A unique economic and political partnership between 27 democratic European countries.
Peace, prosperity and freedom for its almost 500 million citizens — in a fairer, safer world.
The member states remain independent sovereign nations but they pool their sovereignty in order to gain a strength and world influence none of them could have on their own.
The EU's decision-making process in general and the co-decision procedure in particular involve three main institutions:
- the European Parliament (EP), which represents the EU's citizens and is directly elected by them
- the Council of the European Union (CEU), which represents the individual member states
- the European Commission (EC), which seeks to uphold the interests of the Union as a whole.
This ‘institutional triangle' produces the policies and laws that apply throughout the EU.
