What is European Union?
The European Union (EU) is a political and economic partnership that represents a unique form of cooperation among 27 member states. Built through a series a series of binding treaties, the Union is the latest stage in a process of integration begun after World War ll to promote peace and economic prosperity in Europe. Its founder hoped that by creating specified areas in which member states agreed to share sovereignty – initially in coal and steel production, economics and trade, and nuclear energy – it would promote interdependence and make another war in Europe unthinkable. Since the 1950s, this European integration project has expanded to encompass other economic sectors, a customs union, a single market in which goods, people, and capital move freely, a common trade policy, a common agricultural policy, many aspects of social and environmental policy, and a common currency (the euro) that is used by 17 member states. Since the mid – 1990s, EU member states have also taken significant steps toward political integration, with decision to develop a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and efforts to promote cooperation in the area of justice and Home Affairs (JHA), which is aimed at forging common internal security measures.