the European Union is a confederation of 28 member countries in Europe, started in 1957 as the European Economic Community(EEC). lt has a common economic area with Europe-wide laws for people to move and trade in other EU countries almost the same as they do in their own. Seventeen of these countries share the same type of money: the euro. The Treaty of Lisbon is the most recent treaty that says. Most importantly, it says which jobs ('powers') the Union should act by voting for or against proposals. The objective of the EU is to bring its member states together with respect of human rights and democracy. lt does this with a common style of passport, common rules about fair trade, common agreements on law enforcement, and other things. Most members share the same currency(the euro) and most let people to travel from one country to another without showing a passport.