The European Union, or EU, describes itself as a family of democratic European countries, committed to working together for peace and prosperity

European Union

History

Maastricht and beyond

Key issues

Reform treaty

New presidency

The organisation oversees co-operation among its members in diverse areas, including trade, the environment, transport and employment.

On 1 May 2004 the EU took in 10 new members, most of them former communist countries, in a huge step along the road towards dismantling the post-World War II division of Europe.

The new joiners were the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

However, plans to introduce a constitution - intended to ensure the smooth running of the enlarged EU - faltered repeatedly at various national referenda until the revised "Lisbon" reform treaty was adopted. It came into force in December 2009.