Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
The European Union - statistics & facts
The European Union (EU) was established via the Maastricht Treaty in 1993. Today it comprises 27 member states, and is the largest single market in the world. With a population of approximately 450 million people, and a GDP of 18 trillion euros. If the EU were a country, it would be the third largest in the world by both of these metrics. The European Union is foremost a political and economic institution with strong international influence, both economically and politically.
As the EU has grown, it has expanded its activities in areas such as environmental policy, cultural development, integration policy, international exchange, as well as the promotion of human rights. The euro is the EU’s own currency, used by 20 member states; the Schengen Area allows free travel within 25 EU members with limited border controls; and there are 24 official languages used by the EU. The main EU institutions are the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission. Many member states rank very highly in terms of human development, democracy, and freedom. However, the rising threat of nationalism, euroscepticism, and autocratization, economic stagnation, as well as the destabilizing impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, are viewed as the largest threats to the EU’s stability. Nevertheless, the defeat of the former anti-EU Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the Hungarian parliamentary election in 2026 was seen by many as an important step toward European integration.
History of European integration
Following the Second World War, a series of political and economic organizations were founded in Europe to promote peace, cooperation, and integration after decades of conflict and economic shocks. The Council of Europe oversaw the advancement of democracy, while the European Coal and Steel Community dealt with matters of the economy and trade. The Treaty of Rome strengthened these alliances in 1957, and a customs union was established along with the European Economic Community. These organizations were the precursor to the modern European Union, and were fundamental in allowing the decades that followed the war to become the most prosperous in Europe's history. France, West Germany, Italy, and the Benelux countries were at the core of these organizations, with France and Germany as the unofficial leaders of European integration. As the EEC economies outgrew most other Western European economies, membership became more appealing, particularly for the UK, whose international influence waned following the war. The UK joined in 1973, and several other western European states joined by 1986.
The European Union was formally established in 1993, with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President François Mitterrand as its leading architects. This period also coincided with the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, and the subsequent transition to democracy. The Copenhagen criteria were then created at this time to ensure that future members fulfill certain eligibility requirements, related to economics, politics, and human rights to join the EU. By 1995, most Western European countries had joined the EU, with Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland as the main exceptions. In 2002, the eurozone was launched, creating a single monetary area across much of Europe. Unfortunately, the European debt crisis of 2009 meant that economic hardship in some eurozone countries (especially Greece) had a strong ripple effect across the EU. Between 2004 and 2013, many former Eastern Bloc countries also became EU members. The accession of 13 relatively weaker economies into the EU saw a wave of economic migration from these countries to the west and introduced a new dynamic to European integration.
The future of the EU
Recent years have been quite a tumultuous period for the EU, with the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK leading to its withdrawal from the EU in 2020, which was preceded and followed by an arduous negotiation process. The COVID-19 pandemic also highlighted many problems within the EU's system, where bureaucracy delayed the distribution of vaccines across the bloc. However, the EU was also essential to maintaining economic stability during this period by providing economic relief during the Covid pandemic. It is also pushing for increased digitalization and innovation, and aims to make Europe carbon-neutral by 2050. The largest threats to the EU today include the Russia-Ukraine war through consequences such as the rise of pro-Russia parties threatening political unity within the block, as well as market disruptions and rising energy prices as a result of the war. For instance, Hungary's former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was a constant thorn in the side of the EU-leadership, vetoing sanctions against Russia and support packages to Ukraine. Other challenges comprise a common defense policy, climate change, undocumented migration, AI regulation, and the Hamas-Israel War.
