TheEuropean Union is ageo-political entity, created in 1993, covering a large portion of theEuropean continent. It is founded upon numerous treaties and has undergone expansions and secessions that have taken it from sixmember states to 27, a majority of the states in Europe.
Since the beginning of the institutionalised modern European integration in 1948, the development of the European Union has been based on asupranational foundation that would "make war unthinkable and materially impossible"[1][2] and reinforce democracy amongst its members[3] as laid out byRobert Schuman and other leaders in theSchuman Declaration (1950) and theEurope Declaration (1951). This principle was at the heart of theEuropean Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (1951), theTreaty of Paris (1951), and later theTreaty of Rome (1957) which established theEuropean Economic Community (EEC) and theEuropean Atomic Energy Community (EAEC). TheMaastricht Treaty (1992) created theEuropean Union with itspillars system, including foreign and home affairs alongside theEuropean Communities. This in turn led to the creation of the single European currency,the euro (launched 1999). The ECSC expired in 2002. The Maastricht Treaty has been amended by the treaties ofAmsterdam (1997),Nice (2001) andLisbon (2007), the latter merging the three pillars into a single legal entity, though the EAEC has maintained a distinct legal identity despite sharing members and institutions.
The known world inAncient Greece was differentiated into three landmasses:Asia, "Libya" (Africa) andEurope, giving rise to identifying the European landmass as a coherent area, acontinent.
The European landmass was populated and territorialized by many long before its conceptualization as a coherent continent. But theRoman Empire, an empire built on theHellenistic world andAlexandrian Empire,Ancient Egypt, theLevant andNorth Africa, became the first state to control the wholeMediterranean Basin and also large parts, particularly theSouthern andWestern parts of the European landmass. This historic prominence in the Mediterranean Basin and Europe has been invoked by states that came after it, claiming succession to Roman authority and to legitimate their rule over lands throughout the former Romaneucomene, and therefore also in Europe, particularly in Western Europe, the lands of the laterWestern Roman Empire ofLatinRome. The latter established Western Europe as a coherent and independent political area of Europe, which has taken sometimes prominence, as simplythe West, over the concept of Europe. Similarly other concepts for Europe as a coherent political space have been used, such as for exampleFrangistan.
The claims for the succession of the control over the West, afterthe fall of Western Rome in 476 developed into the concept oftranslatio imperii ("transfer of rule") through theKing of Italy, enabling claims by theGoths,Lombards,Frankish Empire (481/800–843) andHoly Roman Empire (800/962–1806).[a]Furthermore, during and after the Roman Empire the conceptrenovatio imperii ("restoration of the empire") was employed,[6] particularly in the forms of the religiously inspiredImperium Christianum ("christian empire"),[7][8] and later theReichsidee ("imperial idea"),[9] to establish and sustain a coherent political region. As such the position and extent of influence of thePapacy over a range of European lands has been a force, while not exclusively European, capable of rallying European powers under a common Christian identity.[10][11][12][13]That said, some European powers, such asFrance (after the installment of theHoly Roman Empire withEast Francia) and thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth challenged the Western Roman authority through theWestern Schism and theItalian Wars, whileEngland, theDutch Republic,Prussia, theSwedish Empire andDenmark–Norway also challenged the Papal one withProtestant Reformation.
The GreekEastern Rome, also called Byzantine Empire, remained long after the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire, sustaining a coherent political space also over large areas of Europe, particularly of (South-)Eastern Europe, or simplythe East, giving rise to the other major particular Europe. With thefall of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453, theOttoman Empire and theRussian Tsardom, and ultimately theEmpire (1547–1917), with Moscow as the so-calledThird Rome, used claims of inheritance of the eastern Roman Empire to legitimate their rule over larger areas of Europe, though not exclusively.[14]
But also otherpolities of Europe have established, independently from Rome and Byzantine, their European realms, such as a range of pre-Roman or pre-Christian Greek, Germanic, Celtic, Slavic and Hungarian powers,Khanates, orAl-Andalus and theSicilian Emirate.
