What does the EU do?

~The European Union acts in a wide range of policy areas — economic, social, regulatory and financial — where its action is beneficial to the member states. These include:
i)Solidarity policies (also known as cohesion policies) in regional, agricultural and social affairs;
ii)Innovation policies, which bring state-of-the-art technologies to fields such as environmental protection, research and development (R & D) and energy.

~The Union funds these policies through an annual budget of more than €120 billion, which is largely paid for by the member states. It represents a small proportion of the EU’s collective wealth (a maximum of 1.24 % of the combined gross national income of all member states).

How does the European union work?

1.The Council of Ministers of the European Union, which represents the member states, is the EU’s main decision-taking body. When it meets at Heads of State or Government level, it becomes the European Council whose role is to provide the EU with political impetus on key issues.
2.The European Parliament, which represents the people, shares legislative and budgetary power with the Council of the European Union.
3.The European Commission, which represents the common interest of the EU, is the main executive body. It has the right to propose legislation and ensures that EU policies are properly implemented.


Some other features:

The European flag
The 12 stars in a circle symbolize the ideals of perfection, completeness and unity.

The European anthem
The melody comes from the Ninth Symphony by Beethoven. When this tune is used as the European anthem, it has no words.

Europe Day, 9 May
The ideas behind what is now the European Union were first put forward on 9 May 1950 in a speech by the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman.
So 9 May is celebrated each year as the EU’s birthday.
"United in diversity" is the motto of the EU.
The euro is the currency of 13 European Union countries:

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A Man Would Do Nothing,
If He Waited Until He
Could Do It So Well
That No One Would Find Fault
With What He Has Done.