What is the European Union?
The nutshell
The European Union, or EU, is a group of 27 countries in Europe that work together. The member countries share some rules and trade, so goods and people can move easily from one country to the next.
Every fact on this page comes from official EU guides and non-partisan explainers. Each source tag — like EU — opens where a fact comes from.
The basics
What the EU is
The European Union, or EU, is a group of 27 countries in Europe.EU These countries agreed to work together and share some rules. Each one is called a member country, or a member. The EU is not the same thing as Europe. Some European countries, such as Norway and Switzerland, are not EU members.
The single market
One of the biggest EU rules is the single market, which is a shared trading area. Inside it, goods, services, money and people can move freely between member countries.EU A shop in one member country can sell to another without paying a customs charge, which is a tax on things crossing a border. These four kinds of free movement are known as the four freedoms.
The UK and the EU
The UK was a member of the EU for many years. After a public vote in 2016, the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.HoC Since leaving, the UK is outside the single market and the customs union, which is a group of countries that charge the same taxes on goods coming in from outside.IfG Trade between the UK and the EU is now covered by a separate deal.
What the EU is for
The EU lets its members trade closely and set shared rules together. Some member countries also share a single currency, the euro. Being in the EU has trade-offs. Countries weigh those trade-offs in different ways, which is what the UK vote in 2016 was about.
- The single market lets member countries trade with each other without paying customs charges at the border
- Free movement lets a citizen of one member country live, work and study in any other member country
- Acting together, 27 countries can set shared rules and carry more weight in world trade than one country alone
- Each member country must follow shared EU rules, which limits what it can decide on its own
- Free movement means a member country cannot fully control who arrives to live and work from other member countries
- Every member pays into the shared EU budget, and some decisions are made by EU bodies rather than by each country alone
The deep end6 min
What membership involves
Joining the EU means joining the single market. The single market lets goods, services, capital and people move freely between all member countries, a set of rules known as the four freedoms.EU Members also agree to follow shared EU laws in some areas, and share the cost of running the EU. Some members use a shared currency, the euro, while others keep a national currency. The EU is both a political union, where members agree some rules together, and an economic union, where members trade closely.
How the UK left
The UK had been a member for decades. In 2016 a referendum was held on whether to stay in the EU or leave. A referendum is a public vote on a single question. A majority of votes were for leaving. After several years of talks, the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.HoC A transition period then ran until the end of 2020. Since then the UK has been outside the EU single market and customs union, and trade is covered by a UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.IfG
The trade-offs, and the debate
Being in the EU comes with trade-offs, and this is what the UK debate was about. The single market lets member countries trade without customs charges, and free movement lets citizens live and work across the EU.EU In return, each member follows shared EU rules in some areas, and cannot on its own limit who arrives from other member countries. Whether these trade-offs are worth it is a political question, and voters and parties in the UK have taken different views.