Apart from the ideas offederation,confederation, orcustoms union such asWinston Churchill's 1946 call for a "United States of Europe", the original development of the European Union was based on asupranational foundation that would "make war unthinkable and materially impossible"[1][2] A peaceful means of some consolidation of European territories used to be provided bydynastic unions; less common were country-level unions, such as thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth andAustro-Hungarian Empire.[15]
In 15th century,King of BohemiaGeorge of Poděbrady proposed theTreaty on the Establishment of Peace throughout Christendom which sought to end military conflict between Christian kingdoms of Europe. The treaty proposed a multilateral framework, including a peaceful dispute resolution process, but despite a vigorous promotional campaign, the proposal was ultimately unsuccessful.[16] This effort has been occasionally noted as a first coherent proposal for a proto-European Union.[17]
In theCongress of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1818,Tsar Alexander, as the most advanced internationalist of the day, suggested a kind of permanent European union and even proposed the maintenance of international military forces to provide recognised states with support against changes by violence.[18]
Pan-European political thought truly emerged during the 19th century, inspired by the liberal ideas of theFrench andAmerican Revolutions. The followingNapoleonic Wars andFirst French Empire (1804–1815), brought down theHoly Roman Empire, enablednationalism and following theCongress of Vienna,[19] the ideals of internationalism like withImmanuel Kant and European unity flourished across the continent, especially in the writings ofWojciech Jastrzębowski (1799–1882)[20] orGiuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872).[21] The termUnited States of Europe (French:États-Unis d'Europe) was used at that time byVictor Hugo (1802–1885) during a speech at theInternational Peace Congress held in Paris in 1849:
A day will come when all nations on our continent will form a European brotherhood ... A day will come when we shall see ... the United States of America and the United States of Europe face to face, reaching out for each other across the seas.[22]
During theinterwar period, the consciousness that national markets in Europe were interdependent though confrontational, along with the observation of a larger and growing US market on the other side of the ocean, nourished the urge for the economic integration of the continent.[23] In 1920, advocating the creation of a Europeaneconomic union, the British economistJohn Maynard Keynes wrote that "a Free Trade Union should be established ... to impose no protectionist tariffs whatever against the produce of other members of the Union."[24] During the same decade, theAustrianRichard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, in light of the dissolution of theHabsburg Empire, imagined as one of the first modern political unions of Europe, founded thePan-Europa Movement.[25] His ideas influenced his contemporaries, among whom was then-Prime Minister of FranceAristide Briand. As French prime minister,Nobel Peace Prize laureate for theLocarno Treaties and follower of the Paneuropean Union Aristide Briand delivered a widely recognized speech at theLeague of Nations, the precursor of theUnited Nations,[26] inGeneva on 5 September 1929 for afederal Europe to secure Europe and settle the historicFranco-German enmity.[27][28]
World War II from 1939 to 1945 demonstrated more than ever the horrors of war, but particularly also ofextremism, of discrimination and of genocide. As with devastating wars before, there was a desire to ensure it could never happen again, particularly with the war bringing the worldnuclear weapons. Most European countries failed to maintain theirGreat Power status, with the exception of theSoviet Union, which became a superpower after World War II and maintained that status for 45 years. This left two rival ideologically opposed superpowers.[29]
With large scale war being waged in Europe once again in the 1930s and becomingWorld War II, the question of what to fight against and what for, had to be agreed on. A first agreement was theDeclaration of St James's Palace of 1941, whenEurope's resistance gathered in London. This was expanded on by the 1941Atlantic Charter, establishing theAllies and their common goals, inciting a new wave of global international institutions like theUnited Nations (founded 1945) or theBretton Woods System (1944).[30]
During the1943 Moscow Conference andTehran Conference plans to establish joint institutions for a post-war world and Europe became increasingly an agenda. This led to a decision at theYalta Conference in 1944 to form aEuropean Advisory Commission, later replaced by theCouncil of Foreign Ministers and theAllied Control Council, following the German surrender and thePotsdam Agreement in 1945.
