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Tirana (Standard ; regional Gheg Albanian: Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Albania. It is the administrative, cultural, economic, and industrial center of Albania.

The population of the city proper at the 2015 census was 610,070[http://www.instat.gov.al/en/themes/population.aspx] and the municipality of Tirana, created in 2015, has a total population of 800,986.[http://www.instat.gov.al/media/282112/population_of_albania_1_january_2015_press_release.pdf] It is the biggest metropolitan area in Albania, and the only one with a population of over 500.000.
The city is host to many public institutions and public and private universities, and is the centre of the political, economic, and cultural life of the country.

Geography

The Municipality of Tirana is located at   (41.33°N, 19.82°E) in Tirana County, about 32 km inland. Tirana's average altitude is 110 m above sea level and its highest point measures  at Mali me Gropa. The city is mostly surrounded by hills, with Dajti Mountain on the east and a slight valley opening on the north-west overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. The Tiranë river runs through the city, as does the Lanë stream.

The city has four artificial lakes: the Tirana Artificial Lake around which was built the Big Park, Paskuqani Lake,  Farka Lake, Tufina Lake, and other smaller lakes or reservoirs.

The present Tirana municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Baldushk, Bërzhitë, Dajt, Farkë, Kashar, Krrabë, Ndroq, Petrelë, Pezë, Shëngjergj, Tirana, Vaqarr, Zall-Bastar and Zall-Herr, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the city Tirana.  The total population is 557,422 (2011 census), in a total area of 1110.03 km2.[http://gis.ceshtjetvendore.gov.al/ Interactive map administrative territorial reform] The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 418,495.[http://www.instat.gov.al/media/195838/11__tirane.pdf 2011 census results]

History 

Antiquity 

The area occupied by Tirana has been populated since the Paleolithic era,  dating back 10,000 to 30,000 years ago, as suggested by evidence from tools excavated near Mount Dajt's quarry and in Pellumba Cave. As argued by various archaeologists, Tirana and its suburbs are filled with Illyrian toponyms, as its precincts are some of the earliest inhabited regions in Albania.  The Illyrians called the settlement Tërana. 

The oldest discovery in downtown Tirana was a Roman house, later transformed into an aisleless church with a mosaic-floor, dating to the 3rd century A.D., with other remains found near a medieval temple at Shengjin Fountain in the eastern suburbs. A castle possibly called Tirkan or Theranda, whose remnants are found along Murat Toptani Street, was built by Emperor Justinian in 520 A.D. and restored by Ahmed Pasha Toptani in the 18th century. The area had no special importance in Illyrian and classical times. In 1510, Marin Barleti, an Albanian Catholic priest and scholar, in the biography of the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg, Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis (The story of life and deeds of Skanderbeg, the prince of Epirotes), referred to this area as a small village. 

Ottoman rule and World War I

Records from the first land registrations under the Ottomans in 1431–32 show that Tirana consisted of 60 inhabited areas, with nearly 2,028 houses and 7,300 inhabitants.  Tirana is mentioned since 1572 as "Borgo di Tirana".  In 1614, Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler, built the Old mosque, a small commercial centre, and a hammam (Turkish bath).

During this period, the Et'hem Bey Mosque, built by Molla Bey of Petrela, was constructed. It employed the best artisans in the country and was completed in 1821 by Molla's son Etëhem, who was also Sulejman Bargjini's grandnephew. In 1800, the first newcomers arrived in the settlement, the so-called ortodoksit. They were Vlachs from villages near Korçë and Pogradec, who settled around modern day Park on the Artificial Lake.  They started to be known as the llacifac and were the first Christians to arrive after the creation of the town. After Serb reprisals in the Debar region, thousands of locals fled to Tirana. In 1807, Tirana became the center of the Sub-Prefecture of Krujë-Tirana. After 1816, Tirana languished under the control of the Toptani family of Krujë. Later, Tirana became a Sub-Prefecture of the newly created Vilayet of Shkodër and Sanjak of Durrës. In 1889, the Albanian language started to be taught in Tirana's schools, while the patriotic club Bashkimi was founded in 1908. On 28 November 1912, the national flag was raised in agreement with Ismail Qemali. During the Balkan Wars, the town was temporarily occupied by the Serbian army and it took part in uprising of the villages led by Haxhi Qamili. In 1917, the first city outline was compiled by Austro-Hungarian architects. 

Capital city and Monarchy 

On 8 February 1920, the Congress of Lushnjë proclaimed Tirana as the temporary capital of Albania, which had gained independence in 1912.  The city retained that status permanently on 31 December 1925. In 1923, the first regulatory city plan was compiled by Austrian architects.  The centre of Tirana was the project of Florestano Di Fausto and Armando Brasini, well known architects of the Benito Mussolini period in Italy. Brasini laid the basis for the modern-day arrangement of the ministerial buildings in the city centre. The plan underwent revisions by Albanian architect Eshref Frashëri, Italian architect Castellani and Austrian architects Weiss and Kohler. The rectangular parallel road system of Tirana e Re district took shape, while the northern portion of the main Boulevard was opened. 

In the political sphere, Tirana experienced such events as intermittent attacks on the mountain pass of Shkalla e Tujanit (Tujan's Staircase) by the army of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and forces loyal to Zogu. In 1924, Tirana was at the centre of a coup d'état led by Fan S. Noli.  Since 1925, when they were banned in Turkey, the Bektashis, an order of dervishes who take their name from Haji Bektash, a Sufi saint of the 13th and 14th centuries, made Tirana their primary settlement.  Modern Albanian parliamentary building served as a club of officers. It was there that, in September 1928, Zog of Albania was crowned King Zog I, King of the Albanians.

The period between the 1930s and 1940s was characterized by the completion of the above architectural projects, clashes between occupying forces and local resistance and the coming to power of the communists.  In 1930, the northern portion of modern Dëshmorët e Kombit (National Martyrs) Boulevard was finished and named Zog I Boulevard. Meanwhile, the ministerial complex, boulevard axis, Royal Palace (Palace of the Brigades), former municipal building, and the National Bank were still under construction.  The latter is the work of the renowned Italian architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo. In addition, Tirana served as the venue for the signing, between Fascist Italy and Albania, of the Pact of Tirana.

World War II and Socialism 

In 1939, Tirana was captured by Fascist forces appointing a puppet government. In the meantime, Italian architect Gherardo Bosio was asked to elaborate on previous plans and introduce a new project in the area of present-day Mother Teresa Square.  By the early 1940s, the southern portion of the main boulevard and surrounding buildings were finished and renamed with Fascist names.  A failed assassination attempt was made on Victor Emmanuel III of Italy by a local resistance activist during a visit in Tirana. In November 1941, two emissaries of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ), Miladin Popović and Dušan Mugoša, managed to call a meeting of three Albanian communist groups and founded the Communist Party of Albania, of which Enver Hoxha would shortly emerge as the leader.

The town soon became the center of the Albanian communists, who mobilized locals against Italian fascists and later Nazi Germans, while spreading ideological propaganda. On 17 November 1944, the town was liberated after a fierce battle between the Communists and German forces.  The Nazis eventually withdrew and the communists seized power.

From 1944 to 1991, the city experienced ordered development with a decline in architectural quality. Massive socialist-styled apartment complexes and factories began to be built, while Skanderbeg Square was redesigned with a number of buildings being demolished. For instance, Tirana's former Old Bazaar and the Orthodox Cathedral were razed to the ground for the erection of the Soviet-styled Palace of Culture. The Italian-built municipal building was detonated and the National Historical Museum was constructed instead, while the structure housing the Parliament of Albania during the monarchy was turned into a children's theater. 

The northern portion of the main boulevard was renamed Stalin Boulevard and his statue erected in the city square. As private car ownership was banned, mass transport consisted mainly of bicycles, trucks and buses. After Hoxha's death, a pyramidal museum was constructed in his memory by the government. 

Prior to and after the proclamation of Albania's self-isolationist policy, a number of high-profile figures paid visits to the city, such as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and East German Foreign Minister Oskar Fischer. In 1985, Tirana served as the ceremonial venue of Enver Hoxha's funeral. A few years later, Mother Teresa became the first religious figure  to visit the country following Albania's long declared anti-religious atheist stance. She paid respect to her mother and sister resting at a local cemetery. Starting at the campus and ending at Skanderbeg Square with the toppling of Enver Hoxha's statue, the city saw significant demonstrations by University of Tirana students, demanding political freedoms in the early 1990s.

Transition 

On the political aspect, the city witnessed a number of events. Personalities visited the capital, such as former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and Pope John Paul II. The former visit came amidst the historical setting after the fall of communism, as hundreds of thousands were chanting in Skanderbeg Square Baker's famous saying of "Freedom works!". Pope John Paul II became the first major religious leader to visit Tirana, though Mother Teresa had visited few years prior. During the Balkans turmoil in the mid-1990s, the city experienced dramatic events such as the unfolding of the 1997 unrest in Albania and a failed coup d'état on 14 September 1998. In 1999, following the Kosovo War, Tirana Airport became a NATO airbase, serving its mission in the former Yugoslavia.

