Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

European Union

1951 France, Germany,

Italy, and the Benelux

countries set up European

Coal and Steel Community.

1957 ECSC members sign

Treaty of Rome to set up

European Economic

Community (EEC) and

Euratom, the atomic

energy authority.

1967 ECSC, EEC, and

Euratom merge to form

the European Community.

1979 European Monetary

System begins operation.

1993 Moves toward closer

union result in the

European Union (EU).

2004 Ten more countries

join the EU.

2007 The EU expands

to 27 countries when two

more join.

2013 Croatia joins the EU.

IN THE 75 YEARS BETWEEN 1870-1945, France and

Germany fought each other three times. After the end

of World War II in 1945, they decided to live together

as friends, not enemies, by combining their industrial

strength. Four other countries joined them, and by

1951 the European Steel and Coal Community was

created. Seven years later, the six countries signed the

Treaty of Rome to set up the European Economic

Community. Since then, the Community has

grown into a European Union (EU) of

28 countries, including Britain and the

Republic of Ireland. The EU has a huge

impact on daily life in Europe, from the

price of food to the color of passports. Many Europeans,

however, resist the idea of the EU becoming a “superstate”

with its own army and constitution.

EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION

EU countries first linked their currencies

together in 1979. In 1999, 11 member

countries joined the euro, or single

currency. Euro bank notes and

coins came into use in those

countries in 2002, replacing

national currencies such as the

French franc and German mark.

There are currently 19 members of the

Eurozone, after Lithuania joined in 2015.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Every five years, the voters of Europe elect 751
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)

to represent them in Strasbourg, France. MEPs
have the power to approve or throw out the

Commission (the EU government), reject the
annual budget, and question the Commission

on its policies. The European Parliament is
not as powerful as a national parliament, but

it plays an important part in deciding how
the European Union will develop.

EU MEMBERSHIP

The original members

of the EU were France,

Germany, Netherlands,

Belgium, Luxembourg,

and Italy. Britain, Ireland,

and Denmark joined in

1973, Spain and Portugal in

1981, Greece in 1986, and

Finland, Sweden, and Austria in

1995. Cyprus, Czech Republic,
      Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
      Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia
      joined in 2004. Bulgaria and Romania became
      members in 2007, with Croatia joining in 2013.

WHAT THE EU DOES

The EU looks after farming, fishing,

economic, industrial, and cultural

affairs. It helps the poorer parts of

Europe by building roads, and

paying for education and training

projects. Everybody in the EU holds

a common European passport.

MEPs sit in
a semicircle.

THE FLAG

The flag of the European

Union was first used in 1955 and

consists of 12 five-pointed stars

on a blue background.

EUROPEAN UNION

The EU helps farmers to

produce and sell food.

Countries of Europe

which do not form

part of the EU.

Original members

Current members

Common

passport allows

holder to travel

freely in the EU.

Europe

Europe, history of 195-

Trade and industry

Find out more

JEAN MONNET
French economist Jean
Monnet (1888-1979) helped
set up the European Coal
and Steel Community, and
was its first president. He told
the French government that
this would prevent another
war with Germany.

Euro
coins

A meeting of the

European Parliament

in Strasbourg,

France.

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