The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states, located primarily in Europe.[1][2][3][4] Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community.[5] With about 445 million citizens, the EU generates an estimated 30% share (US$18.4 trillion in 2008) of the nominal gross world product.[6] The EU has seven principal decision-making bodies known as the Institutions of the European Union, while the adoption of laws and coordination of EU policies is the role of the Council of the European Union which currently meets in ten different configurations.
^Jackson, James K. (9 March 2009). "The Financial Crisis: Impact on and Response by the European Union"(PDF). Federation of American Scientists: Congressional Research Service. p. 28. Retrieved 6 July 2009. The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 member states, formally established in 1993 by the Treaty of Maastricht out of existing structures that had evolved in steps since the 1950s.
^Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations. "What is the European Union?". Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009. Europe is a geographical and cultural notion. The European Union is a political and economic union among 27 States on the European continent
^"Cabinet statement on German EU Presidency". Regierung Online. Press and Information Office of the [German] Federal Government. 5 November 2006. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2009. The European Union is a political union...
^"European Union", New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 635, ISBN0-19-860441-6:"an economic and political association of certain European countries as a unit with internal free trade and common external tariffs...."{{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^Craig, Paul; Grainne De Burca; P. P. Craig (2006). EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 15. ISBN978-0-19-927389-8.; "Treaty of Maastricht on European Union". Activities of the European Union. Europa (web portal). Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
^"World Economic Outlook Database, April 2009 Edition". International Monetary Fund. April 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2009. Gross domestic product, current prices; US dollars, Billions; 2007 = 16,927.173 2008=18,394.115 2009=15,342.908 [projection] Gross domestic product based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) valuation of country GDP; Current international dollar, Billions; 2007 = 14,762.109 2008 = 15,247.163 2009 = 14,774.525 [projection] GDP based on PPP share of world total 2007 = 22.605% 2008 = 22.131% 2009 = 21.609% [projection] World "GDP", current prices; US dollars, Billions; 2007 = 54,840.873 2008= 60,689.812 2009= 54,863.551 [projection] These data were published in 2009. Data for 2009 are projections based on a number of assumptions.