Recent development 

Starting in 2000, former Tirana mayor Edi Rama (mayor 2000 - 2011) under the Ilir Meta government, undertook a campaign to demolish illegal buildings around the city centre and on Lana River banks to bring the area to its pre-1990 state. In an attempt to widen roads, Rama authorized the bulldozing of private properties so that they could be paved over, thus widening streets. Most main roads underwent reconstruction, such the Ring Road (Unaza), Kavaja Street and the main boulevard. He has been accused of corruption and mismanagement of funds by the opposition, including corruption in the granting of building permits. Rama led the initiative to paint the façades of Tirana's buildings in bright colours (known as Edi Rama colours - very bright pink, yellow, green, violet) although much of their interiors continued to degrade. Rama's critics claimed that he focused too much attention on cosmetic changes without fixing any of the major problems such as shortages of drinking water and electricity.   A richer calendar of events was introduced and a Municipal Police force established. 

In 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush marked the first time that such a high ranking American official visited Tirana.  A central Tirana street was named in his honor. In 2008, the 2008 Gërdec explosions were felt in the capital as windows were shattered and citizens shaken. On 21 January 2011, Albanian police clashed with opposition supporters in front of the Government building as cars were set on fire, three persons killed and 150 wounded.  Since 2005 the southeast region of Tirana, mainly Farke and Petrela has had a burst becoming the preferred destination with many residence complexes being built and having the current biggest mall in Albania, TEG.   In the 2015 municipality election power was transferred from the Democratic Party of Albania, representative, Lulzim Basha, to the Socialist Party candidate Erion Veliaj.  The country underwent a territorial reform which unified communes with municipalities leaving 61 of them.  Thirteen of Tirana's communes were integrated as administrative units joining the existing eleven.  Since then Tirana is undergoing major changes in law enforcement and new projects as well as continuing the ones started by his predecessor. In their first few council meeting 242 social houses got allocated to needing families.  Construction permits were suspended until the capital's development plan is revised and synthesized. In addition the municipality will audit all permits granted in the previous years.

Climate 

Tirana has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa in the Köppen climate classification) and receives just enough summer precipitation to avoid Köppen's Csa Mediterranean climate classification, since every summer month has more than 40 mm of rainfall,  with hot and moderately dry/humid summers and cool and wet winters. Some snow falls almost every winter, but it usually melts quickly.

Demographics 

According to data from the National Census in 2011, the Urban areas of Tirana include 526,017 people. The rural areas of Tirana County, which are known as the suburbs of Tirana, include 223,348 people. Altogether, the figure for the whole county is counted as 749,365 people. The number of women slightly beats the number of men in the county, with 370,587 men, and 378,778 women. 

When it comes to religion, Muslims (including the large Bektashi minority in Albania,) make up 65% of Tirana's population. About 11% of people in Tirana identify as some denomination of Christian, 3% are atheist, and 4% identify as "believers without denomination". An interesting stat in the religious makeup of Tirana is the 15% (113,000 people) who preferred not to answer the survey question. This hesitance to not answer may come from the days of Communism in Albania under Enver Hoxha, where he famously proclaimed "The only religion for an Albanian is Albanianism," and then banned all organized religion in Albania.  

In 1703, Tirana had about 4,000 inhabitants and by 1820 the number tripled to 12,000.  The first census, conducted a few years after becoming capital, showed a total population of 10,845. During the 1950s, Tirana experienced rapid industrial growth and the population increased to about 137,000. After the end of communist rule in 1991, Tirana experienced its fastest population growth when people from rural areas moved to the capital for better economic opportunities. In 1990, Tirana had 250,000 inhabitants, but the large-scale influx increased the population to well over 500,000.  

Tirana Expansion.png|Tirana's expansion from 1990 to 2005

 Population figures are given inside city limits at that time.

Health 

The largest hospital in Tirana is Mother Theresa Hospital (Qëndra Spitalore Universitare Nënë Tereza), which is associated with University of Tirana, Faculty of Medicine. A number of private hospitals have been opened.

Culture 

The center of Tirana was conceived as a monumental space. To achieve this goal, the old bazaar of Tirana, the City hall, the Orthodox Cathedral and old assemble of shops, hotels, bars and traditional houses where demolition and substituted by important buildings such as the Palace of Culture, Hotel Tirana, National Museum, “Scanderbeg Square”, and a group of residential buildings. The only historical objects were taken under protection were the Mosque of Et'hem Bey and the Old Clock Tower as well as the Complex of Ministries. 
It includes the National Library and the National Opera and Ballet of Albania.
The city serves as a venue for the Tirana Biennale, Tirana Jazz Festival, Summer Day, White Night on 28 November, Rally Albania, Buy Albanian Regional Delicacies Expo, and Tirana Fashion Week.

Tirana_panorama_2016.jpg|Skanderbeg Square
Clock_Tower_of_Tirana_-_Luca_Conti.jpg|Clock Tower of Tirana
Tirana_Church_-_Tower.jpg|4ever Green Tower and the Cathedral of Resurrection
Tirana museum 2016.jpg|National Historical Museum 
Tirana_mosque_2016.jpg|Et'hem Bey Mosque
Tirana_Albania_pano_2004-07-14.jpg|Mount Dajt overlooking the city and accessible via cable car

Tirana is home to five well-preserved traditional houses (museum-houses), 56 cultural monuments, eight public libraries and the National Library of Albania Biblioteka Kombëtare.  Since 2011, a Tourist Information Office was opened, located behind the National History Museum, with useful information on Tirana and Albania.

Education 

Tirana is host to academic institutions such as the University of Tirana, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Agricultural University of Tirana, Academy of Physical Education and Sports, University of Arts (Academy of Arts of Albania), the Academy of Sciences of Albania, and the Skanderbeg Military University, national and international academic research institutions, as well as NGOs. English Base is an English Language school in Tirana.

Tirana has seen the creation of private academic institutions, including: Albanian University (U.F.O - Universitas.Fabrefacta Optime), Epoka University, University of New York, Tirana, European University of Tirana, Luarasi University, Academy of Film and Multimedia "Marubi".

PANO_20140921_230437.jpg|360° panoramic view of Mother Teresa Square by night with University of Tirana campus at the center

Municipality

The Municipality of Tirana is divided into 24 administrative units referred to as Njësi Bashkiake/Administrative (Municipal/Administrative Units). These have their own appointed mayor and council, and sometimes are known as Mini-Bashki (Mini-Municipality). 

In 2000, the centre of Tirana from the central campus of Tirana University up to Skanderbeg Square was declared the place of Cultural Assembly, and given state protection. The historical core of the capital lies around pedestrian only Murat Toptani Street, while the most prominent city district is Blloku.

Until recently the city lacked a proper address system. In 2010, the municipality undertook the installing of street name signs and entrance numbers while every apartment entrance was physically stamped. 

Urban planning

In 1995, a Land Management Task Force composed of Albanian urban planners, PADCO (a US-based consulting firm), GHK (UK-based consulting firm), and the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University prepared a preliminary structural plan for the Tirana metropolitan area.  The plan was updated by PADCO in 2002 into a Strategic Plan for Greater Tirana, which covered the metropolitan area.
 
In 2002, two German consultants, GTZ GmbH (German Technical Cooperation), and IOER (Institute of Ecological and Regional Development) compiled a development study for the Tirana-Durrës region. 

Most of these proposals did not go through the established approval procedures and have unclear legal status. The preparation of a new master plan for Tirana was under way for almost a decade (2002–2011). Two interim reports prepared by Urbaplan - a Swiss consultant, and CoPlan - an Albanian urban planning institute were released in 2007 and 2008 respectively.  However, the plan was turned down by the National Planning Council of Albania (KRRTRSH). In the meantime, the Municipality announced in 2011 that a new regulatory plan would be prepared within 2012. 

Economy 

Tirana is Albania's heart of economy. It is Albania's major industrial and financial centre. Since the 1920s, it has experienced rapid growth and established many industries for agricultural products and machinery, textiles, pharmaceuticals, metal products, and services. 

Tirana began to develop at the beginning of the 16th century, when a bazaar was established, and its craftsmen manufactured silk and cotton fabrics, leather, ceramics and iron, silver, and gold artifacts. Sited in a fertile plain, the Tirana area exported 2,600 barrels of olive oil and 14,000 packages of tobacco to Venice by 1769.  In 1901, it had 140,000 olive trees, 400 oil mills, and 700 shops. 

The ABA Business Center, the 4ever Green Tower and the TID tower, an 80 m business tower were being constructed in the city. Tirana has malls, such as City Park, QTU and Tirana East Gate.

