1. European Union The European union is a supranational and intergovernmental union of 27 independent, democratic member states. It is the world's largest confederation of independent states, established under that name in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty). However, many aspects of the Union existed before that date through a series of predecessor relationships, dating back to 1951.

2. These are the countries of the E.U. Austria Belgium Bulgaria Denmark Finland France Greece Germany Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Portugal Romania Spain Sweden United Kingdom of Great Britain Northern Ireland