With war still raging, resistance movements formulated their vision of a post-war Europe, theVentotene prison Manifesto of 1941 byAltiero Spinelli propagated European integration through theItalian Resistance and after 1943 through the ItalianEuropean Federalist Movement. In March 1943, in a radio address, theUnited Kingdom's leader SirWinston Churchill spoke warmly of "restoring the true greatness of Europe" once victory had been achieved, and mused on the post-war creation of a "Council of Europe" which would bring the European nations together to build peace.[31][32]
By the end of the war European integration became seen as an antidote to theextreme nationalism which caused the war.[33] On 19 September 1946 in a much recognized speechWinston Churchill reiterated his calls since 1930 for a "European Union" and "Council of Europe", at theUniversity of Zürich. After leaving office, Churchill called as a civilian for aUnited States of Europe. Coincidentally[34] parallel to his speech theHertenstein Congressin the Lucerne Canton was being held, resulting in theUnion of European Federalists,[35] one of the then founded and later constituting members of theEuropean Movement.Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, who successfully established during theinterwar period the oldest organization for European integration, thePaneuropean Union, founded in June 1947 theEuropean Parliamentary Union (EPU). To ensure Germany could never threaten the peace again, its heavy industry was partly dismantled (See:Allied plans for German industry after World War II) and its main coal-producing regions were either awarded to neighbouring countries (Silesia), managed as separate directly by an occupying power (Saarland)[36] or put under international control (Ruhr area).[37][38]
Though by 1947 a growing rift between the western Allied Powers and theSoviet Union became evident as a result of the rigged1947 Polish legislative election which constituted an open breach of theYalta Agreement, followed by the announcement of theTruman Doctrine on 12 March 1947. On 4 March 1947 France and the United Kingdom signed theTreaty of Dunkirk for mutual assistance in the event of future military aggression in the aftermath ofWorld War II against any of the pair. The rationale for the treaty was the threat of a potential future military attack, specifically a Soviet one in practice, though publicised under the disguise of a German one, according to the official statements. Immediately following theFebruary 1948 coup d'état by theCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia, theLondon Six-Power Conference was held, resulting in theSoviet boycott of the Allied Control Council and its incapacitation, an event marking the beginning of theCold War. The remainder of the year 1948 marked the beginning of the institutionalised modern European integration.
With the start of theCold War, theTreaty of Brussels was signed in 1948 establishing theWestern Union (WU) as the first organisation, followed by theInternational Authority for the Ruhr. In the same year, theOrganization for European Economic Co-operation, the predecessor of the OECD, was also founded to manage theMarshall Plan; theEastern Bloc responded with establishing theComecon.
A pivotal moment in European integration was theHague Congress of May 1948, as it led to the creation of theEuropean Movement International, theCollege of Europe[39] and most importantly to the founding of theCouncil of Europe on the 5th of May 1949 (now known asEurope Day). The Council of Europe was the first institution to bring the sovereign nations of Western Europe together, raising great hopes and fevered debates in the following two years for further European integration.[citation needed] It has since been a broad forum to further cooperation and shared issues, achieving things like the 1950-signedEuropean Convention on Human Rights.
Essential for the actual birth of the institutions of the EU was the 9th of May 1950Schuman Declaration (on the day after the fifthVictory Day, today'sEurope day – of the EU). On the basis of that speech, France, Italy, theBenelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands andLuxembourg) together withWest Germany signed theTreaty of Paris (1951) creating theEuropean Coal and Steel Community the following year; this took over the role of theInternational Authority for the Ruhr[37] and lifted some restrictions on German industrial productivity. It gave birth to the first institutions, such as the High Authority (now theEuropean Commission) and the Common Assembly (now theEuropean Parliament). The first presidents of those institutions wereJean Monnet andPaul-Henri Spaak respectively. Thefounding fathers of the European Union understood that coal and steel were the two industries essential for waging war, and believed that by tying their national industries together, a future war between their nations became much less likely.[40] Backed by theMarshall Plan with large funds coming from the United States since 1948, the ECSC became a milestone organization, enabling European economic development and integration and being the origin of the main institutions of the EU such as theEuropean Commission andParliament.[41]
The formation of the European Coal and Steel Community was advanced byAmerican Secretary of StateGeorge C. Marshall. Hisnamesake plan to rebuild Europe in the wake of World War II contributed more than $100 billion in today's[when?] dollars to the Europeans, helping to feed Europeans, deliver steel to rebuild industries, provide coal to warm homes, and construct dams to help provide power. In doing so, the Marshall Plan encouraged the integration of European powers into the European Coal and Steel Community, the precursor to present-day European Union, by illustrating the effects of economic integration and the need for coordination. The potency of the Marshall Plan caused former German ChancellorHelmut Schmidt to remark in 1997 that "America should not forget that the development of the European Union is one of its greatest achievements. Without the Marshall Plan it perhaps would never have come to that."[42][43]
Paralleling Schuman, thePleven Plan of 1951 tried, but failed to tie the institutions of the developing European community under theEuropean Political Community, which was to include the also proposedEuropean Defence Community, an alternative toWest Germany joiningNATO which was established 1949 under theTruman Doctrine.In 1954 theWestern European Union was founded, after NATO took over competences from the WU, and West Germany joined. This prompted theSoviet Union to form theWarsaw Pact in 1955, allowing it to enforce its standing inEastern Europe.