Environment 

The city suffers from problems related to overpopulation, such as waste management, high levels of air pollution and significant noise pollution. Over the last decades, air pollution has become a pressing concern as the number of cars has increased. These are mostly 1990s and early 2000s diesel cars,  while it is widely believed that the fuel used in Albania contains larger amounts of sulfur and lead than in the European Union. Another source of pollution are PM10 and PM2.5 inhaled particulate matter and NO2 gases   resulting from rapid growth in the construction of new buildings and expanding road infrastructure.  Untreated solid waste is present in the city and outskirts. Additionally, there have been complaints of excessive noise pollution. Despite the problems, the Big Park at the Tirana Artificial Lake has some effect on absorbing CO2 emissions, while over 2 000 trees have been planted around sidewalks. The work of four new parks began in the summer of 2015 located in: Kashar, Farke, Vaqarr, and Dajt. these parks are part of the new urban planning striving to increase the concentration of green spaces in the capital. 

Transport 

The city serves as the meeting point for national roads SH1, SH2 and SH3. Construction of the outer big ring highway started in 2011. In the near future, Tirana will have a transportation hub combining all transportation in one place near Kashar.
Bus 

Local transport within Tirana is by bus or taxi. Official taxis have yellow plates with red text and usually use taximeter.

Coach and minibus (furgon) services also run to the coast and northern and southern Albania from Tirana. International coach services connect to Greece, via Korçë or Kakavije, to Kosovo via the new Durrës-Morine highway, and to the Republic of Macedonia via Struga.

Airport 

Tirana International Airport is Albania's only international airport and is located close to the country’s capital Tirana. The airport is located in the village of Rinas 6 NM northwest  of Tirana.

Rail 

There are passenger services to Durrës and Librazhd, via Elbasan. As of September 2013, the Tirana Railway Station north of Skanderbeg Square was dismantled and moved to Kashar, the latter renovated in May 2015.  The existing line was replaced with a bus service located alongside the coach terminal at the north end of Boulevard Zogu I. The line extending from Librazhd to Pogradec was discontinued in 2012.   There are no international passenger services, although there is a freight-only railway through Shkodër to Montenegro.
In the northwestern district of Tirana, Laprakë a new station will be built, which is planned as a multi-functional terminal for railway, tram and bus. Until its opening, the railway transport between Tirana and Kashar remains closed. 

Sea 

Tirana is served by the port of Durrës, 36 km distant from the capital. Passenger ferries from Durrës sail to Trieste, Ancona, Otranto, Brindisi, Bari, Genoa (Italy), Zadar, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Koper (Slovenia), Bar (Montenegro), Corfu (Greece) and others. Kavaja is included in the Tirana County also.

Bicycle

The Ecovolis bicycle sharing system was launched in 2011.  Bicycles are rented from initially four stations located at Rinia Park and along Deshmoret e Kombit Boulevard. A full day ride costs 100 leks. Cycling in the streets has been regarded as quite dangerous, because bike lanes are narrow and occupied by cars. However, in recent years, Tirana is investing in cycling infrastructure. Bike only lanes are located alongside existing sidewalks on Skanderbeg Square, Lana River and Kavaja Street, while combined bus and bike lanes are located on other main streets to alleviate overall congestion.

Media 

Tirana is the media hub of Albania. The city is home to the headquarters of the Albanian Radio and Television (RTSH), and national commercial broadcasters Top Channel and TV Klan. Radio stations operate in the capital, with the most notable being Radio Tirana, commercial Top Albania Radio and Plus 2 Radio.
Tirana is home to the publication of dailies including Shqip, Zëri i Popullit, Shekulli, Gazeta Shqiptare and Koha Jonë.

Sports 

Tirana is a major centre for sport in Albania. Tirana's sports clubs include KF Tirana, Partizani, and Dinamo. In football, as of April 2012, the Tirana-based teams have won a combined 57 championships out of 72 championships organized by the FSHF, i.e. 79% of them.

In Tirana there are two major stadiums, the Qemal Stafa Stadium, that holds around 20,000 spectators and the Selman Stërmasi stadium which holds around 12,000 spectators. The former was demolished in June 2016 to make way to a new national stadium.  The new stadium called the National Arena will be constructed on the same site of the former Qemal Stafa Stadium and it is planned to open in 2018. It will have an underground parking, a hotel, shops and bars and will be used for entertainment events. Tirana's sports infrastructure is developing fast because of the investments from the municipality and the government. 
From 2007 Tirana Municipality has built up to 80 sport gardens in most of Tirana's neighborhoods. One of the latest projects is the reconstruction of the existing Olympic Park that will provide infrastructure for most intramural sports. 

Gallery

Tirana architecture 2016.jpg|Lana River 
Piazza skanderberg, tirana, 04.JPG|Skanderbeg Square
Piazza skanderberg, tirana, 01.JPG|Skanderbeg Square
Across_the_Scanderbeg_Square_Tirana.jpg|Across the Skanderbeg Square
Tirana-Clock Tower.JPG|thumb|Tirana Clock Tower
Tirana,_New_Pedestrian_Bridge.jpg|New Pedestrian Bridge
Tirana_Rinia_Park_scene.jpg|Rinia Park
Tirana_-_Skanderbeg_monument_by_night.JPG|Skanderbeg Monument by night
Tirana, palazzo dell'università 12.JPG|University of Tirana The European Union (EU) is a politico-economic union of  member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of  , and an estimated population of over 510 million. The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. 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.  Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished.  A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency.

The EU operates through a hybrid system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making.   The seven principal decision-making bodies—known as the institutions of the European Union—are the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the European Court of Auditors.

The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), formed by the Inner Six countries in 1951 and 1958, respectively. The community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has, as yet, ever left the EU, a non-binding referendum in the United Kingdom in June 2016 supported leaving. The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009.

Covering 7.3% of the world population,  the EU in 2014 generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of 18.495 trillion US dollars, constituting approximately 24% of global nominal GDP and 17% when measured in terms of purchasing power parity.  Additionally, 26 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Program. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8, and the G-20. Because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as a current or as a potential superpower. 

History

Preliminary (194557)

After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the extreme nationalism which had devastated the continent.  The 1948 Hague Congress was a pivotal moment in European federal history, as it led to the creation of the European Movement International and of the College of Europe, where Europe's future leaders would live and study together.  1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, which was declared to be "a first step in the federation of Europe."  The supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. 

Treaty of Rome (195792)

In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (EEC) and established a customs union. They also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958.

The EEC and Euratom were created separately from ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly.  The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein (Hallstein Commission) and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand (Armand Commission) and then Étienne Hirsch. Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members.  

Through the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power. Nevertheless, in 1965 an agreement was reached and on 1 July 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities.   Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission (Rey Commission). 

In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark (including Greenland, which later left the Community in 1985, following a dispute over fishing rights), Ireland, and the United Kingdom.  Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum. In 1979, the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held. 

Greece joined in 1981, Portugal and Spain following in 1986.  In 1985, the Schengen Agreement paved the way for the creation of open borders without passport controls between most member states and some non-member states.  In 1986, the European flag began to be used by the Community  and the Single European Act was signed.

In 1990, after the fall of the Eastern Bloc, the former East Germany became part of the Community as part of a reunified Germany.  With further enlargement planned to include the former communist states, as well as Cyprus and Malta, the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the EU were agreed upon in June 1993.

Maastricht Treaty (1992–present) 

The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty—whose main architects were Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand—came into force on 1 November 1993.  The treaty also gave the name European Community to the EEC, even if it was referred as such before the treaty. In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU. In 2002, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. Since then, the eurozone has increased to encompass 19 countries. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the Union. In 2007, Romania and Bulgaria became EU members. The same year, Slovenia adopted the euro, followed in 2008 by Cyprus and Malta, by Slovakia in 2009, by Estonia in 2011, by Latvia in 2014 and by Lithuania in 2015.

On 1 December 2009, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force and reformed many aspects of the EU. In particular, it changed the legal structure of the European Union, merging the EU three pillars system into a single legal entity provisioned with a legal personality, created a permanent President of the European Council, the first of which was Herman Van Rompuy, and strengthened the position of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.  In 2012, the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe."   In 2013, Croatia became the 28th EU member.   

From the beginning of 2010s, the European Union is going through a series of tests, including a debt crisis in some Eurozone countries, increasing migration from Middle Eastern countries, Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU.

Structural evolution

The following timeline illustrates the integration that has led to the formation of the present union, in terms of structural development driven by international treaties:

British withdrawal

A referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union (announced by British Prime Minister David Cameron on 20 February 2016) was held on 23 June 2016, following years of campaigning by eurosceptics. The result gave a majority of with 51.9% to leave, and 48.1% to remain, on a turnout of 72.2% of registered voters. , the UK has not yet initiated the formal withdrawal procedure, and will not leave the EU until either two years after they notify the European Council of their decision to withdraw, or on the coming into force of a withdrawal agreement.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36618317 EU Brexit referendum: UK 'must not delay leaving'], BBC News. Retrieved 24 June 2016.

