member states), a Common Agricultural Policy and a Common Fisheries Policy. The European Union also has various initiatives to co-ordinate activities of the member states. The EU, considered as a unit, has the second largest economy in the world with a nominal GDP of 14.9 trillion USD in 2020. There is also a trend of moving towards increased co-operation in terms of common defense and foreign policy. The union has evolved over time from a primarily economic union to an increasingly political one. This trend is highlighted by the increasing number of policy areas that fall within EU competence; political power has tended to shift upwards from the member states to the EU. The further development of the political competencies of the EU is the subject of heavy debate within and between some member states. Council of Europe The Council of Europe brings together 46 European nations - the entire continent with the exception of Russia, which was expelled in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus. Founded in 1949, it is the oldest of the European organizations, embodying post-war hopes for peaceful co-operation, and is focused on the three statutory aims of promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law. It does not deal with economic matters or defense. Its main achievement is the European Convention on Human Rights, which binds its 46 contracting parties to uphold the basic human rights of their citizens, and the Strasbourg Court which enforces it. The Council of Europe is regarded as a classic intergovernmental organization, with a parliamentary arm, and has none of the supranational powers of the EU – thus it could be compared to a regional version of the United Nations. European Political Community The European Political Community (EPC) was formed in October 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The group first met in October 2022 in Prague, with participants from 44 European countries, as well as representatives of the European Union. Russia and Belarus were not invited to the inaugural meeting. It is envisioned that the group will meet twice in plenary session twice each year. Community of Democratic Choice The Community of Democratic Choice (CDC) was formed in December 2005 at the primary instigation of Ukraine and Georgia, and composed of six Post-Soviet states (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and the three Baltic Assembly members of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and three other countries of Eastern and