What is the EU?

The European Union (EU) was created in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (the TEU), generally called the Maastricht Treaty. The EU consists of three different Communities: the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community), the European Community (the EC, formerly known as the European Economic Community Treaty, or the EEC treaty - also known as the Treaty of Rome), and EURATOM (European Atomic Energy Community Treaty). The EU has what are referred to as 'the three pillars':

The European Union

Common Foreign and Security Policy

ECSC

EC

EURATOM

Justice and Home Affairs Policy

Put simply, the original aim of the Community was economic integration: to create a common market, later defined as a Single Internal Market, in which there could be free movement of goods, persons, services and capital. This was to be achieved by the creation of a free trade area, where Member States agreed to remove all customs duties (import taxes) and quotas (restrictions on the amount of goods imported across Member States' frontiers, or borders) between themselves, and a customs union, in which all members agreed to impose on goods coming into the area from non-member states a common level of duty (the Common Customs Tariff, or CCT).

The three sources of EU law are the Treaties (EC, TEU, etc.), secondary legislation enacted by the EC (such as regulations and directives), and general principles, including fundamental human rights, subsidiarity, and citizenship of the EU for every national of a Member State.

1. Answer the questions:

1) When was the EU created?

2) What was the original aim of the Community?

3) What are the three sources of EU law?

2. Make a summary of the text «What is the EU».