Geography

The EU's member states cover an area of 4423147 km2.This figure includes the extra-European territories of member states which are part of the European Union and excludes the European territories of member states which are not part of the Union. For more information see Special member state territories and the European Union. The EU's highest peak is Mont Blanc in the Graian Alps,  above sea level.  The lowest points in the EU are Lammefjorden, Denmark and Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands, at 7 m (23 ft) below sea level. 
The landscape, climate, and economy of the EU are influenced by its coastline, which is 65993 km long.

Including the overseas territories of France which are located outside the continent of Europe, but which are members of the union, the EU experiences most types of climate from Arctic (North-East Europe) to tropical (French Guyana), rendering meteorological averages for the EU as a whole meaningless. The majority of the population lives in areas with a temperate maritime climate (North-Western Europe and Central Europe), a Mediterranean climate (Southern Europe), or a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate (Northern Balkans and Central Europe). 

The EU's population is highly urbanised, with some 75% of inhabitants (and growing, projected to be 90% in seven member states by 2020) living in urban areas. Cities are largely spread out across the EU, although with a large grouping in and around the Benelux. An increasing percentage of this is due to low density urban sprawl which is extending into natural areas. In some cases, this urban growth has been due to the influx of EU funds into a region. 

Member states

Through successive enlargements, the European Union has grown from the six founding states—Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands—to the current . Countries accede to the union by becoming party to the founding treaties, thereby subjecting themselves to the privileges and obligations of EU membership. This entails a partial delegation of sovereignty to the institutions in return for representation within those institutions, a practice often referred to as "pooling of sovereignty".  

To become a member, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen. These require a stable democracy that respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. Evaluation of a country's fulfilment of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council.  No member state has yet left the Union, although Greenland (an autonomous province of Denmark) withdrew in 1985.  The Lisbon Treaty now contains a clause under Article 50, providing for a member to leave the EU.  On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom voted by referendum to leave the EU. However, it remains a member until it officially exits, and has not yet begun formal withdrawal procedures.

There are six countries that are recognized as candidates for membership: Albania, Iceland, Macedonia,Referred to by the EU as the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey, though Iceland suspended negotiations in 2013.  Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are officially recognised as potential candidates,  with Bosnia and Herzegovina having submitted a membership application.

The four countries forming the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are not EU members, but have partly committed to the EU's economy and regulations: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which are a part of the single market through the European Economic Area, and Switzerland, which has similar ties through bilateral treaties.  The relationships of the European microstates, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican include the use of the euro and other areas of co-operation.  The following  sovereign states (of which the map only shows territories situated in and around Europe) constitute the European Union: 

File:Member States of the European Union (polar stereographic projection) EN.svg|390px|right|Map showing the member states of the European Union (clickable)
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poly 312 142 307 131 311 123 294 123 279 132 280 142 290 137 295 138 304 141 Estonia
poly 310 164 319 155 318 148 313 142 295 140 298 153 288 149 282 142 277 161 295 158 Latvia
poly 288 180 295 184 301 184 309 178 307 170 312 168 308 162 294 157 279 161 279 174 289 174 Lithuania
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poly 299 251 291 245 270 252 269 257 258 252 249 268 254 271 260 279 268 278 275 274 290 272 294 258 Hungary
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poly 419 384 415 381 421 378 421 373 428 371 435 365 430 374 434 376 424 383 Cyprus
poly 236 248 224 238 221 231 225 227 236 221 240 220 249 225 254 226 260 231 266 230 267 236 261 243 249 245 244 243 Czech Republic
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poly 249 267 253 273 242 279 244 284 236 282 230 281 227 277 229 271 238 272 Slovenia
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rect 224 394 251 405 Malta
poly 14 333 21 334 24 337 27 339 29 333 36 329 33 325 40 319 39 311 43 312 49 298 57 295 54 292 55 289 43 284 42 281 39 280 36 291 36 292 19 313 24 314 20 317 23 318 19 324 19 327 Portugal
poly 41 358 38 355 35 355 37 345 32 338 28 338 29 333 37 329 33 326 39 319 39 311 42 312 49 300 56 295 55 292 54 290 43 283 39 280 42 270 39 269 45 266 50 268 51 264 58 266 69 274 71 272 80 279 89 280 95 283 99 287 102 287 114 299 119 301 120 298 124 301 124 304 127 305 135 308 140 309 140 314 145 339 140 337 133 343 126 339 116 349 113 342 120 345 128 337 132 335 136 338 143 335 139 312 136 316 131 317 128 317 114 320 116 322 104 331 100 338 106 345 98 346 92 353 92 356 85 354 76 361 73 357 71 361 66 357 53 354 53 357 46 355 Spain
poly 100 286 111 297 118 300 119 298 126 302 128 302 128 305 139 307 140 301 144 298 152 296 155 300 157 298 165 304 169 305 189 328 195 318 195 306 192 312 188 311 187 327 170 305 178 298 180 294 173 292 176 288 174 284 179 281 176 276 179 272 175 266 170 267 175 262 180 258 178 255 182 256 186 244 190 240 178 234 173 232 169 227 169 225 165 225 162 220 157 216 155 212 151 212 147 218 142 222 137 221 137 224 133 223 125 220 121 218 124 225 121 230 113 227 111 223 107 224 101 223 97 223 97 232 109 241 111 251 115 258 107 284 France
poly 202 178 209 178 211 181 218 182 216 185 218 187 231 181 235 184 231 187 238 189 238 197 235 201 238 203 240 222 236 220 234 224 223 228 221 230 224 238 232 247 224 255 217 258 211 259 207 257 203 261 199 256 189 255 183 256 185 244 190 241 181 235 178 224 181 214 180 207 185 201 190 195 192 187 197 187 199 189 202 186 Germany
poly 177 225 174 229 172 235 180 237 180 229 Luxembourg
poly 155 210 157 220 166 225 175 232 173 226 178 225 177 215 171 210 164 212 160 209 Belgium
poly 191 188 178 189 162 209 167 209 171 207 170 210 179 215 180 207 188 204 184 200 188 198 Netherlands
poly 201 177 209 177 222 181 228 176 227 159 219 170 221 177 216 175 214 163 218 158 215 143 202 157 Denmark
poly 96 205 102 206 108 204 111 207 114 204 120 205 123 208 134 209 137 208 141 210 150 205 146 204 154 197 156 191 151 188 145 188 149 183 142 163 142 156 139 149 134 147 141 145 149 132 136 130 144 123 157 113 163 103 157 107 158 113 147 121 143 117 140 119 133 119 124 130 123 124 128 118 122 118 115 129 123 124 121 132 115 149 105 146 105 149 100 156 103 157 109 164 118 160 113 150 118 145 119 152 124 150 119 156 124 159 132 158 128 164 127 173 118 173 114 181 119 179 117 183 113 187 107 187 108 190 113 192 118 196 123 197 118 198 113 197 109 199 United Kingdom
poly 102 181 92 179 82 181 79 179 75 173 78 168 89 162 84 159 89 151 98 154 100 153 97 150 104 146 109 147 100 156 108 166 106 174 103 177 Ireland
desc bottom-left

Environment

In 1957, when the EEC was founded, it had no environmental policy.  Over the past 50 years, an increasingly dense network of legislation has been created, extending to all areas of environmental protection, including air pollution, water quality, waste management, nature conservation, and the control of chemicals, industrial hazards and biotechnology.  According to the Institute for European Environmental Policy, environmental law comprises over 500 Directives, Regulations and Decisions, making environmental policy a core area of European politics. 

European policy-makers originally increased the EU's capacity to act on environmental issues by defining it as a trade problem. 
Trade barriers and competitive distortions in the Common Market could emerge due to the different environmental standards in each member state.  In subsequent years, the environment became a formal policy area, with its own policy actors, principles and procedures. The legal basis for EU environmental policy was established with the introduction of the Single European Act in 1987.

Initially, EU environmental policy focused on Europe. More recently, the EU has demonstrated leadership in global environmental governance, e.g. the role of the EU in securing the ratification and coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol despite opposition from the United States. This international dimension is reflected in the EU's Sixth Environmental Action Programme,  which recognises that its objectives can only be achieved if key international agreements are actively supported and properly implemented both at EU level and worldwide. The Lisbon Treaty further strengthened the leadership ambitions.  EU law has played a significant role in improving habitat and species protection in Europe, as well as contributing to improvements in air and water quality and waste management.

Mitigating climate change is one of the top priorities of EU environmental policy. In 2007, member states agreed that, in future, 20% of the energy used across the EU must be renewable, and carbon dioxide emissions have to be lower in 2020 by at least 20% compared to 1990 levels.   The EU has adopted an emissions trading system to incorporate carbon emissions into the economy.  The European Green Capital is an annual award given to cities that focuses on the environment, energy efficiency and quality of life in urban areas to create smart city.

Politics

The European Union operates according to the principles of conferral (which says that it should act only within the limits of the competences conferred on it by the treaties) and of subsidiarity (which says that it should act only where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states acting alone). Laws made by the EU institutions are passed in a variety of forms. Generally speaking, they can be classified into two groups: those which come into force without the necessity for national implementation measures (regulations) and those which specifically require national implementation measures (directives). 

