Facts about the EU

Featured photo: official flag for digital use

The political centers of the EU

Brussels:

• Seat of European Commission (organ of the EU),
• headquarters of European Council and Council (organs of the EU),
• subsidiary of European Parliament (organ of the EU),
• Seat of the Economic and Social Committee,
• Seat of the Committee of the Regions

Luxembourg:

• seat of Court of Justice of the European Union (organ of the EU),
• seat of Court of Auditors (organ of the EU),
• Subsidiary headquarters of the European Council and Council (organs of the EU),
• Seat of the General Secretariat European Parliament (organ of the EU),
• Seat of European Investment Bank.

Strasburg

• headquarters of European Parliament (organ of the EU)

Frankfurt:

• Seat of European Central Bank (organ of the EU)

The Hague:

• Headquarters of the European Police Office (Europol)

The population & size of the EU

512 710 966 million inhabitants (2018)

4 383 136 square kilometers (2018)

The motto of the EU

The motto in all 24 official languages ​​of the EU:

• Bulgarian: Обединен в многообразието
• Danish: Forenet i mangfoldighed
• English: United in diversity
• English: United in diversity
• Estonian: Ühinenud mitmekesisuses
• Finnish: Moninaisuudessaan yhtenäinen
• French: Unie dans la diversité
• Greek: Ενωμένοι στην πολυμορφία
• Irish: Aontaithe san éagsúlacht
• Italian: Unita nella diversità
• Croatian: Ujedinjeni u različitosti
• Latvian: Vienota dažādībā
• Lithuanian: Suvienijusi įvairovę
• Maltese: Magħquda fid-diversità
• Dutch: In verscheidheid verenigd
• Polish: Zjednoczona w różnorodności
• Portuguese: Unida na diversidade
• Romanian: Uniţi în diversitate
• Swedish: Förenade i mångfalden
• Slovak: Zjednotení v rozmanitosti
• Slovenian: Združena v raznolikosti
• Spanish: Unida en la diversidad
• Czech: Jednotná v rozmanitosti
• Hungarian: Egység a sokféleségben

and on

• Latin: In varietate concordia

The anthem of the EU

More on the anthem in a moment here.

The flag of the EU

The 27 member states the EU

State	Member since	Capital
Belgium	1957	Brussels
Bulgaria	2007	Sofia
Denmark	1973	Copenhagen
Germany	1957/1990	Bonn/Berlin
Estonia	2004	Tallinn
Finland	1995	Helsinki
France	1957	Paris
Greece	1981	Athens
Ireland	1973	Dublin
Italy	1957	Rome
Croatia	2013	Zagreb
Latvia	2004	Riga
Lithuania	2004	Vilnius
Luxembourg	1957	Luxembourg
Malta	2004	Valletta
Netherlands	1957	Amsterdam
Austria	1995	Vienna
Poland	2004	Warschau
Portugal	1986	Lisbon
Romania	2007	Bucharest
Sweden	1995	Stockholm
Slovakia	2004	Bratislava
Slovenia	2004	Ljubljana
Spain	1986	Madrid
Czechia	2004	Prague
Hungary	2004	Budapest
United Kingdom	1973 - 2020 *	London
Cyprus	2004	Nicosia

The 24 official languages ​​of the EU

1. Bulgarian (minority language in Greece, Romania and Hungary)
2. Danish (minority language in Germany and Sweden)
3. German (minority language in Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Hungary)
4. English
5. estnisch
6. finnisch
7. French (minority language in Italy)
8. Greek (minority language in Hungary)
9. irisch
10. Italian (minority language in France and Croatia)
11. Kroatisch
12. lettisch
13. Litauisch
14. Maltese
15. Dutch (minority language in France)
16. Polish (minority language in Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Czech Republic and Hungary)
17. portugiesisch
18. Romanian (minority language in Bulgaria and Hungary)
19. Swedish (minority language in Finland)
20. Slovak (minority language in Austria, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic and Hungary)
21. Slovene (minority language in Italy, Austria and Hungary)
22. Spanish
23. Czech (minority language in Austria and Romania)
24. Hungarian (minority language in Austria, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia)

The three working languages ​​of the EU

1. German          (hardly used anymore)
2. English          (Priority 1)
3. French

The eight currencies of the EU

1. Euro
2. Bulgarian lev
3. Danische Krone
4. Polish zloty
5. Romanian leu
6. Swedish crown
7. Czech koruna
8. Hungarian forint

Who can become a member of the European Union?

The Treaty on European Union states that any European country can apply for membership if it respects the EU's democratic values ​​and is committed to promoting them.

More specifically, a country can only become a member if it meets all the membership criteria:

• political criteria – it must have stable institutions capable of guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law and human rights,
• economic criteria - it must have a functioning market economy and be able to withstand competitive pressures and market forces within the Union,
• legal criteria - it must accept the current EU legislation and its implementation in practice, in particular the main objectives of political, economic and monetary union.

Current candidate countries

• Albania
• Northern Macedonia
• Moldavia
• Montenegro
• Serbia
• Turkey
• Ukraine

Potential further candidate countries

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Kosovo

Countries that have since resigned, have so far refused to join or have withdrawn their application

• Greenland
• Iceland
• Norway
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom

Member states of the Council of Europe that are not yet EU members can certainly be considered for membership. For other states, for example around the Mediterranean, a long-term accession perspective could have a positive effect on both sides.

Further information

If you want to know more about Europe and the European federalists, I recommend the book "Europe is for everyone!"

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