European union (EU)

The European Union or European Community was established by the Maastricht Treaty of December 1991 expanding previous treaties into monetary, security and judicial matters. The union comprises 25 European countries. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom were joined by the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia in May 2004.