Constitutional nature

The classification of the EU in terms of international or constitutional law has been much debated. It began life as an international organisation and gradually developed into a confederation of states. However, since the mid-1960s it has also added several of the key attributes of a federation, such as the direct effect of the law of the general level of government upon the individual  and majority voting in the decision-making process of the general level of government,  without becoming a federation per se. Scholars thus today see it as an intermediate form lying between a confederation and a federation, being an instance of neither political structure.For example, David Marquand says it is ‘less than a federation but more than a confederation’; Brigid Laffan and Kimmo Kiljunen both see it residing ‘between a confederation and a federation’; Thomas Hueglin and Alan Fenna locate it ‘somewhere between federation and confederation’; and Kalypso Nicolaidis argues ‘it is more than a confederation of sovereign states; ... (however, it) should not become a federal state’. 
Michael Burgess enlarges: the EU 'is not a federation but it is also more than a confederation understood in the classical sense. It exists, then, in a kind of conceptual limbo, a twilight zone ... which has no name'. 
Paul Magnette illuminates the nature of the perceived 'in-betweenness': 'Since the seventeenth century, legal theorists have repeated that only two forms of union between states are possible: either the confederation, born of an international treaty concluded between sovereign states, where all decisions are unanimously adopted by state representatives; or the federal state, established by a constitution, where the law voted on by a bicameral parliament applies directly to the citizens. Tertium non datur. There is no third way ... In these, classic, political terms, the European Union is, strictly speaking, inconceivable'. 
Burgess, Michael (2000) Federalism and European Union: The Building of Europe 1950-2000, Routledge, London, pp. 41-2. Hueglin, Thomas and Fenna, Alan (2006) Comparative Federalism: A Systematic Inquiry, Broadview, Peterborough, p. 13. Kiljunen, Kimmo (2004) The European Constitution in the Making, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, p. 22. Laffan, Brigid (2002) The Future of Europe Debate, Institute of European Affairs, Dublin, p. 10. Magnette, Paul (2005) What Is the European Union? Nature and Prospects, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 4-5, 190. Marquand, David (2006) ‘Federalism and the British: Anatomy of a Neurosis’, in Political Quarterly, Vol. 77, No. 2, p. 175. Nicolaidis, Kalypso (2004) ‘We, the Peoples of Europe ...’, in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 83, No. 6, pp. 101-2. For this reason, the organisation is termed sui generis (incomparable, one of a kind),  although some argue that this designation is no longer valid. 

The organisation has traditionally used the terms "Community" and later "Union" to describe itself. The difficulties of classification involve the difference between national law (where the subjects of the law include natural persons and corporations) and international law (where the subjects include sovereign states and international organizations). They can also be seen in the light of differing European and American constitutional traditions. 
Especially in terms of the European tradition, the term federation is equated with a sovereign federal state in international law; so the EU cannot be called a federation — at least, not without qualification. It is, however, described as being based on a federal model or federal in nature; and so it may be appropriate to consider it a federal union of states, a conceptual structure lying between the confederation of states and the federal state.For the derivation of this concept, see the Introduction of the entry on Federalism. 
Law, John (2013) [http://www.on-federalism.eu/attachments/169_download.pdf "How Can We Define Federalism?"]. Perspectives on Federalism, Vol. 5, No. 3, p. E104. The German Constitutional Court refers to the EU as a Staatenverbund, an intermediate structure between the Staatenbund (confederation of states) and the Bundesstaat (federal state), consistent with this concept. 
This may be a long-lived political form. Professor Andrew Moravcsik claims that the EU is unlikely to develop further into a federal state, but instead has reached maturity as a constitutional system. 

Governance

The European Union has seven institutions: the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the European Court of Auditors. Competence in scrutinising and amending legislation is shared between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, while executive tasks are performed by the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council (not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of the European Union). The monetary policy of the eurozone is determined by the European Central Bank. The interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EU budget is scrutinised by the European Court of Auditors. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area.

European Council

The European Council gives political direction to the EU. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the President of the European Council (currently Donald Tusk), the President of the European Commission and one representative per member state (either its head of state or head of government). The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (currently Federica Mogherini) also takes part in its meetings. It has been described by some as the Union's "supreme political authority".  It is actively involved in the negotiation of treaty changes and defines the EU's policy agenda and strategies.

The European Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreements over controversial issues and policies. It acts externally as a "collective head of state" and ratifies important documents (for example, international agreements and treaties).[https://books.google.com/books?idaMsWxEnaqrUC&pg
PA146 With US or against US?: European trends in American perspective] Parsons, Jabko. European Union Studies Association, p.146:Fourth, the European Council acts a "collective head of state" for the EU.

Tasks for the President of the European Council are ensuring the external representation of the EU,  driving consensus and resolving divergences among member states, both during meetings of the European Council and over the periods between them.

The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an international organisation independent of the EU based in Strasbourg.

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union (also called the "Council"  and the "Council of Ministers", its former title)  forms one half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a government minister from each member state and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed. Notwithstanding its different configurations, it is considered to be one single body.  In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

European Parliament

The European Parliament forms the other half of the EU's legislature.
The 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years on the basis of proportional representation. Although MEPs are elected on a national basis, they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats and is divided into sub-national constituencies where this does not affect the proportional nature of the voting system. 

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union pass legislation jointly in nearly all areas under the ordinary legislative procedure. This also applies to the EU budget. The European Commission is accountable to Parliament, requiring its approval to take office, having to report back to it and subject to motions of censure from it. The President of the European Parliament (currently Martin Schulz) carries out the role of speaker in Parliament and represents it externally. The President and Vice-Presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years. 

European Commission

The European Commission acts as the EU's executive arm and is responsible for initiating legislation and the day-to-day running of the EU. The Commission is also seen as the motor of European integration. It operates as a cabinet government, with 28 Commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state, though Commissioners are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state.

One of the 28 is the President of the European Commission (currently Jean-Claude Juncker) appointed by the European Council. After the President, the most prominent Commissioner is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is ex-officio a Vice-President of the Commission and is also chosen by the European Council.  The other 26 Commissioners are subsequently appointed by the Council of the European Union in agreement with the nominated President. The 28 Commissioners as a single body are subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament.

Budget

The EU had an agreed budget of €120.7 billion for the year 2007 and €864.3 billion for the period 2007–2013,  representing 1.10% and 1.05% of the EU-27's GNI forecast for the respective periods. By comparison, the United Kingdom's expenditure for 2004 was estimated to be €759 billion, and France was estimated to have spent €801 billion. In 1960, the budget of the then European Economic Community was 0.03% of GDP. 

In the 2010 budget of €141.5 billion, the largest single expenditure item is "cohesion & competitiveness" with around 45% of the total budget.  Next comes "agriculture" with approximately 31% of the total. "Rural development, environment and fisheries" takes up around 11%. "Administration" accounts for around 6%. The "EU as a global partner" and "citizenship, freedom, security and justice" bring up the rear with approximately 6% and 1% respectively.

The Court of Auditors is legally obliged to provide the Parliament and the Council with "a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions".  The Court also gives opinions and proposals on financial legislation and anti-fraud actions.  The Parliament uses this to decide whether to approve the Commission's handling of the budget.

The European Court of Auditors has signed off the European Union accounts every year since 2007 and, while making it clear that the European Commission has more work to do, has highlighted that most of the errors take place at national level.   In their report on 2009 the auditors found that five areas of Union expenditure, agriculture and the cohesion fund, were materially affected by error.  The European Commission estimated in 2009 that the financial effect of irregularities was €1,863 million. 

Competences

EU member states retain all powers not explicitly handed to the European Union. In some areas the EU enjoys exclusive competence. These are areas in which member states have renounced any capacity to enact legislation. In other areas the EU and its member states share the competence to legislate. While both can legislate, member states can only legislate to the extent to which the EU has not. In other policy areas the EU can only co-ordinate, support and supplement member state action but cannot enact legislation with the aim of harmonising national laws. 

That a particular policy area falls into a certain category of competence is not necessarily indicative of what legislative procedure is used for enacting legislation within that policy area. Different legislative procedures are used within the same category of competence, and even with the same policy area.

The distribution of competences in various policy areas between Member States and the Union is divided in the following three categories:

Legal system

The EU is based on a series of treaties. These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties.  These are power-giving treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislationSee Article 288 (ex Article 249 TEC) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uriOJ:C:2010:083:0047:0200:EN:PDF eur-lex.europa.eu] which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants.According to the principle of Direct Effect first invoked in the Court of Justice's decision in  See: Craig and de Búrca, ch. 5. The EU has legal personality, with the right to sign agreements and international treaties. 

Under the principle of supremacy, national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, and thus the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions.According to the principle of Supremacy as established by the ECJ in Case 6/64, Falminio Costa v. ENEL [1964] ECR 585. See Craig and de Búrca, ch. 7. See also: Factortame litigation: Factortame Ltd. v. Secretary of State for Transport (No. 2) [1991] 1 AC 603, Solange II (Re Wuensche Handelsgesellschaft, BVerfG decision of 22 October 1986 [1987] 3 CMLR 225,265) and Frontini v. Ministero delle Finanze [1974] 2 CMLR 372; Raoul George Nicolo [1990] 1 CMLR 173.

