Forgotten World (115): European Union
In a sense, the European Union (EU) is always in the British media, but there is very little talk of the institution itself and how it works – instead we have (often misinformed) stories about a row over the budget or the latest proposal from the Commission.
The EU is now an organisation with 27 member states and 495 million citizens. The total area of the territories of the member states is 4,422,773 km² (1,707,642 sq mi). and the EU would be ranked 7th largest nation on earth if it were regarded as a country (3.0% of world’s total land area). Considered as a single economy, the EU is the largest in the world with a nominal gross domestic product of 11.8 trillion Euros or 16.6 trillion dollars in 2007 amounting to 31% of the world´s total economic output. The EU is also the largest exporter in the world and the second largest importer
It is a democratic institution with the second largest electorate in the world (Indian is the biggest). The European Parliament has 785 members – Germany has the largest number (99) and Malta has the fewest (5). The UK has 78 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). For the purposes of elections to the European Parliament, the UK is divided into twelve regions and each region has between three and ten MEPs. The institution speaks 23 languages with English and French being the two official languages.