The European Union was set up after World War Two. The process of European integration was launched in 1950 when France officially proposed to create the first concrete foundation of a European federation. Six countries (Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) united from the very beginning.

Today, the European Union has 27 Member States after five enlargement waves (1973: Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom; 1981: Greece; 1986: Spain and Portugal; 1995: Austria, Finland and Sweden; 2004: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia - 2007: Bulgaria and Romania). Turkey, Croatia and the former Yougoslavian Republic of Macedonia are candidates. The European Union assists these countries in taking on European Union laws, and provides a range of financial assistance to improve their infrastructure and economy.