European Union
(EU).
An economic and political union currently consisting of 28 European member states.
The current members are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom (UK).
Brexit
A referendum in the UK in June 2016 resulted in a vote for the UK to begin the process of leaving the EU.
Areas of work
The three areas which form the union are:
- The European Community
- Common Foreign and Security Policy
- Police and Judicial co-operation in Criminal Matters
EU law
The legislature of the EU includes the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission.
The EU's judicial bodies are the European Court of Justice which includes the General Court and the Court of Auditors.
