Short answers, pulled from the story.
The European Union is a political and economic union of member states located primarily in Europe. It covers a total area of 4,233,255 square kilometres and holds an estimated population of over 450 million as of 2025. Its member states generated a nominal gross domestic product of around 18.802 trillion euros in 2025, roughly one sixth of global economic output.
The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force on the 1st of November 1993, along with EU citizenship. Its main architects were Horst Köhler, Helmut Kohl, and François Mitterrand. The union was incorporated as an international legal person when the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force in 2009.
The European Union traces its beginnings to the Inner Six states: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. These six signed the Treaty of Paris, creating the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952, and the Treaty of Rome in 1957, which created the European Economic Community and Euratom.
The euro is the official currency in 21 member states of the EU, collectively known as the eurozone. Euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 member states in 2002. The euro is the second-largest reserve currency in the world after the United States dollar.
The European Union received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 for having contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe.
The United Kingdom left the European Union on the 31st of January 2020, becoming the only sovereign state to do so. A 2016 referendum saw 51.9 per cent of participants vote to leave, and most EU law continued to apply during a transition period until the 31st of December 2020.
The European Union has seven principal decision-making bodies: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the European Court of Auditors. The European Commission holds the sole power to propose laws, while the European Parliament has 705 members directly elected every five years.