11 Facts About European Union

1. European Union is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.

2. European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty—whose main architects were Horst Kohler, Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand—came into force on 1 November 1993.

3. Main legal acts of the European Union come in three forms: regulations, directives, and decisions.

4. Judicial branch of the European Union is formally called the Court of Justice of the European Union and consists of two courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court.

5. The average annual net earnings in the European Union was around €24,000 in 2015.

6. European Union is the largest exporter in the world and in 2008 was the largest importer of goods and services.

7. The European Union represents all its members at the World Trade Organization, and acts on behalf of member states in any disputes.

8. ECB is the central institution of the Banking European Union established within the eurozone and manages its Single Supervisory Mechanism.

9. On 19 October 2020, the European Union revealed new plans to create a legal structure to act against human rights violations worldwide.

10. Predecessors of the European Union were not devised as a military alliance because NATO was largely seen as appropriate and sufficient for defence purposes.

11. Majority of media in the European Union are national-orientated, although some EU-wide media focusing on European affairs have emerged since the early 1990s, such as Euronews, Eurosport, EUobserver, EURACTIV or Politico Europe.