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The European Union (EU) is a federation consisting in 27 European democracies and the most far-reaching supranational cooperation in the world. The Union was established on 1 November 1993 and replaced the European Communities. It bears the main responsibility for the completion of the European integration process, which begun in 1952 through the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community, which aimed to end the wars in Europe.
The Union's overarching goal is, under the Treaty on European Union, to promote peace, the values of the Union (such as freedom, democracy and equality) and the welfare of the people. The Union's ambition is to establish an area of freedom, security and justice without internal borders, an internal market with free movement of goods, services, people and capital, an economic and monetary union with a single currency, and to promote its values around around the world, including through a common foreign and security policy.
EU cooperation has been the subject of extensive discussions and is a controversial issue in much of the Union. Critics claim, among other things, that the Union is undemocratic, bureaucratic and too centralized and complex, while the proponents claim that the Union is an important cooperation in developing economic and social prosperity in Europe and in preserving peace since the Second World War.
The European Union was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize with the motivation "for over 60 years to have contributed to peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe"