Courts of Justice

The judicial branch of the EU—formally called the Court of Justice of the European Union—consists of three courts: the Court of Justice, the General Court, and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal. Together they interpret and apply the treaties and the law of the EU. 

The Court of Justice primarily deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions, and cases referred to it by the courts of member states.  The General Court mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts,  and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal adjudicates in disputes between the European Union and its civil service.  Decisions from the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on a point of law. 

Fundamental rights

The treaties declare that the EU itself is "founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities ... in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail." 

In 2009 the Lisbon Treaty gave legal effect to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The charter is a codified catalogue of fundamental rights against which the EU's legal acts can be judged. It consolidates many rights which were previously recognised by the Court of Justice and derived from the "constitutional traditions common to the member states."  The Court of Justice has long recognised fundamental rights and has, on occasion, invalidated EU legislation based on its failure to adhere to those fundamental rights. 

Although signing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership,It is effectively treated as one of the Copenhagen criteria, [http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link
/Documents/AdoptedText/ta08/ERES1610.htm Assembly.coe.int.] It should be noted that this is a political and not a legal requirement for membership.  previously, the EU itself could not accede to the Convention as it is neither a stateThe European Convention on Human Rights was previously only open to members of the Council of Europe ([http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/005.htm Article 59.1 of the Convention]), and even now only states may become member of the Council of Europe ([http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/001.htm Article 4 of the Statute of the Council of Europe]). nor had the competence to accede.Opinion (2/92) of the European Court of Justice on "Accession by the Community to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61994V0002:FR:NOT 1996 E.C.R. I-1759] (in French), ruled that the European Community did not have the competence to accede to the ECHR. The Lisbon Treaty and Protocol 14 to the ECHR have changed this: the former binds the EU to accede to the Convention while the latter formally permits it.

Although, the EU is independent from Council of Europe, they share purpose and ideas especially on rule of law, human rights and democracy. Further European Convention on Human Rights and European Social Charter, the source of law of Charter of Fundamental Rights are created by Council of Europe. The EU also promoted human rights issues in the wider world. The EU opposes the death penalty and has proposed its worldwide abolition. Abolition of the death penalty is a condition for EU membership. 

Acts

The main legal acts of the EU come in three forms: regulations, directives, and decisions. Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures,See: Case 34/73, Variola v. Amministrazione delle Finanze [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri
CELEX:61973J0034:EN:NOT [1973] ECR 981]. and automatically override conflicting domestic provisions. Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them discretion as to how to achieve the result. The details of how they are to be implemented are left to member states.To do otherwise would require the drafting of legislation which would have to cope with the frequently divergent legal systems and administrative systems of all of the now 28 member states. See Craig and de Búrca, p. 115 When the time limit for implementing directives passes, they may, under certain conditions, have direct effect in national law against member states.

Decisions offer an alternative to the two above modes of legislation. They are legal acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a particular member state. They are most often used in competition law, or on rulings on State Aid, but are also frequently used for procedural or administrative matters within the institutions. Regulations, directives, and decisions are of equal legal value and apply without any formal hierarchy. 

Area of freedom, security and justice

Since the creation of the EU in 1993, it has developed its competencies in the area of freedom, security and justice, initially at an intergovernmental level and later by supranationalism. To this end, agencies have been established that co-ordinate associated actions: Europol for co-operation of police forces,  Eurojust for co-operation between prosecutors,  and Frontex for co-operation between border control authorities.  The EU also operates the Schengen Information System which provides a common database for police and immigration authorities. This co-operation had to particularly be developed with the advent of open borders through the Schengen Agreement and the associated cross border crime.

Furthermore, the Union has legislated in areas such as extradition,  family law,  asylum law,  and criminal justice.  Prohibitions against sexual and nationality discrimination have a long standing in the treaties.See Articles 157 (ex Article 141) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uriOJ:C:2010:083:0013:0046:EN:PDF eur-lex.europa.eu] In more recent years, these have been supplemented by powers to legislate against discrimination based on race, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation.See Article 2(7) of the Amsterdam Treaty on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/treaties/dat/11997D/htm/11997D.html#0001010001 eur-lex.europa.eu]  By virtue of these powers, the EU has enacted legislation on sexual discrimination in the work-place, age discrimination, and racial discrimination.Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (OJ L 180, 19 July 2000, p. 22–26); Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ L 303, 2 December 2000, p. 16–22).

Foreign relations

Foreign policy co-operation between member states dates from the establishment of the Community in 1957, when member states negotiated as a bloc in international trade negotiations under the Common Commercial policy.  Steps for a more wide ranging co-ordination in foreign relations began in 1970 with the establishment of European Political Cooperation which created an informal consultation process between member states with the aim of forming common foreign policies. It was not, however, until 1987 when European Political Cooperation was introduced on a formal basis by the Single European Act. EPC was renamed as the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) by the Maastricht Treaty. 

The aims of the CFSP are to promote both the EU's own interests and those of the international community as a whole, including the furtherance of international co-operation, respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.  The CFSP requires unanimity among the member states on the appropriate policy to follow on any particular issue. The unanimity and difficult issues treated under the CFSP sometimes lead to disagreements, such as those which occurred over the war in Iraq. 

The coordinator and representative of the CFSP within the EU is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy who speaks on behalf of the EU in foreign policy and defence matters, and has the task of articulating the positions expressed by the member states on these fields of policy into a common alignment. The High Representative heads up the European External Action Service (EEAS), a unique EU department  that has been officially implemented and operational since 1 December 2010 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.  The EEAS will serve as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the European Union. 

Besides the emerging international policy of the European Union, the international influence of the EU is also felt through enlargement. The perceived benefits of becoming a member of the EU act as an incentive for both political and economic reform in states wishing to fulfil the EU's accession criteria, and are considered an important factor contributing to the reform of European formerly Communist countries.  This influence on the internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".

Military

The predecessors of the European Union were not devised as a military alliance because NATO was largely seen as appropriate and sufficient for defence purposes. 22 EU members are members of NATO  while the remaining member states follow policies of neutrality.  The Western European Union, a military alliance with a mutual defence clause, was disbanded in 2010 as its role had been transferred to the EU. 

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United Kingdom spent $61 billion on defence in 2014, placing it fifth in the world, while France spent $53 billion, the sixth largest.  Together, the UK and France account for approximately 40 per cent of EU's defence budget and 50 per cent of its military capacity.  Both are officially recognised nuclear weapon states holding permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.

Following the Kosovo War in 1999, the European Council agreed that "the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and the readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO". To that end, a number of efforts were made to increase the EU's military capability, notably the Helsinki Headline Goal process. After much discussion, the most concrete result was the EU Battlegroups initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 personnel. 

EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from middle and northern Africa to the western Balkans and western Asia.  EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, European Union Satellite Centre and the European Union Military Staff.  Frontex is an agency of the EU established to manage the cooperation between national border guards securing its external borders. It aims to detect and stop illegal immigration, human trafficking and terrorist infiltration. In December 2015 the European Commission presented its proposal for a new European Border and Coast Guard Agency having a stronger role and mandate along with national authorities for border management. In an EU consisting of 28 members, substantial security and defence co-operation is increasingly relying on collaboration among all member states. 

Humanitarian aid

The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department, or "ECHO", provides humanitarian aid from the EU to developing countries. In 2012, its budget amounted to €874 million, 51% of the budget went to Africa and 20% to Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Pacific, and 20% to the Middle East and Mediterranean. 

Humanitarian aid is financed directly by the budget (70%) as part of the financial instruments for external action and also by the European Development Fund (30%).Mikaela Gavas 2010. [http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id
5078&titleeuropean-development-cooperation-financial-perspectives Financing European development cooperation: the Financial Perspectives 2014–2020.] London: Overseas Development Institute The EU's external action financing is divided into 'geographic' instruments and 'thematic' instruments. The 'geographic' instruments provide aid through the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI, €16.9 billion, 2007–2013), which must spend 95% of its budget on overseas development assistance (ODA), and from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), which contains some relevant programmes. The European Development Fund (EDF, €22.7 bn, 2008–2013) is made up of voluntary contributions by member states, but there is pressure to merge the EDF into the budget-financed instruments to encourage increased contributions to match the 0.7% target and allow the European Parliament greater oversight.

However, five countries have reached the 0.7% target: Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom.   In 2011, EU aid was 0.42% of the EU's GNI making it the world's most generous aid donor.  The previous Commissioner for Aid, Louis Michel, has called for aid to be delivered more rapidly, to greater effect, and on humanitarian principles. 

Economy

The five largest economies in the world according to the IMF by nominal GDP in 2014. 

