Flag of the European Union.
Organization of European countries, formed in 1993 to oversee their economic and political integration. It was created by the
Maastricht Treaty and ratified by all members of the
European Community (EC), out of which the EU developed. The successful EC had made its members more receptive to greater integration and provided a framework for unified action by member countries in security and foreign policy and for cooperation in police and justice matters. In pursuit of its major goal to create a common monetary system, the EU established the
euro, which replaced the national currencies of 12 of the 15 EU members in 2002. Originally confined to western Europe, the EU enlarged to include several central and eastern European countries in the early 21st century. The EU's principal institutions are the European Community, the Council of Ministers (a forum for individual ministries), the European Commission (an administrative bureaucracy), the
European Parliament, the
European Court of Justice, and the European Central Bank.
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
