Portal:European Union

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The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.^{[dead link]} The union has a total area of 4,233,255 km² (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated population of over 449 million as of 2024. The EU is often described as a sui generis political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.

Containing 5.5% of the world population in 2023, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around €17.935 trillion in 2024, accounting for approximately one sixth of global economic output. Its cornerstone, the Customs Union, paved the way to establishing an internal single market based on standardised legal framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area. The eurozone is a group composed of the 20 EU member states that have fully implemented the EU's economic and monetary union and use the euro currency. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the union has developed a role in external relations and defence. It maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7 and the G20. Due to its global influence, the European Union has been described by some scholars as an emerging superpower.

In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2020, the United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU; ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it. (Full article...)

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The Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for valor in the face of the enemy. Foreign decorations equivalent to the Virtuti Militari include Britain's Victoria Cross and the U.S. Medal of Honor. It is awarded either for personal heroism or sometimes to commanders representing their units.

Awarded in five classes, the order was created in 1792 by Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski. It has been reintroduced, renamed and banned several times, with its fate closely reflecting the vicissitudes of the Polish people. Throughout the decoration's existence, thousands of soldiers and officers, Polish and foreign, several cities and one ship have been awarded the Virtuti Militari for valor or outstanding leadership in war. There have been no new awards since 1989.

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Castle of Zafra

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

The Castle of Zafra is a 12th-century castle located in the municipality of Campillo de Dueñas, in the Spanish province of Guadalajara. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century on a sandstone outcrop in the Sierra de Caldereros, it stands on the site of a former Visigothic and Moorish fortification that fell into Christian hands in 1129. It had considerable strategic importance as a virtually impregnable defensive work on the border between Christian- and Muslim-ruled territory. It was never conquered and was successfully defended against the king of Castile in the 13th century, but by the end of the 15th century, it had lost its military significance.

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Did you know?

...that within the Eurozone the European Central Bank has the exclusive authority to set monetary policy?

...that Greenland and United Kingdom are the only countries to ever leave the European Union?

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Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is the seat of the district of Lisbon and capital of Região Lisboa (Lisbon Region). Lisbon municipality has a population of 564,477, and the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in total has around 2,800,000 inhabitants, the largest urban aglomeration of Portugal. Lisbon Region is the wealthiest region in Portugal and it is well above the European Union's per capita GDP average.

Lisbon hosts two important European Union agencies namely, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). The CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries), is also headquartered in Lisbon.

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General images

The following are images from various European Union-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 2Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 3The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 4Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 5The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 6Winston Churchill (right, during the Atlantic Conference), consistent advocate of continential European integration, later along with his son-in-law Duncan Sandys (from History of the European Union)
Image 7The population density of the EU is 106 people per km². Note that the lights in the North Sea are from oil platforms. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 8Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 9Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 10Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 11Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 12The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 13The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 14Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 15Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 16Mario Draghi (from History of the European Union)
Image 17Kaja Kallas, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 18Political groups of the European Parliament in the Louise Weiss building after the election 2024:
  Group of the European People's Party (EPP)
  Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)
  Patriots for Europe (PfE)
  European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)
  Renew Europe (Renew)
  The Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)
  The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL (The Left)
  Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN)
  Non-Inscrits (NI)
  Vacant (1)
(from Politics of the European Union)
Image 19The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 201922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 21The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 22Organigram of the political system. The seven organs of the Union are in blue, national / intergovernmental elements in orange. (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 23Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 24Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 25Donald Trump President of the United States (from History of the European Union)
Image 26Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 27José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004–2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 28A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 29Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 30Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 31After two devastating world wars, the political climate favoured an international unity that could preserve peace in Europe effectively (Hamburg, after a massive Allied bombing in 1943 in the picture). (from History of the European Union)
Image 32The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 33Percentage responding that their country on balance benefited from being a member of the EU at Eurobarometer 2023:

  91–100%

  81–90%

  71–80%

  61–70%

  51–60%

(from Politics of the European Union)
Image 34Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 35Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 36A cartogram depicting the population distribution between old EU-27 member states in 2008 (including the UK and excluding Croatia). 57.8% of all citizens of the EU live in the four largest member states: Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 37Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 38Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 39Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)