The European Union (EU for short) is an union of European states that pursue common political goals. The EU has existed since 1 November, 1993. On this day, twelve countries, including Germany, joined together to form the European Union, as had been previously agreed in the Maastricht Treaty. Before this, European states had already banded together to form the so-called "European Community”. Every country in Europe has the chance to join the European Union. However, it must fulfil several conditions first. One of the most important of these is that the country that wants to join is a democracy. Today, 27 nations belong to the EU, making up a total population of more than 490 million. If all the countries that have applied for entry are accepted by the EU over the next few years, the bloc will have more than 30 members.
The countries that have joined together to form the EU want to work together on many political, economic and social issues. Together, they want to ensure that Europe’s wealth is maintained and that its people can live in peace. Sometimes coming up with common policies is rather complicated. All the nations in the EU are still independent states and have their own governments. So there are sometimes quarrels between the EU and the individual nations – and, of course, between the nations themselves. It’s like in a big family: reaching an agreement is not always easy.
At the start of 1999, a common currency was introduced that is now valid in many EU countries: the euro. You may have noticed that, although there are still sometimes small customs offices on the borders to the Netherlands, France or other EU countries, no one checks passports. Once, you always had to show your passport when travelling to another country. The fact that travelling from one country to another is so easy shows that the people on our continent are living in one "common European house”.
The EU is made up of: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the Republic of Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the Greek part of Cyprus.