The European Union is the most integrated regional political and economic bloc in the world today, with its headquarters in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

The EU currently has 15 member states, namely France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, and Sweden.

After May 1, the EU will have 10 new member states - Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus.

After the EU expands to 25 countries, its area will reach 4 million square kilometers, its population will increase to 450 million, and its GDP will exceed US$10 trillion.

1. Historical evolution European integration started after World War II. On May 9, 1950, French Foreign Minister Schumann proposed to West German Prime Minister Adenauer that the coal and steel production of the two countries be placed under the management of a high-level supranational agency.

and open the institution to other countries, a proposal echoed by Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

On April 18, 1951, the six countries signed the "European Coal and Steel Association Treaty" in Paris, officially establishing the "European Coal and Steel Association"; on March 25, 1957, the six countries signed the "European Economic Association" in Rome.

The European Economic Community Treaty and the European Atomic Energy Community Treaty, collectively known as the Treaty of Rome, decided to establish the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. The treaty was officially signed on January 1, 1958.

Take effect.

On July 1, 1967, the six countries officially merged the main institutions such as the Council of Ministers and Committees of the "European Economic Community", the "European Atomic Energy Community" and the "European Coal and Steel Community", collectively known as

"European unity".

On December 9, 1991, the European Union held a special summit in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and signed the Treaty on European Economic and Monetary Union and the Treaty on European Political Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty.

On November 1, 1993, the treaty officially came into effect after being ratified by all member states, and the European Union was officially renamed the European Union.

The EU has enlarged five times in its history: the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland were admitted on January 1, 1973; Greece was admitted on January 1, 1981; Spain and Portugal were absorbed on January 1, 1986; January 1, 1995

On March 1, the EU carried out its fourth enlargement, with Austria, Sweden and Finland joining the EU; in December 2002, the EU concluded accession negotiations with Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus.

, it was determined that the above 10 countries would officially join the EU on May 1, 2004. On April 16, 2003, 10 Central and Eastern European candidate countries signed an accession treaty with the EU in Athens, Greece, legally ensuring that the 10 countries would join the EU on time.

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2. Organizational Structure The European Union has five main institutions, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice.

Other important institutions include the European Court of Auditors, the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, Europol and the European Arms Agency.

The European Council meeting (often called the EU Summit or EU Summit) is the EU's highest decision-making body, consisting of the heads of government and heads of state of each member state. The President of the European Commission is also a de facto member of the European Council.

The European Council meets at least 4 times a year, with formal summits held at the end of June and December, special summits in March and October, and additional summits at other times.

The Council of the European Union (referred to as the Council) is the EU's main decision-making body and is composed of ministers from the governments of the EU member states.

The chairmanship is rotated among the member states for a term of 6 months.

The Council of Ministers is mainly responsible for formulating EU laws, regulations and major policies related to EU development and institutional reform; responsible for intergovernmental cooperation and coordination in foreign and security policy, justice, internal affairs, etc.; appointing major EU institutions

responsible person and supervise them.

The Secretary-General of the European Council also serves as the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The current Presidency, the next Presidency and the High Representative form the "troika".

The current Secretary-General and High Representative of the Council of the European Union is Spanish Solana.

The European Commission is the only EU institution with the power to draft decrees. Its main responsibilities are: to implement relevant EU treaties, regulations and decisions made by the EU Council; to submit policy implementation reports and legislative motions to the EU Council and the European Parliament; to handle the daily affairs of the EU

affairs, representing the EU in negotiations on external relations and trade.

The Commission is headquartered in Brussels and has a term of five years.

The European Commission is appointed within six months of each European Parliament election. It is politically accountable to the Parliament, which has the power to dissolve the Commission through a motion to impeach it.

The European Parliament is the only directly elected multinational parliament in the world and the only directly elected institution within the European Union.

In addition to sharing legislative power with the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament also has the power of democratic supervision and decision-making power on the EU budget.