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.

The UK formally 'triggered' Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in March 2017, starting a two-year period of negotiations over the terms of the exit and arrangements thereafter.

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.

See also

• Article 50
• Brexit
• Brussels
• BUL
• CEBR
• Direct effect
• Directive
• Economic and Financial Affairs Council
• EMIR
• EU 27
• euro zone
• European Commission
• European Community
• European Council
• European Economic and Monetary Union
• European Economic Area
• European Investment Bank
• European Parliament
• NATO
• Official Journal of the European Union
• Payment Services Directive
• Regulation
• Schengen Area