European Union
From Liberapedia
The European Union OR EU is a Union of European countries. There are 24 member states. This is called the single market. There is a European Parliament which has been democratically elected since 1979. There are standardized laws which ensure that traded goods comply with legislation in all trading European Union countries. There is a regional development policy. Richer European Union nations help poorer countries of the EU to build up their economies. Those nations who benefit from this are now former Communist countries. The European Union aims to develop a common foreign policy despite continual disagreement over what this policy should be. Many member states have abolished passport controls at their borders with other European Union nations.
Long standing members trade with each other without tariff restrictions. New members reduce tariffs gradually during an introductory period. Most EU nations use the common currency, the Euro. Britain, Sweden and a few others have kept their traditional currency.
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History
After the Second World War the governments of various European nations got together and decided to form a united organisation to prevent further wars like the First World War and the war that had just ended. Several groups of European nations formed the most important being the European Economic Community, the EEC. During several decades the EEC was steadily enlarged and in the 1990’s under the Maastricht treaty the name was changed to the European Union, the EU.