The European Union has established a single market across the territory of all its members representing 508 million citizens. In 2014, the EU had a combined GDP of 18.640 trillion international dollars, a 20% share of global gross domestic product by purchasing power parity (PPP).  As a political entity the European Union is represented in the World Trade Organization (WTO). EU member states own the estimated largest net wealth in the world, equal to 30% of the $223 trillion global wealth.

19 member states have joined a monetary union known as the eurozone, which uses the Euro as a single currency. The currency union represents 338 million EU citizens. The euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar.   

Of the top 500 largest corporations in the world measured by revenue in 2010, 161 have their headquarters in the EU.  In 2016, unemployment in the EU stood at 8.9%  while inflation was at 2.2%, and the current account balance at −0.9% of GDP.

There is a significant variance for GDP (PPP) per capita within individual EU states. The difference between the richest and poorest regions (276 NUTS-2 regions of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) ranged, in 2014, from 30% of the EU28 average to 539%, or from €8,200 to €148,000 (about US$9,000 to US$162,000).

Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds are supporting the development of underdeveloped regions of the EU. Such regions are primarily located in the states of central and southern Europe.   Several funds provide emergency aid, support for candidate members to transform their country to conform to the EU's standard (Phare, ISPA, and SAPARD), and support to the Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS). TACIS has now become part of the worldwide EuropeAid programme. EU research and technological framework programmes sponsor research conducted by consortia from all EU members to work towards a single European Research Area. 

Internal market

Two of the original core objectives of the European Economic Community were the development of a common market, subsequently becoming a single market, and a customs union between its member states. The single market involves the free circulation of goods, capital, people, and services within the EU,  and the customs union involves the application of a common external tariff on all goods entering the market. Once goods have been admitted into the market they cannot be subjected to customs duties, discriminatory taxes or import quotas, as they travel internally. The non-EU member states of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland participate in the single market but not in the customs union.  Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU. 

Free movement of capital is intended to permit movement of investments such as property purchases and buying of shares between countries.  Until the drive towards economic and monetary union the development of the capital provisions had been slow. Post-Maastricht there has been a rapidly developing corpus of ECJ judgements regarding this initially neglected freedom. The free movement of capital is unique insofar as it is granted equally to non-member states.

The free movement of persons means that EU citizens can move freely between member states to live, work, study or retire in another country. This required the lowering of administrative formalities and recognition of professional qualifications of other states. 

The free movement of services and of establishment allows self-employed persons to move between member states to provide services on a temporary or permanent basis. While services account for 60–70% of GDP, legislation in the area is not as developed as in other areas. This lacuna has been addressed by the recently passed Directive on services in the internal market which aims to liberalise the cross border provision of services.  According to the Treaty the provision of services is a residual freedom that only applies if no other freedom is being exercised.

Monetary union

The creation of a European single currency became an official objective of the European Economic Community in 1969. In 1992, having negotiated the structure and procedures of a currency union, the member states signed the Maastricht Treaty and were legally bound to fulfil the agreed-on rules including the convergence criteria if they wanted to join the monetary union. The states wanting to participate had first to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

In 1999 the currency union started, first as an accounting currency with eleven member states joining. In 2002, the currency was fully put into place, when euro notes and coins were issued and national currencies began to phase out in the eurozone, which by then consisted of 12 member states. The eurozone (constituted by the EU member states which have adopted the euro) has since grown to 19 countries. 

Since its launch the euro has become the second reserve currency in the world with a quarter of foreign exchanges reserves being in euro.  The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it in agreement with the EU, are under the control of the European Central Bank (ECB). 

The ECB is the central bank for the eurozone, and thus controls monetary policy in that area with an agenda to maintain price stability. It is at the centre of the European System of Central Banks, which comprehends all EU national central banks and is controlled by its General Council, consisting of the President of the ECB, who is appointed by the European Council, the Vice-President of the ECB, and the governors of the national central banks of all 28 EU member states. 

The European System of Financial Supervision is an institutional architecture of the EU's framework of financial supervision composed by three authorities: the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority. To complement this framework, there is also a European Systemic Risk Board under the responsibility of the ECB. The aim of this financial control system is to ensure the economic stability of the EU. 

To prevent the joining states from getting into financial trouble or crisis after entering the monetary union, they were obliged in the Maastricht treaty to fulfil important financial obligations and procedures, especially to show budgetary discipline and a high degree of sustainable economic convergence, as well as to avoid excessive government deficits and limit the government debt to a sustainable level.

Energy

In 2006, the EU-27 had a gross inland energy consumption of 1,825 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe). Around 46% of the energy consumed was produced within the member states while 54% was imported. In these statistics, nuclear energy is treated as primary energy produced in the EU, regardless of the source of the uranium, of which less than 3% is produced in the EU.  Nuclear energy and renewable energy are treated differently from oil, gas , and coal in this respect.

The EU has had legislative power in the area of energy policy for most of its existence; this has its roots in the original European Coal and Steel Community. The introduction of a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was approved at the meeting of the European Council in October 2005, and the first draft policy was published in January 2007. 

The EU has five key points in its energy policy: increase competition in the internal market, encourage investment and boost interconnections between electricity grids; diversify energy resources with better systems to respond to a crisis; establish a new treaty framework for energy co-operation with Russia while improving relations with energy-rich states in Central Asia  and North Africa; use existing energy supplies more efficiently while increasing renewable energy commercialisation; and finally increase funding for new energy technologies.

The EU imports 82% of its oil, 57% of its natural gas  and 97.48% of its uranium demands. Because of Europe's dependence on Russian energy the EU is attempting to diversify its energy supply. 

Infrastructure

The EU is working to improve cross-border infrastructure within the EU, for example through the Trans-European Networks (TEN). Projects under TEN include the Channel Tunnel, LGV Est, the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, the Öresund Bridge, the Brenner Base Tunnel and the Strait of Messina Bridge. In 2010 the estimated network covers: 75200 km of roads; 78000 km of railways; 330 airports; 270 maritime harbours; and 210 internal harbours.  

Rail transport in Europe is being synchronised with the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), an initiative to greatly enhance safety, increase efficiency of trains and enhance cross-border interoperability of rail transport in Europe by replacing signalling equipment with digitized mostly wireless versions and by creating a single Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems.

The developing European transport policies will increase the pressure on the environment in many regions by the increased transport network. In the pre-2004 EU members, the major problem in transport deals with congestion and pollution. After the recent enlargement, the new states that joined since 2004 added the problem of solving accessibility to the transport agenda.  The Polish road network was upgraded such as the A4 autostrada.  

The Galileo positioning system is another EU infrastructure project. Galileo is a proposed Satellite navigation system, to be built by the EU and launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). The Galileo project was launched partly to reduce the EU's dependency on the US-operated Global Positioning System, but also to give more complete global coverage and allow for greater accuracy, given the aged nature of the GPS system. 

Agriculture

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the long lasting policies of the European Community.  The policy has the objectives of increasing agricultural production, providing certainty in food supplies, ensuring a high quality of life for farmers, stabilising markets, and ensuring reasonable prices for consumers.Article 39 (ex Article 33) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri
OJ:C:2010:083:0047:0200:EN:PDF eur-lex.europa.eu] It was, until recently, operated by a system of subsidies and market intervention. Until the 1990s, the policy accounted for over 60% of the then European Community's annual budget, and  accounts for around 34%. 

The policy's price controls and market interventions led to considerable overproduction. These were intervention stores of products bought up by the Community to maintain minimum price levels. To dispose of surplus stores, they were often sold on the world market at prices considerably below Community guaranteed prices, or farmers were offered subsidies (amounting to the difference between the Community and world prices) to export their products outside the Community. This system has been criticised for under-cutting farmers outside Europe, especially those in the developing world.  Supporters of CAP argue that the economic support which it gives to farmers provides them with a reasonable standard of living.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the CAP has been subject to a series of reforms. Initially, these reforms included the introduction of set-aside in 1988, where a proportion of farm land was deliberately withdrawn from production, milk quotas and, more recently, the 'de-coupling' (or disassociation) of the money farmers receive from the EU and the amount they produce (by the Fischler reforms in 2004). Agriculture expenditure will move away from subsidy payments linked to specific produce, toward direct payments based on farm size. This is intended to allow the market to dictate production levels. One of these reforms entailed the abolition of the EU's sugar regime, which previously divided the sugar market between member states and certain African-Caribbean nations with a privileged relationship with the EU. 

Competition

The EU operates a competition policy intended to ensure undistorted competition within the single market.Article 3(1)(g) of the Treaty of Rome The Commission as the competition regulator for the single market is responsible for antitrust issues, approving mergers, breaking up cartels, working for economic liberalisation and preventing state aid. 

The Competition Commissioner, currently Margrethe Vestager, is one of the most powerful positions in the Commission, notable for the ability to affect the commercial interests of trans-national corporations.  For example, in 2001 the Commission for the first time prevented a merger between two companies based in the United States (GE and Honeywell) which had already been approved by their national authority.  Another high-profile case against Microsoft, resulted in the Commission fining Microsoft over €777 million following nine years of legal action. 

