eu countries
when was the eu formed
The EU is the abbreviation for the organization known as the European Union.
This is a collaboration between currently 28 different “member states” – or countries in Europe that have decided to join the Union. It was formed in 1993 officially when the Maastricht Treaty was signed, but back then the EU was very different, consisting of fewer countries and with less power.
In 2002, most countries in the EU (but not all) decided to uniformly adopt the euro as the currency they use, making it the second largest reserve currency in the world (after the United States Dollar). The EU was expanded after 2007 when the rules and regulations of the EU were updated in the Lisbon Treaty. The legal structure of the Union was updated to strengthen the union.
Interestingly, the EU has 24 official languages but most EU institutions use a combination of English, French, and German to conduct business rather than translating to all 24.
The countries that are currently a part of the European Union include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
This makes a total of 28 member countries. However, due to a referendum in the United Kingdom in 2016, the British have voted to leave the EU, which will formally happen on March 29, 2019. This will leave the EU with 27 member countries.