The attempt to turn theSaar protectorate into a "European territory" was rejected by a referendum in 1955. The Saar was to have been governed by a statute supervised by a European Commissioner reporting to the Council of Ministers of theWestern European Union.
After the failed attempts at creating defence (European Defence Community) and political communities (European Political Community), leaders met at theMessina Conference and established theSpaak Committee which produced theSpaak report. The report was accepted at theVenice Conference (29 and 30 May 1956), which decided to organise anIntergovernmental Conference. TheIntergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom focused on economic unity, leading to theTreaties of Rome being signed in 1957 – this established theEuropean Economic Community (EEC) and theEuropean Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) among the members.[44]
The two new communities were created separately from ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The executives of the new communities were called Commissions, as opposed to the "High Authority". The EEC was headed byWalter Hallstein (Hallstein Commission) and Euratom was headed byLouis Armand (Armand Commission) and thenÉtienne Hirsch. Euratom would integrate sectors innuclear energy while the EEC would develop acustoms union between members.[44][45][46]
Throughout the 1960s tensions began to show with France seeking to limit supranational power and rejecting the membership of the United Kingdom. However, in 1965 an agreement was reached to merge the three communities under a single set of institutions, and hence theMerger Treaty was signed in Brussels and came into force on 1 July 1967 creating theEuropean Communities.[47]Jean Reypresided over the first merged Commission (Rey Commission).
While the political progress of the Communities was hesitant in the 1960s, this was a fertile period for European legal integration.[48] Many of the foundational legal doctrines of the Court of Justice were first established in landmark decisions during the 1960s and 1970s, above all in theVan Gend en Loos decision of 1963 that declared the "direct effect" ofEuropean law, that is to say, its enforceability before national courts by private parties.[49] Other landmark decisions during this period includedCosta v ENEL, which established the supremacy of European law over national law[50] and the"Dairy Products" decision, which declared that general international law principles of reciprocity and retaliation were prohibited within the European Community.[51] All three of these judgments were made after the appointment of French judgeRobert Lecourt in 1962, and Lecourt appears to have become a dominant influence on the Court of Justice over the 1960s and 1970s.[52]
After much negotiation, and following a change in theFrench Presidency, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom (withGibraltar) eventually joined the European Communities on 1 January 1973. This was the first of several enlargements which became a major policy area of the Union (see:Enlargement of the European Union).[53]
In 1979, theEuropean Parliament held its first direct elections byuniversal suffrage. 410 members were elected, who then elected the first femalePresident of the European Parliament,Simone Veil.[54]
A further enlargement took place in 1981 with Greece joining on 1 January, six years after applying. In 1982,Greenlandvoted to leave the Community after gaininghome rule from Denmark (See also:Special member state territories and the European Union).Spain and Portugal joined (having applied in 1977) on 1 January 1986 in the third enlargement.[55]
Recently appointed Commission PresidentJacques Delors (Delors Commission) presided over the adoption of theEuropean flag by the Communities in 1986. In the first major revision ofthe treaties since the Merger Treaty, leaders signed theSingle European Act in February 1986. The text dealt with institutional reform, including extension of community powers – in particular in regarding foreign policy. It was a major component in completing the single market and came into force on 1 July 1987.[56]In 1987Turkey formally applied to join the Community and began the longest application process for any country. After the1988 Polish strikes and thePolish Round Table Agreement, the first small signs of opening in Central Europe appeared. The opening of a border gate between Austria and Hungary at thePan-European Picnic on August 19, 1989, then set in motion a peaceful chain reaction, at the end of which there was no longer a GDR and theEastern Bloc had disintegrated.Otto von Habsburg andImre Pozsgay saw the event as an opportunity to testMikhail Gorbachev`s reaction to an opening of theIron Curtain.[57] In particular, it was examined whether Moscow would give the Soviet troops stationed in Hungary the command to intervene.[58] But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic, the subsequent hesitant behavior of theSocialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union broke the dams. So the bracket of the Eastern Bloc was broken and as a result theBerlin Wall fell together with the whole Iron Curtain.[59][60]Germany reunified and the door to enlargement to the formerEastern Bloc was opened (See also:Copenhagen Criteria).[61][62]
With a wave of new enlargements on the way, theMaastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 which established the European Union when it came into force the following year.
