Title: The EU - what it is and what it does
Headings: What it is and what it does
The European Union
What it is and what it does
1 The European Union in brief
EU Member States and institutions
Member States of the European Union in 2020
The EU treaties
Looking ahead
2 What the European Union does
Health
COVID-19 response
Climate change and the environment
European Green Deal
Climate action
Environment
Transport
Agriculture and rural development
Values and rights, rule of law, security
Digital transformation
Digital economy and society
European democracy
Migration
Migration and asylum
Education, culture, youth and sport
Education and training
Youth
Culture and media
Budget
Budget
COVID-19 response
What the EU does
Health
What the EU does
European Green Deal
What the EU does
Climate action
What the EU does
Environment
What the EU does
Energy
What the EU does
Transport
What the EU does
Agriculture and rural development
What the EU does
Food safety
What the EU does
Maritime affairs and fisheries
What the EU does
Employment and social affairs
What the EU does
Regional policy
What the EU does
Business and industry
What the EU does
Research and innovation
What the EU does
Economy, finance and the euro
What the EU does
Banking and financial services
What the EU does
Single market
What the EU does
Consumers
What the EU does
Competition
What the EU does
Taxation
What the EU does
Customs
What the EU does
International cooperation and development
What the EU does
EU neighbourhood and enlargement
What the EU does
Trade
What the EU does
Humanitarian aid and civil protection
What the EU does
Foreign affairs and security policy
What the EU does
Justice and fundamental rights
What the EU does
Digital economy and society
What the EU does
A safer internet
What the EU does
Migration and asylum
What the EU does
Borders and security
What the EU does
Education and training
What the EU does
Youth
What the EU does
Culture and media
What the EU does
Sport
What the EU does
Budget
What the EU does
Fraud prevention
What the EU does
3 How the European Union makes decisions and takes action
1 WHO IS WHO
The European Parliament
The European Council
The Council
The European Commission
Consultative committees
National parliaments
European Central Bank and European Investment Bank
European Union agencies
2 MAKING DECISIONS
Ordinary legislative procedure
The first reading
The second reading
Who else is consulted?
National oversight
Getting involved as a citizen
Coordinating the policies of Member States – the example of economic policy
Common foreign and security policy
Concluding international agreements
Approving the EU budget
3 ENSURING EU LAWS ARE RESPECTED
How the Court works
Other EU judicial institutions
4 TAKING ACTION: THE EU’S BUDGET
A modern budget for an EU that protects, empowers and defends
About
The European Union – What it is and what it does
Identifiers

Content: The first steps were to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that countries that trade with one another become economically interdependent and so more likely to avoid conflict. The result was the European Economic Community, created in 1958 with the initial aim of increasing economic cooperation between six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Since then, 22 more countries joined (and the United Kingdom left the EU in 2020) and a huge single market (also known as the ‘internal’ market) has been created and continues to develop towards its full potential. What began as a purely economic union has evolved into an organisation spanning many different policy areas, from climate, environment and health to external relations and security, justice and migration. A name change from the European Economic Community to the European Union in 1993 reflected this. The EU has delivered more than half a century of peace, stability and prosperity, helped raise living standards and launched a single European currency: the euro. More than 340 million EU citizens in 19 countries now use it as their currency and enjoy its benefits.