European Union
The European Union, referred to as the European Union, is headquartered in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, and was developed from the European Community, with 6 founding member states, namely Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The Alliance now has 27 Member States and 24 official languages.
In December 1991, the Maastricht Summit of the European Community adopted the Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty. On November 1, 1993, the Maastricht Treaty entered into force and the European Union was officially born. In 2012, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The EU treaties have been amended several times and operate in accordance with the Lisbon Treaty. Politically, all member states are democratic, economically the second largest economic entity in the world (among them Germany, France, and the Group of Eight), and militarily the vast majority of EU member states are NATO members.
On June 27, 2020, the European Union identified a list of 15 countries that have resumed opening their external borders since July 1, which does not include the United States.
Candidate countries
At present, the countries listed by the EU as candidates for membership include Turkey and four Western Balkan countries of Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro. The above five countries have been waiting for many years and have not yet become full members. Ukraine is not currently a candidate.
The rest of Europe
Brexit, Russia is reluctant to join, Ukraine and Turkey want to join, in fact, these countries can be divided into these categories:
Reluctance to join the European Union: Russia, Belarus, Switzerland, Norway, Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Vatican City, Monaco, Iceland
Wanted to join the European Union, but the European Union did not agree: Ukraine, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Moldova
Departure from the European Union: The United Kingdom (this alone)