Outline of the European Union

The Flag of the European Union

The location of the European Union

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political partnership of 27 member states, located primarily in Europe.^[1][2][3][4] Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community.^[5] With 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates an estimated 30% share (US$18.4 trillion in 2008) of the nominal gross world product.^[6]

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the European Union:

Origins

• History of the European Union
  • Pre-1945 ideas on European unity
  • History of the European Communities (1945-1957)
  • History of the European Communities (1958-1972)
  • History of the European Communities (1973-1993)
  • History of the European Union (1993-2004)
• European Communities
  • European Economic Community
  • European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
  • Euratom
• Single market. See also Trade bloc and Value-added tax
• Subsidiarity
• See treaties below

Identity

• European symbols
  • Flag of Europe
  • Anthem of Europe
  • Europe Day

Structures

Map showing the Member States of the European Union (clickable)

1. Members
   • Member States
     • Dependent Territories of Member States
   • Enlargement
2. Institutions
   • European Commission
     • President of the European Commission
       • Barroso Commission
       • Prodi Commission
       • Santer Commission
       • Delors Commission
       • Thorn Commission
       • Jenkins Commission
       • Ortoli Commission
       • Mansholt Commission
       • Malfatti Commission
       • Rey Commission
     • Hallstein Commission
     • European Civil Service
   • European Parliament
     • Member of the European Parliament
     • President of the European Parliament
     • European political party
     • Political groups of the European Parliament
     • Elections in the European Union
     • Committees of the European Parliament
   • Council of the European Union (also named Council of Ministers or just Council)
     • Presidency of the Council of the European Union
     • Qualified Majority Voting (QMV)
     • COREPER
   • Court of Justice of the European Union
     • European Court of Justice
     • General Court (European Union
     • List of members
     • List of European Court of Justice rulings
   • European Court of Auditors
   • European Central Bank (ECB)
   • European Council
3. Other bodies
   • Committee of the Regions (CoR)
   • Economic and Social Committee (ESC)
   • European System of Central Banks
   • European Investment Bank
   • European Investment Fund
   • Agencies of the European Union
   • European Ombudsman
4. Related Organisations
   • European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
   • European Economic Area (EEA)
   • Western European Union (WEU)

Law and policy

A map of the per capita GDP in Europe

1. Treaties of the European Union – Founding and amending treaties (primary legislation)
   • Treaty of Paris (1951)
   • Treaty of Rome (1957)
   • Merger Treaty (1965)
   • Single European Act (1986)
   • Treaty of Maastricht (1992)
   • Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)
   • Treaty of Nice (2001)
   • Treaty of Accession 2003
   • Treaty of Accession 2005
   • Treaty of Lisbon (2007)
   • Related documents
     • Schengen treaty
     • Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe
     • Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
2. EU Policy Areas
   • Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (Euro)
   • European Political Cooperation
   • Common Agricultural Policy
   • Common Fisheries Policy
   • Regional policy
   • Trans-European Networks
   • Energy
3. EU law
   • Acquis Communautaire
   • Official Journal of the European Union
   • EU competition law (see also Antitrust, Cartel, Economics, Microeconomics, Perfect competition, Industrial organization, Game theory)
4. Forms of Secondary Legislation
   • Directive
   • Regulation
   • Recommendation
5. Topics of Secondary Legislation
   • Copyright law of the European Union
6. Directives and Regulations of Secondary Legislation:
   • European Company Statute
   • Protected designation of origin
   • Community patent
   • Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals
   • Directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights
   • Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of personal data
   • Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection

A topographic map of Europe

Miscellaneous

A satellite composite image of Europe

• Economy of the European Union
• European Neighbourhood
• European Union Statistics
• Euroscepticism, Europhobe
• European Union Association Agreement
• Pro-European, Europhiles
• Largest Cities of the European Union by population
• Morocco and the European Union
• Sports in the European Union
• United States of Europe
• Trade war
  • Trade war over genetically modified food
• Statewatch
• Supranational union

See also

European Union portal

Main article: European Union

• Outline of Europe
• Member organization of the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
• Outline of Austria
• Outline of Belgium
• Outline of Bulgaria
• Outline of Cyprus
• Outline of the Czech Republic
• Outline of Denmark
• Outline of Estonia
• Outline of Finland
• Outline of France
• Outline of Germany
• Outline of Greece
• Outline of Hungary
• Outline of Ireland
• Outline of Italy
• Outline of Latvia
• Outline of Lithuania
• Outline of Luxembourg
• Outline of Malta
• Outline of the Netherlands
• Outline of Poland
• Outline of Portugal
• Outline of Romania
• Outline of Slovakia
• Outline of Slovenia
• Outline of Spain
• Outline of Sweden
• Outline of the United Kingdom

References

1. ^ Jackson, James K. (9 March 2009). "The Financial Crisis: Impact on and Response by the European Union" (pdf). Federation of American Scientists: Congressional Research Service. p. 28. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40415.pdf. Retrieved 6 July 2009. "The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 member states, formally established in 1993 by the Treaty of Maastricht out of existing structures that had evolved in steps since the 1950s." 
2. ^ Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations. "What is the European Union?". http://www.franceonu.org/spip.php?rubrique764. Retrieved 6 July 2009. "Europe is a geographical and cultural notion. The European Union is a political and economic union among 27 States on the European continent" ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Cabinet statement on German EU Presidency". Regierung Online. Press and Information Office of the [German] Federal Government. 5 November 2006. http://www.bundesregierung.de/nn_6564/Content/EN/Pressemitteilungen/BPA/2006/11/2006-11-05-eu-ratspraesidentschaft__en.html. Retrieved 6 July 2009. "The European Union is a political union..." 
4. ^ "European Union", New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 635, ISBN 0-19-860441-6:"an economic and political association of certain European countries as a unit with internal free trade and common external tariffs...." 
5. ^ Craig, Paul; Grainne De Burca , P. P. Craig (2006). EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 15. ISBN 978-0-19-927389-8. ; "Treaty of Maastricht on European Union". Activities of the European Union. Europa web portal. http://europa.eu/scadplus/treaties/maastricht_en.htm. Retrieved 20 October 2007. 
6. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2009 Edition". International Monetary Fund. April 2009. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2007&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=001%2C998&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPSH&grp=1&a=1&pr.x=50&pr.y=9. Retrieved 24 April 2009. "
   Gross domestic product, current prices; U.S. dollars, Billions;
   2007 = 16,927.173
   2008=18,394.115
   2009=15,342.908 [projection]
   Gross domestic product based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) valuation of country GDP; Current international dollar, Billions;
   2007 = 14,762.109
   2008 = 15,247.163
   2009 = 14,774.525 [projection]
   GDP based on PPP share of world total
   2007 = 22.605%
   2008 = 22.131% 2009 = 21.609% [projection]
   World "GDP", current prices; U.S. dollars, Billions;
   2007 = 54,840.873
   2008= 60,689.812
   2009= 54,863.551 [projection]
   These data were published in 2009. Data for 2009 are projections based on a number of assumptions."