Map of the EU
The map of the EU, the European Union and Countries in the EU What is the European Union? The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union, consisting of 27 member states that are subject to the obligations and the privileges of the membership. Every member state is part of the founding treaties of the union and is subjected to binding laws within the common legislative and judicial institutions. In order for the map of the EU to adopt policies that concern defense and foreign affairs, all member states must agree unanimously. The European Union was founded on November 1, 1993 in Maastricht, Netherlands. Before 1993, the EU was not as big as it is today. European countries started to cooperate economically since 1951, when only states such as Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, The Netherlands and Italy participated. Gradually, more countries decided to join. The map which the last to join is Croatia in 2013.
