History of the European Union

The European Union is a geo-political entity covering a large portion of the European continent. It is founded upon numerous treaties and has undergone expansions that have taken it from 6 member states to 28, a majority of the states in Europe.

Distinct from the ideas of federation, confederation or customs union the main development of the Europe Union has depended on a supranational foundation to ''make war unthinkable and materially impossible'' and reinforce democracy as enunciated by Robert Schuman and other leaders in the Europe Declaration of 1951 and the "Schuman Declaration" (1950). This principle was at the heart of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (1951), the Treaty of Paris (1951), and later the Treaties of Rome (1958) which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC). Both the ECSC and EEC were later incorporated into the European Union while the EAEC maintains a distinct legal identity despite sharing members and institutions.

Member state

A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states; thus, neither organization ever speaks of "members states"; the WTO has simply "members" WTO members, whereas the IMF calls its members "member countries".

Worldwide