Guide To: The European Union (Intro)

As a man who enjoys studying history and other subjects, I have decided that in addition to my Weird Crimes of History series, I will do a series that offers a short guide on topics related to history, politics (don't worry, I'm not going to get political. I'm just trying to present the facts on different modern topics like a shorter, more accurate Wikipedia), and other subjects I am interested in that might be useful to somebody else. These guides will help introduce people to different relevant issues of recent history in an easy-to-digest outline format. Today's topic will be an organization that many people may have heard of, but have little to no idea how it works. Today, I will be talking about the European Union.

European Union

• International organization currently comprised of 28 European nations
  • Governs with common economic, social, and security policies for its member states
  • created by the Maastricht Treaty on November 1st, 1993
    • created a single currency (the Euro) to help bring Europe together
    • provided common citizenship rights for all people living in member nations
    • Formed European Central Bank to be central bank of the euro and provide financial stability and manage supply of euros by controlling amount of currency available to member banks
    • Free movement of people within European Union promoted
      • Any EU citizen can move to and remain in another EU country for up to three months
      • EU students may remain in another EU nation for the remainder of their studies, but must show that they have sufficient financial support for their period of study
• In 2012, the European Union was given a Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of organization's effort to promote peace and democracy in Europe