User:Onen hag oll/Sandbox/Intro

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 countries located primarily in Europe, with a population of over 500 million people. It traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, which was created after World War 2 to bind together the economies of its six founding countries, in the hopes of making another European war impossible. It was incorporated into a new organisation, the European Economic Community, in 1958, which was the basis for today's European Union.

Over the decades since its creation, the EU has grown in size through a process of enlargement, where countries seek to join the EU, and in power through the gradual expansion of its role into new policy areas. In 2009 the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for EU citizens, was was made legally binding on all EU states.

The EU operates above the national level but is more than just an international organisation. Some areas of lawmaking are made solely by the EU's independent institutions, while other areas are made through negotiation between member states. Important institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, the European Council and the European Court of Justice. The European Parliament is the EU's legislative body and is elected every five years by EU citizens.

A key focus of the EU's role is the single market, a trade bloc in which all member states apply the same set of laws, and which ensures the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital. Examples of this are the passport-free Schengen area, the Erasmus student exchange programme and a common currency, the euro. The EU's other roles include making laws on justice and home affairs, and maintaining common policies on trade, agriculture, fishing, the environment and regional development. The EU has also created the Common Foreign and Security Policy, which gives it a limited role in European defence and foreign policy. It has its own diplomatic service and is represented at the United Nations, WTO, G8 and G-20.