Even though the EU is just not a federation inside the stringent sense, it's far more than a absolutely free-trade association including ASEAN or Mercosur, and it's sure characteristics connected with unbiased nations: its personal flag, forex (for some users), and law-building skills, in addition to diplomatic illustration and a typical overseas and safety coverage in its dealings with external companions.

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flooding alongside coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes during the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes inside the Baltic Sea area

The origin on the title of Europe is unknown. It is assumed to obtain come from The parable of Europa, a Phoenician princess abducted by Zeus who became the first queen of your Minoans, but this claim is challenged for hundreds of years.

Statistics on EU countries and populations, financial state and work, transportation and energy plus the EU establishments.

This post treats the record of European Modern society and society. For any dialogue from the physical and human geography on the continent, see

In 1973, the 1st enlargement of the EC included Denmark, Eire, and also the UK. The nineteen eighties observed additional membership expansion, with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for even more cooperation in overseas and defense coverage and judicial and interior affairs, together with the development of an financial and financial union -- together with a standard forex.

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three billion is allotted for collaborative ability enhancement tasks that complement national contributions; the EDF identifies essential protection domains that it's going to assist

Regardless of its internal diversity, Europe has Hence functioned, from your time it initial emerged from the human consciousness, check here being a world aside, concentrating—to borrow a phrase from Christopher Marlowe—“infinite riches in just a little place.”

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Take note: top rated 5 export commodities depending on worth in bucks; features the two exports to exterior partners and interior trade between EU member states

- headed by a College of Commissioners comprised of 27 members (just one from each member state) including the president; Each individual commissioner is liable for one or more policy parts; the Fee has the only real ideal to initiate EU laws (aside from overseas and protection/protection plan), and is also answerable for endorsing the final desire of your EU, performing as "guardian on the Treaties" by monitoring the applying of EU regulation, applying/executing the EU spending plan, handling plans, negotiating within the EU's behalf in policy locations exactly where the member states have conferred sole competency, like trade, and ensuring the Union's external illustration in a few plan locations; its recent president is Ursula VON DER LEYEN (Germany) elected on sixteen July 2019 (took Office environment on one December 2019); the president on the European Fee is nominated with the European Council and confirmed with the European Parliament; the Fee president allocates specific obligations among the members of the College (appointed by prevalent accord from the member-point out governments in session Along with the president-elect); the European Parliament confirms the entire Fee for any five-calendar year term.

note: only the 24 official languages are shown; German, the foremost language of Germany and Austria, would be the most generally spoken mom tongue - about sixteen% of your EU population; English may be the most widely spoken international language - about 29% on the EU inhabitants is conversant with it; English is an official language in Eire and Malta and so remained an Formal EU language after the UK remaining the bloc (2020)