On 1 November 1993, under the thirdDelors Commission, the Maastricht Treaty became effective, creating theEuropean Union with itspillar system, including foreign and home affairs alongside theEuropean Community.[63][64] The1994 European elections were held resulting in theParty of European Socialists maintaining their position as the largest party in Parliament. The Council proposedJacques Santer asCommission President but he was seen as a second choice candidate, undermining his position. Parliament narrowly approved Santer buthis commission gained greater support, being approved by 416 votes to 103. Santer had to use his new powers under Maastricht to flex greater control over his choice of Commissioners. They took office on 23 January 1995.[65]
On 30 March 1994, accession negotiations concluded withAustria,Sweden andFinland. Meanwhile,Norway,Iceland andLiechtenstein joined theEuropean Economic Area (which entered into force on 1 January 1994), an organisation that allowedEuropean Free Trade Association states to enter theSingle European Market. The following year, theSchengen Agreement came into force between seven members, expanding to include nearly all others by the end of 1996. The 1990s also saw the further development of theeuro. 1 January 1994 saw the second stage of theEconomic and Monetary Union of the European Union begin with the establishment of theEuropean Monetary Institute and at the start of 1999 the euro as a currency was launched and theEuropean Central Bank was established. On 1 January 2002, notes and coins were put into circulation, replacing the old currencies entirely.
During the 1990s, theconflicts in the Balkans gave impetus to developing the EU'sCommon Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The EU failed to react during the beginning of the conflict, andUN peacekeepers from the Netherlands failed to prevent theSrebrenica massacre (July 1995) inBosnia and Herzegovina, the largest mass murder in Europe since the Second World War. TheNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) finally had tointervene in the war, forcing the combatants to the negotiation table. The early foreign policy experience of the EU led to foreign policy being emphasised in theTreaty of Amsterdam (which created theHigh Representative).[66]
However, any success was overshadowed by the budget crisis in March 1999. The Parliament refused to approve the commission's 1996community's budget on grounds of financial mismanagement, fraud and nepotism. With Parliament ready to throw them out, the entireSanter Commission resigned.[67][68] The post-Delors mood of euroscepticism became entrenched with the Council and Parliament constantly challenging the commission's position in coming years.[69]
In thefollowing elections, the Socialists lost their decades-old majority to the newPeople's Party and the incomingProdi Commission was quick to establish the newEuropean Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).[70] Under the new powers of the Amsterdam Treaty, Prodi was described by some as the 'First Prime Minister of Europe'.[71] On 4 June,Javier Solana was appointed Secretary General of the council and the strengthenedHigh Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy admitted the intervention in Kosovo – Solana was also seen by some as Europe's firstForeign Minister.[72] TheNice Treaty was signed on 26 February 2001 and entered into force on 1 February 2003 which made the final preparations before the2004 enlargement to 10 new members.
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On 10–13 June 2004, the 25 member states participated in the largest trans-national election in history (with the second largest democratic electorate in the world). The result of thesixth Parliamentary election was a second victory for theEuropean People's Party-European Democrats group. It also saw the lowestvoter turnout of 45.5%, the second time it had fallen below 50%.[73] On 22 July 2004,José Manuel Barroso was approved by the new Parliament as the next Commission President. However, his new team of 25 Commissioners faced a tougher road. With Parliament raising objections to a number of his candidates he was forced to withdraw his selection and try once more. The Prodi Commission had to extend their mandate to 22 November after the new line-up of commissioners was finally approved.[74]
A proposedconstitutional treaty was signed byplenipotentiaries from EU member states on 28 October 2004. The document was ratified in most member states, including two positive referendums. Thereferendums that were held in France andthe Netherlands failed however, killing off the treaty. The European Council agreed that the constitution proposal would be abandoned, but most of its changes would be retained in an amending treaty. On 13 December 2007 the treaty was signed, containingopt-outs for the moreeurosceptic members and no state-like elements. The Lisbon treaty finally came into force on 1 December 2009. It created the post ofPresident of the European Council and significantly expanded the post ofHigh Representative. After much debate about what kind of person should be president, the European Council agreed on a low-key personality and choseHerman Van Rompuy while foreign policy-noviceCatherine Ashton became High Representative.
