Over half a century, the European Union has brought political and economic prosperity to its citizens. It has created a frontier-free single market and a single currency, the euro It has reunited a fractured continent.
The EU is a major economic and commercial power and the world’s biggest donor of development aid to poorer countries. Its membership has grown from six to 27 nations, bringing the EU’s population to nearly half a billion.
Not all European countries are, or wish to be, EU members, but the Union welcomes membership applications from any democratic European country. It maintains close and friendly relations with all its neighbours, both in Europe and around the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean.
Though richly diverse, EU countries are untied in their commitment to peace, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. They seek to uphold these values in Europe and beyond, to build and share prosperity, and to exert their collective influence by acting together on the world stage.