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. The Union has a total area of 4,233,255 km² (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 449 million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.

Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$16.6 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately one sixth of global nominal GDP. Additionally, all EU states except Bulgaria have a very high Human Development Index according to the United Nations Development Programme. 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 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. The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU, in 2020; ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it. (Full article...)

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Same-sex marriage in Spain was legalised in 2005. In 2004, the new Socialist government, led by President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, began a campaign for its legalization, which would include adoption by same-sex couples. After much debate, a law permitting same-sex marriage was passed by the Cortes Generales on 30 June 2005 and published on 2 July 2005. Same-sex marriage officially became legal in Spain on Sunday, 3 July 2005. The ratification of this law has not been devoid of conflict, despite support from 66% of Spaniards. Catholic authorities in particular were adamantly opposed to it, fearing the weakening of the meaning of marriage. Demonstrations for and against the law drew thousands of people from all parts of Spain.

Approximately 4,500 same-sex couples have married in Spain during the first year of the law. Shortly after the law was passed, questions arose about the legal status of marriage to non-Spaniards whose country did not permit same-sex marriage. A ruling from the Spanish Justice ministry stated that the country's same-sex marriage law allows a Spanish citizen to marry a non-Spaniard regardless of whether that person's homeland recognizes the partnership. At least one partner must be a Spanish citizen to marry.

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Academy of Athens

Photograph credit: Thomas Wolf

The Academy of Athens is Greece's national academy and the highest research establishment in the country. Established on 18 March 1926, it operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. This picture shows the main building of the Academy, a neoclassical building between Panepistimiou Street and Akadimias Street in the centre of Athens and one of the city's major landmarks. The building was designed as part of an architectural "trilogy" in 1859 by Danish architect Theophil Hansen, along with the University and the National Library. The Greek neoclassical sculptor Leonidas Drosis sculpted the principal multi-figure pediment sculpture, on the theme of the birth of Athena, based on a design by painter Carl Rahl. Two columns on either side of the portico feature statues of Athena on the left and Apollo on the right, also designed by Drosis.

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Did you know?

... that the presidency of the EU Council rotates every half year?

... that the EU parliamentary election is the world's biggest transnational election?

... that the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012?

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Dublin is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and forms the centre of the Dublin Region. Originally founded as a centre of Viking settlement, the city has been Ireland's capital city since mediæval times. The population within the city was 505,739 at the census of 2006. Beyond this, at the same census the Dublin Region population was 1,186,159, whilst the Greater Dublin Area had a figure of 1,661,185.

In a 2003 European wide survey by the BBC, questioning 11,200 residents of 112 urban and rural areas, Dublin was found to be the best capital city in Europe to live in, and the Republic of Ireland was judged to be the most content country in Europe. A person from Dublin is known as a Dubliner or colloquially as a Dub. Dublin is a major European cultural centre and the origin of many prominent literary figures including Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Seán O'Casey, and Samuel Beckett.

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General images

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

Image 1A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)

Percentage 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 3Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 4The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 5Organigram 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 6The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 7Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 8Political 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 9The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 10The population density of the EU is 106 people per km². N.B. the light in the North Sea is from oil platforms. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 11Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 12After 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 13Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 141922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 15Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 16The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 17The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 18Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 19Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 20A 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 21Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 22Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 23Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 24Winston 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 25Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 26Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 27Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 28Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 29The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 30Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 31Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 32José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004-2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 33Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 34Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 35Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 36The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 37Hearing of Josep Borrell, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)