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The European Union (EU) is an association of 27 sovereign [[member states of the European Union|member states]], that by treaty have delegated certain of their competences to common institutions, in order to coordinate their policies in a number of areas, without however constituting a new state on top of the member states. Officially established by the [[Treaty of Maastricht]] in 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing [[European Economic Community]].
Thus, 12 states are founding members, namely, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In 1995, Austria, Finland and Sweden entered the EU. Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined in 2004. Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007. Croatia acceded in 2013. The United Kingdom withdrew in 2020 after 47 years of membership. Official candidate states include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, North Macedonia,{{efn|name="FYROM"|Until February 2019, officially referred to by the EU and most other European organisations by the provisional appellation "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", due to a [[Macedonia naming dispute|naming dispute]].}} Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. Morocco's application was rejected by the EEC. Iceland and Switzerland have withdrawn their respective applications. Norway rejected membership in two referendums.
The institutions of the European Union, its parliamentarians, judges, commissioners and secretariat, the governments of its member states as well as their people, all play a role in European Integration. Nevertheless, the question of who plays the key role is disputed as there are different theories on European Integration focusing on different actors and agency.
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[[File:Europe economical bloc.PNG|thumb|right|upright=2.05|Economical integration [[trade bloc|blocs]]]]
Several countries in [[Eastern Europe]] have engaged the EU with the aim to grow economic and political ties. The [[Euronest Parliamentary Assembly]], established in 2003, is the inter-parliamentary forum in which members of the [[European Parliament]] and the national parliaments of [[Ukraine]], [[Moldova]], [[Belarus]], [[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] participate and forge closer political and economic ties with the European Union.<ref>{{cite web| title =Initial Agreement Reached To Establish Parliamentary Assembly Of European Parliament's Eastern Neighbors| url =http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/77332/-initial-agreement-reached-to-establish-parliamentary-assembly-of-european-parliament-s-eastern-neighbors-.html |date=19 May 2009 |agency=Trend News |first1=A. |last1=Huseynbala |first2=J. |last2=Babayeva |website=Turkish Weekly | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110615013815/http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/77332/-initial-agreement-reached-to-establish-parliamentary-assembly-of-european-parliament-s-eastern-neighbors-.html| url-status =dead| archive-date =15 June 2011}}</ref> All of these States participate in the EU's [[Eastern Partnership]] program. The [[Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation]] and the [[Community of Democratic Choice]] are other organizations established to promote European integration, stability, and democracy. On 12 January 2002, the [[European Parliament]] noted that Armenia and Georgia may enter the EU in the future.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.libertas-institut.com/de/PDF/Armenia%20ante%20portas.pdf |first1=Hans-Juergen |last1=Zahorka |title=How Could America Approach the European Union?|website=Libertas-institut.com|access-date=16 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041127211407/http://www.libertas-institut.com/de/PDF/Armenia%20ante%20portas.pdf|archive-date=27 November 2004|url-status=live}}</ref> On 12 March 2024, the European Parliament passed a resolution confirming Armenia meets [[Maastricht Treaty]] [[s:Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union/Title VI: Final Provisions#Article 49|Article 49]] requirements and may apply for EU membership.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/RC-9-2024-0163_EN.html|title=JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on closer ties between the EU and Armenia and the need for a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia | RC-B9-0163/2024 | European Parliament|website=www.europarl.europa.eu}}</ref> Currently, [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] is the only country in the [[Caucasus]] actively seeking EU membership.
===European Security Treaty===
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