wanted to live peacefully together and help one another's economies. Instead of fighting 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. Now already 16 member countries have replaced their national currencies with the euro. 10 new countries became members of the EU in 2004, 2 more became members in 2007, and 1 more in 2013. Today there are 28 member countries altogether.

On 12 October 2012, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

A person who is a citizen of a European Union country can live and work in any of the other 27 member countries without needing a work permit or visa. For example, a British 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 country.

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