The2009 elections again saw a victory for theEuropean People's Party, despite losing theBritish Conservatives who formed a smaller euroscepticEuropean Conservatives and Reformists grouping with other anti-federalist right wing parties. Parliament's presidency was once again divided between the People's Party and the Socialists, withJerzy Buzek elected as the firstPresident of the European Parliament from an ex-communist country. Barroso was nominated by the council for a second term and received backing from EPP who had declared him as their candidate before the elections. However, the Socialists and Greens led the opposition against him despite not agreeing on an opposing candidate. Parliament finally approved Barroso II, though once more several months behind schedule.
In 2007, thefifth enlargement completed with the accession ofBulgaria andRomania on 1 January 2007. Also, in 2007 Slovenia adopted the euro,[75] Malta and Cyprus in 2008[76] and Slovakia in 2009.
However, trouble developed with existing members as theeurozone entered its first recession in 2008.[77] Members cooperated and the ECB intervened to help restore economic growth and the euro was seen as a safe haven, particularly by those outside such as Iceland.[78][79][80] With the risk of a default inGreece, Ireland, Portugal and other members in late 2009–10, eurozone leaders agreed to provisions for loans to member states who could not raise funds. Accusations that this was a U-turn on the EU treaties, which rule out any bail out of a euro member in order to encourage them to manage their finances better, were countered by the argument that these were loans, not grants, and that neither the EU nor other Member States assumed any liabilities for the debts of the aided countries. WithGreece struggling to restore its finances, other member states also at risk and the repercussions this would have on the rest of the eurozone economy, a loan mechanism was agreed. The crisis also spurred consensus for further economic integration and a range of proposals such as aEuropean Monetary Fund or federal treasury.[81][82][83]
The European Union received the2012 Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy andhuman rights in Europe."[84][85] TheNobel Committee stated that "that dreadful suffering inWorld War II demonstrated the need for a new Europe [...] today war between Germany and France is unthinkable. This shows how, through well-aimed efforts and by building up mutual confidence, historical enemies can become close partners."[86] The Nobel Committee's decision was subject to considerable criticism.[87]
On 1 July 2013, Croatiajoined the EU, and on 1 January 2014 the FrenchIndian Ocean territory ofMayotte was added as an outermost region.[88]
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On 23 June 2016, the citizens of the United Kingdom voted towithdraw from the European Union in a referendum and subsequently became the first and to date only member to triggerArticle 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The vote was in favour of leaving the EU by a margin of 51.9% in favour to 48.1% against.[89] The UK's withdrawal was completed on 31 January 2020.
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After theeconomic crisis caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic the EU leaders agreed for the first time to emit common debt to finance the European Recovery Program calledNext Generation EU(NGEU).[90]
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On 24 February 2022, after massing near the borders of Ukraine, theRussian Armed Forces undertook afull-scale invasion of Ukraine.[91][92]
The European Union imposedheavy sanctions on Russia and agreed on a pooled military aid package to Ukraine for lethal weapons funded via theEuropean Peace Facility off-budget instrument.[93][94] Likewise, neighbouring EU member countries received amass influx of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the conflict over the course of the first weeks of the war.[95] The conflict exposed the EU energy dependency on Russia, deemed as a supplier "explicitly" threatening the EU.[96] This development injected a sense of urgency in the switch towards alternative energy suppliers and further development of clean energy sources.[96]
The European Union since7 October 2023[97], has had to face the resurgence of theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, in particular the attack byHamas in Israel that detonated a conflict first in theGaza Strip, and then gradually wider to includeLebanon,Syria,Iraq,Iran,Yemen and at lastWest Bank[98] andQatar.[99].
