European Union

The European Union is a political and economic union, which before the Brexit-Split had 28 members. The Union currently has 27 member states, after the United Kingdom split in 2017. The EU has developed an internal, single-market, as guided by standardized laws governing the 27-member states.

Free movement of people, goods, transportation, services, and capital is the primary goal behind the EU policies within its internal market system. Policies also aim to maintain common trade policies between member-states, enact legislation, and maintain common policies on agriculture, regional development, and fisheries. The Euro Currency which was established in 1999 and became effective in 2002, is made up of 19 member-states which rely on the internal currency for transactional purposes.

The European Union originally comprised of six states, which were coined the title of the Inner Six. These nations were: Luxembourg, France, Belgium, West Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The accession of new member states has helped the EU grow in both size and power. The European Union was established under the Maastricht Treaty and introduced to European citizenship in 1993.

The EU has often been touted as an emerging superpower. In 2012 it received the Nobel Peace Prize, and the EU has had a strong hand in establishing roles in external defense and relations under the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The Union represents diplomatic missions worldwide, representing itself at the World Trade Organization, or (WTO), G7 and G20 summits and the United Nations.

Because it covers such a broad range of member states, the European Union has 24 official languages which it recognizes. All important documents, including legislation, are translated into these languages. Most of the institutions in the EU, including the European Court of Justice and European Central Bank, conduct internal business relying on ‘procedural languages’ to cover the languages spoken by a majority of the member states.

Supranational and intergovernmental decision making in the EU is governed by a hybrid-system. The EU Directives promulgate policy, and then implemented into domestic legislation for member states. There are 7 principle decision making bodies in the EU, which are: the European Council, European Commission, Court of Justice of the European Union, Council of the European Union, European Parliament, European Central Bank, and the European Court of Auditors. The current President of the European Council is Donald Tusk.

In 2016 the EU economy had a GDP of $20 trillion international dollars. Energy, agriculture, banking, and infrastructure, are among the leading economic-drivers of the EU. The Union is soon to be governed under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) after the Brexit-split. This will replace the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC which previously governed data privacy throughout the member states.

The National Law Review covers news from the EU, including financial banking from MiFID and MiFID II after the Brexit-split. The latest details on member states, governance, the economy, and how the Union will be maintain relations with the UK, are also covered on the National Law Review. Visitors will always find the latest stories, news, legislation, and litigation coming from the European Union. And, with new details on GDPR, and upcoming legislation changes being released daily, the National Law Review provides readers with the latest.