on:
the flag of France is used

Economy Europa Island

Economy - overview:
no economic activity

Industries:
none

Communications Europa Island

Communications - note:
1 meteorological station

Transportation Europa Island

Ports and harbors:
none; offshore anchorage only

Airports:
1 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Military Europa Island

Military - note:
defense is the responsibility of France

Transnational Issues Europa Island

Disputes - international:
claimed by Madagascar

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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@European Union

Introduction European Union

Preliminary statement:
The evolution of the European Union (EU) from a regional economic
agreement among six neighboring states in 1951 to today's
supranational organization of 25 countries across the European
continent stands as an unprecedented phenomenon in the annals of
history. Dynastic unions for territorial consolidation were long the
norm in Europe. On a few occasions even country-level unions were
arranged - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire were examples - but for such a large number
of nation-states to cede some of their sovereignty to an overarching
entity is truly unique. Although the EU is not a federation in the
strict sense, it is far more than a free-trade association such as
ASEAN, NAFTA, or Mercosur, and it has many of the attributes
associated with independent nations: its own flag, anthem, founding
date, and currency, as well as an incipient common foreign and
security policy in its dealings with other nations. In the future,
many of these nation-like characteristics are likely to be expanded.
Thus, inclusion of basic intelligence on the EU has been deemed
appropriate as a new, separate entity in The World Factbook.
However, because of the EU's special status, this description is
placed after the regular country entries.

Background:
Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the
20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became
convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to
unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both
economically and politically. In 1950, the French