The European Union (EU) is a complex political and economic entity with a somewhat unclear boundary. It consists of 27 member states, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Slovakia, Finland, Ireland, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, and Malta. The EU is expanding, with other countries in various stages of trying to become members.
The EU operates based on three main principles:
1. Countries pay membership dues.
2. They vote on laws that all members must follow.
3. Citizens of member countries are automatically EU citizens as well.
This means that EU citizens can live, work, or retire in any member country. The EU also has the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes countries like Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein that are not EU members but can live in EU countries and vice versa. These countries pay membership fees to the EU but do not have a say in its laws.
The Schengen Area is an agreement between EU countries to take a 'meh' approach to borders, meaning there are no border officers or passport checks. However, this is not appreciated by everyone in the EU, particularly the United Kingdom and Ireland, who argue that islands are different.
The EU has its own currency, the Euro, used by the majority of its members. This economic union is called the Eurozone. To join, a country must first reach certain financial goals. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For instance, Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have asterisks attached to the Euro sections of the treaty giving them a permanent out, while Andorra, San Marino, Monaco, and Vatican City have an asterisk giving them the right to print and use Euros as their money.
The EU also includes the Outermost Regions, which are the Madeira and Canary Islands off the coast of Africa and the Azores in the Atlantic, as well as French Guiana in South America. These are part of the EU because they were once Spanish and Portuguese colonies.
The EU also has Overseas Territories, which are not part of the EU but are associated with it. These territories include the Netherlands, Denmark, and France. The EU law generally does not apply to these places, but the people who live there are generally EU citizens because they have the citizenship of their associated country.
In conclusion, the EU is a complex entity with many overlapping borders and exceptions, making it a unique political and economic entity.
1. The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 member states located primarily in Europe.
2. The official members of the European Union are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Slovakia, Finland, Ireland, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, and Cyprus.
3. The European Union has a complex system of governance where countries pay membership dues, vote on laws they all must follow, and citizens of member countries are automatically European Union citizens.
4. The European Union has an agreement with Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, known as the European Economic Area, where these countries can live in any EU country and EU citizens can live in these countries.
5. The European Union also has the Schengen Area, an agreement between countries to take a 'meh' approach to borders, where international boundaries look like this: no border officers or passport checks of any kind.
6. The European Union has its own currency, the Euro, used by the majority but not all of the European Union members. This economic union is called the Eurozone.
7. The European Union also includes the Outermost Regions, which are the Madeira and Canary Islands off the coast of Africa and the Azores well into the Atlantic, and French territories in the Caribbean, Reunion off the coast of Madagascar, and French Guiana in South America.
8. The European Union also includes Overseas Territories, which are not part of the European Union but are a bottomless well of asterisks due to their complicated relationships with both the European Union and their associated countries.
9. The European Union also includes a number of one-off asterisks, such as the Isle of Man, Spanish Cities in North Africa, Gibraltar, a region in Greece where it's totally legal to ban women, Saba & friends who are part of the Netherlands and should be part of the EU, but aren't, and the Faeroe Islands upon which while citizens of Denmark live they lose their EU citizenship.