Among the challenges of the European Union is the implementation of theEuropean Green Deal. While among the new challenges there isthe governance of AI that must combine the development of this new technology with the intrinsic risks that it brings to the European Union.[100][101][102]
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The European Union must address the new US policy, implemented by Donald Trump's second presidency of the United States in the economic, trade, financial and defense of the European continent. A challenge[103] that places Europe in front of new choices of collaboration and opportunity that requires an unprecedented effort to maintain competitiveness as illustrated in Mario Draghi's report.[104][105]
As of September 2025, despite the efforts of thePresident of the United States, the failure to resolve the war in Ukraine through diplomacy and the pressing need to ensure security both for the part of Ukraine not occupied byRussia and forEurope itself along its entire eastern border, the European Union has adopted a defense plan that calls for strengthening the defenses of individual states in full agreement withNATO.[106][107][108] This plan is becoming increasingly urgent and extraordinary.[109][110]Germany has planned a major rearmament program unseen sinceWorld War II, with major investments in the modernization of its entire defense industry and with the possibility of reinstatement of military conscription.[111][112]Italy has increased its defense industry investments, including in partnership with German defense industry, developing fully or partially shared technologies. The objective is to create the conditions for a unified defense of the European Union, especially fordeterrence against potentially hostile actors, beyond Russia, which is involved in the war with Ukraine. The European Union's defense strategy not only involves strengthening and modernizing the defense sector but also impacts on civilian industries, such as the strengthening of European infrastructure and thespace industry. Furthermore, to be effective and efficient, the European Union's defense strategy requires mutual security guarantees with Russia, as part of the solution to theRusso-Ukrainian War, to ensure a lasting and secure peace between the parties.
Multi-speed Europe is a concept ofdifferentiated integration currently in operation that has recently been given renewed emphasis by a team of independent experts[113] in a report presented at acouncil meeting in Brussels in September 2023.[114][115] "France and Germany are pushing for a larger EU reform before any new member joins the bloc."[116]
Since theend of World War II, mostsovereignEuropean countries have entered into treaties and thereby co-operated and harmonised policies (orpooled sovereignty) in an increasing number of areas, in theEuropean integration project or theconstruction of Europe (French:la construction européenne). The following timeline outlines the legal inception of theEuropean Union (EU)—the principal framework for this unification. The EU inherited many of its presentorganizations,institutions, and responsibilities from theEuropean Communities (EC), which were founded in the 1950s in the spirit of theSchuman Declaration.
| Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside |  European Union(EU) | [Cont.] | ||||||||||||||||
| European Communities(EC) | (Pillar I) | |||||||||||||||||
| European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or EURATOM) | [Cont.] | |||||||||||||||||
 / / / European Coal and Steel Community(ECSC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| European Economic Community(EEC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Schengen Rules | European Community (EC) | |||||||||||||||||
| TREVI | Justice and Home Affairs(JHA,pillar III) | |||||||||||||||||
 / North Atlantic Treaty Organisation(NATO) | [Cont.] | Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters(PJCC,pillar III) | ||||||||||||||||
  Anglo-French alliance | [Defence armhanded toNATO] | European Political Co-operation (EPC) | Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP,pillar II) | |||||||||||||||
 Western Union (WU) |  / Western European Union (WEU) | [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984reactivationhanded to theEU] | ||||||||||||||||
| [Social, cultural taskshanded toCoE] | [Cont.] | |||||||||||||||||
| Council of Europe(CoE) | ||||||||||||||||||
Entente Cordiale S: 8 April 1904 | Davignon report S: 27 October 1970 | European Council conclusions S: 2 December 1975 | ||||||||||||||||
For the last two thousand years, the Christian church has attempted to unify Europe in cultural terms. Christianity did not originate in Europe but, building upon the organisation of the Roman Empire, has tried throughout the Middle Ages to become a Europe-wide organisation.
Und Amerika sollte nicht vergessen, daß die Entstehung der Europäischen Union eine seiner größten Leistungen ist. Ohne den Marshallplan wäre es vielleicht nie dazu gekommen.
Witness the recent words of former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt: 'The United States ought not to forget that the emerging European Union is one of its greatest achievements: it would never have happened without the Marshall Plan.' [The "vielleicht" in the original quote is missing in this translation.]