Demographics

As of 1 January 2016, the population of the European Union is about 510.1 million people. In 2013, 5,075,000 live births were registered and 4,999,200 deaths. The net migration to the EU was +653,100. In 2010, 47.3 million people who lived in the EU were born outside their resident country. This corresponds to 9.4% of the total EU population. Of these, 31.4 million (6.3%) were born outside the EU and 16.0 million (3.2%) were born in another EU member state. The largest absolute numbers of people born outside the EU were in Germany (6.4 million), France (5.1 million), the United Kingdom (4.7 million), Spain (4.1 million), Italy (3.2 million), and the Netherlands (1.4 million). 

Urbanisation

The EU contains 16 cities with populations of over one million. Besides many large cities, the EU also includes several densely populated regions that have no single core but have emerged from the connection of several cities and now encompass large metropolitan areas. The largest are Rhine-Ruhr having approximately 11.5 million inhabitants (Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf et al.), Randstad approx. 7 million (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht et al.), Frankfurt Rhine-Main approx. 5.8 million (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden et al.), the Flemish Diamond approx. 5.5 million (urban area in between Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven and Ghent), Upper Silesia approx. 5.3 million (Katowice, Ostrava) and Øresund approx. 3.7 million (Copenhagen, Malmö). 

Languages

Among the many languages and dialects used in the EU, it has 24 official and working languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish.   Important documents, such as legislation, are translated into every official language.

The European Parliament provides translation into all languages for documents and its plenary sessions.  Some institutions use only a handful of languages as internal working languages.  Catalan, Galician, Basque, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh are not official languages of the EU but have semi-official status in that official translations of the treaties are made into them and citizens of the EU have the right to correspond with the institutions using them.

Language policy is the responsibility of member states, but EU institutions promote the learning of other languages.See Articles 165 and 166 (ex Articles 149 and 150) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri
OJ:C:2010:083:0047:0200:EN:PDF eur-lex.europa.eu]  English is the most widely spoken language in the EU, being spoken by 51% of the EU population when counting both native and non-native speakers.  German is the most widely spoken mother tongue, being spoken by 16% of the EU population. 56% of EU citizens are able to engage in a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue.  Most official languages of the EU belong to the Indo-European language family, except Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian, which belong to the Uralic language family, and Maltese, which is a Semitic language. Most EU official languages are written in the Latin alphabet except Bulgarian, which is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, and Greek, which is written in the Greek alphabet.  These are the three official scripts of the European Union. 

Besides the 24 official languages, there are about 150 regional and minority languages, spoken by up to 50 million people. Although EU programmes can support regional and minority languages, the protection of linguistic rights is a matter for the individual member states. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ratified by most EU states provides general guidelines that states can follow to protect their linguistic heritage.

The European Day of Languages is held annually on 26 September and is aimed at encouraging language learning across Europe.

Religion

The EU is a secular body with no formal connection to any religion. The Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union recognises the "status under national law of churches and religious associations" as well as that of "philosophical and non-confessional organisations".

The preamble to the Treaty on European Union mentions the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe".  Discussion over the draft texts of the European Constitution and later the Treaty of Lisbon included proposals to mention Christianity or God, or both, in the preamble of the text, but the idea faced opposition and was dropped. 

Christians in the EU are divided among members of Catholicism (both Roman and Eastern Rite), numerous Protestant denominations, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 2009, the EU had an estimated Muslim population of 13 million,  and an estimated Jewish population of over a million.  The other world religions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism are also represented in the EU population.

According to new polls about religiosity in the European Union in 2012 by Eurobarometer, Christianity is the largest religion in the European Union, accounting for 72% of the EU population. Catholics are the largest Christian group, accounting for 48% of the EU population, while Protestants make up 12%, Eastern Orthodox make up 8% and other Christians make up 4%. 

Eurostat's Eurobarometer opinion polls showed in 2005 that 52% of EU citizens believed in a God, 27% in "some sort of spirit or life force", and 18% had no form of belief.  Many countries have experienced falling church attendance and membership in recent years.  The countries where the fewest people reported a religious belief were Estonia (16%) and the Czech Republic (19%). The most religious countries were Malta (95%, predominantly Roman Catholic) as well as Cyprus and Romania (both predominantly Orthodox) each with about 90% of citizens professing a belief in God. Across the EU, belief was higher among women, older people, those with religious upbringing, those who left school at 15 or 16 and those "positioning themselves on the right of the political scale".

Education and science

Basic education is an area where the EU's role is limited to supporting national governments. In higher education, the policy was developed in the 1980s in programmes supporting exchanges and mobility. The most visible of these has been the Erasmus Programme, a university exchange programme which began in 1987. In its first 20 years, it has supported international exchange opportunities for well over 1.5 million university and college students and has become a symbol of European student life. 

There are now similar programmes for school pupils and teachers, for trainees in vocational education and training, and for adult learners in the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013. These programmes are designed to encourage a wider knowledge of other countries and to spread good practices in the education and training fields across the EU.   Through its support of the Bologna Process, the EU is supporting comparable standards and compatible degrees across Europe.

Scientific development is facilitated through the EU's Framework Programmes, the first of which started in 1984. The aims of EU policy in this area are to co-ordinate and stimulate research. The independent European Research Council allocates EU funds to European or national research projects.  EU research and technological framework programmes deal in a number of areas, for example energy where the aim is to develop a diverse mix of renewable energy to help the environment and to reduce dependence on imported fuels. 

Health care

Although the EU has no major competences in the field of health care, Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union affirms that "A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities". The European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumers seeks to align national laws on the protection of people's health, on the consumers' rights, on the safety of food and other products.   

Health care in the EU is provided through a wide range of different systems run at the national level. The systems are primarily publicly funded through taxation (universal health care). Private funding for health care may represent personal contributions towards meeting the non-taxpayer refunded portion of health care or may reflect totally private (non-subsidised) health care either paid out of pocket or met by some form of personal or employer funded insurance.

All EU and many other European countries offer their citizens a free European Health Insurance Card which, on a reciprocal basis, provides insurance for emergency medical treatment insurance when visiting other participating European countries.  A directive on cross-border healthcare aims at promoting co-operation on health care between member states and facilitating access to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare for European patients.   

Culture 

Cultural co-operation between member states has been a concern of the EU since its inclusion as a community competency in the Maastricht Treaty.  Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 7-year programme, the European Cultural Month event,  the MEDIA Programme,  and orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra.

The European Capital of Culture programme selects one or more cities in every year to assist the cultural development of that city.  53 EU cities have been part of this initiative up to 2016.

Sport

Sport is mainly the responsibility of the member states or other international organisations, rather than of the EU. However, there are some EU policies that have affected sport, such as the free movement of workers, which was at the core of the Bosman ruling that prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with European citizenship.  The Treaty of Lisbon requires any application of economic rules to take into account the specific nature of sport and its structures based on voluntary activity.  This followed lobbying by governing organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, due to objections over the application of free market principles to sport, which led to an increasing gap between rich and poor clubs.  The EU does fund a programme for Israeli, Jordanian, Irish, and British football coaches, as part of the Football 4 Peace project. 

Association Football is the most popular sport in almost all EU countries. Club teams from the EU are the highest paid in the world. Other team sports like rugby, ice hockey, basketball, cricket, handball, volleyball and water polo are also popular in some member states.

Symbols

The flag of the Union consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background. The blue represents the West, while the number and position of the stars represent completeness and unity, respectively.  Originally designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe, the flag was adopted by the European Communities, the predecessors of the present Union, in 1986.

United in Diversity was adopted as the motto of the Union in the year 2000, having been selected from proposals submitted by school pupils. Since 1985, the flag day of the Union has been Europe Day, on 9 May (the date of the 1950 Schuman declaration). The anthem of the Union is an instrumental version of the prelude to the Ode to Joy, the 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony. The anthem was adopted by European Community leaders in 1985 and has since been played on official occasions. 

Besides naming the continent, the Greek mythological figure of Europa has frequently been employed as a personification of Europe. Known from the myth in which Zeus seduces her in the guise of a white bull, Europa has also been referred to in relation to the present Union. Statues of Europa and the bull decorate several of the Union's institutions and a portrait of her is seen on the 2013 series of Euro banknotes. The bull is, for its part, depicted on all residence permit cards.

Charles the Great, also known as Charlemagne () and later recognized as Pater Europae ("Father of Europe"),      has a symbolic relevance to Europe. The Commission has named one of its central buildings in Brussels after Charlemagne and the city of Aachen has since 1949 awarded the Charlemagne Prize to champions of European unification.  Since 2008, the organisers of this prize, in conjunction with the European Parliament, have awarded the Charlemagne Youth Prize in recognition of similar efforts by young people. 

Media 

Media freedom is a fundamental right that applies to all member states of the European Union and its citizens, as defined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.  Within the EU enlargement process, guaranteeing media freedom is named a "key indicator of a country's readiness to become part of the EU".
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