European Union

(EU).

An economic and political union of 27 European member states.

The current members are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, 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.

The three areas which form the union are:

• The European Community
• Common Foreign and Security Policy
• Police and Judicial co-operation in Criminal Matters

The legislature of the EU includes the European Parliament, the Council of European Union and the European Commission.

The EU's judicial bodies are the European Court of Justice and the General Court.

See also

• Direct effect
• Directive
• European Commission
• European Community
• European Economic and Monetary Union
• European Economic Area
• European Investment Bank
• Regulation