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European Central Bank: BIS

European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON

chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037

telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500

FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador C. Boyden GRAY

embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels

mailing address: same as above

telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222

FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720

Flag description:

blue field with 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle in the center, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed

Economy European Union

Economy - overview:

Internally, the EU is attempting to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from $7,000 to $69,000) and historic national animosities, the EU faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004 and 2007, the EU admitted 10 and two countries, respectively, that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the other 15. Eleven established EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later), but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark chose not to participate. Of the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia (1 January 2007) and Cyprus and Malta (1 January 2008) have adopted the euro; the remaining nine are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$14.38 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$16.62 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

3% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$32,300 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 2%

industry: 27.1%

services: 70.7% (2006 est.)

Labor force:

222.5 million (2006 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 4.4%

industry: 27.1%

services: 67.1%

note: the remainder is in miscellaneous public and private sector industries and services (2002 est.)

Unemployment rate:

8.5% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line:

note - see individual country entries of member states

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.8%

highest 10%: 25.1% (2001 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

30.7 (2003 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

1.8% (2006 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):

21.6% of GDP (2006 est.)

Agriculture - products:

wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes; dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry; fish

Industries:

among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the European Union industrial base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and processing, metal products, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, construction equipment, industrial equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools and automated manufacturing systems, electronics and telecommunications equipment, fishing, food and beverage processing, furniture, paper, textiles, tourism

Industrial production growth rate:

2.7% (2006 est.)

Electricity - production:

3.02 trillion kWh (2004 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

2.82 trillion kWh (2004 est.)

Electricity - exports:

NA kWh

Electricity - imports:

NA kWh

Oil - production:

2.874 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - consumption:

14.55 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - exports:

6.979 million bbl/day (2001)

Oil - imports:

17.71 million bbl/day (2001)

Oil - proved reserves:

7.072 billion bbl (1 January 2005)

Natural gas - production:

215.4 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

496.1 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

76.48 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

361.2 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

3.31 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

$NA

Exports:

$1.33 trillion; note - external exports, excluding intra-EU trade (2005)

Exports - commodities:

machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.

Exports - partners:

US 23.3%, Switzerland 7.6%, Russia 5.2%, China 4.8% (2006)

Imports:

$1.466 trillion; note - external imports, excluding intra-EU trade (2005)

Imports - commodities:

machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing

Imports - partners:

US 13.8%, China 13.4%, Russia 8.2%, Japan 6.2% (2006)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$NA

Currency (code):

euro, British pound, Bulgarian lev, Czech koruna, Danish krone, Estonian kroon, Hungarian forint, Latvian lat, Lithuanian litas, Polish zloty, Romanian leu, Slovak koruna, Swedish krona

Currency code:

EUR

Exchange rates:

euros per US dollar - 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003)

Fiscal year:

NA

Communications European Union

Telephones - main lines in use:

238 million (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

466 million (2005)

Telephone system:

note - see individual country entries of member states

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 930, FM 13,655, shortwave 71 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)

Television broadcast stations:

2,700 (1995); note - sum of individual country television broadcast stations excluding repeaters; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)

Internet country code:

.eu (effective 2005); note - see country entries of member states for individual country codes

Internet hosts:

50.5 million (2005); note - sum of individual country Internet hosts

Internet users:

247 million (2006)

Transportation European Union

Airports:

3,393 (2006)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 1,991

over 3,047m: 110

2,438 to 3,047m: 347

1,524 to 2,437m: 545

914 to 1,523m: 420

under 914m: 569 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 1,373

over 3,047m: 2

2,438 to 3,047m: 5

1,524 to 2,437m: 30

914m to 1,523m: 267

under 914m: 1,043 (2007)

Heliports:

100 (2007)

Railways:

total: 236,436 km

broad gauge: 28,250 km

standard gauge: 200,401 km

narrow gauge: 7,771 km

other: 23 km (2007)

Roadways:

total: 5,269,163 km (includes 56,555 km of expressways)

paved: 4,465,493 km

unpaved: 803,670 km (2006)

Waterways:

52,332 km (2006)

Ports and terminals:

Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Braila (Romania), Bremen (Germany), Burgas (Bulgaria), Constanta (Romania), Copenhagen (Denmark), Galati (Romania), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Naples (Italy), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Riga (Latvia), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), Talinn (Estonia), Tulcea (Romania), Varna (Bulgaria)

Military European Union

Military - note:

the five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and assumed command of the ISAF in Afghanistan in August 2004; Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina; in November 2004, the EU Council of Ministers formally committed to creating 13 1,500-man battle groups by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis; 22 of the EU's 25 nations have agreed to supply troops; France, Italy, and the UK formed the first of three battle groups in 2005; Norway, Sweden, Estonia, and Finland established the Nordic Battle Group effective 1 January 2008; nine other groups are to be formed; a rapid-reaction naval EU Maritime Task Group was stood up in March 2007 (2007)

Transnational Issues European Union

Disputes - international:

as a political union, the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries, but Estonia has no land boundary agreements with Russia, Slovenia disputes its land and maritime boundaries with Croatia, and Spain has territorial and maritime disputes with Morocco and with the UK over Gibraltar; the EU has set up a Schengen area - consisting of 22 EU member states that have signed the convention implementing the Schengen agreements or "acquis" (1985 and 1990) on the free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in Europe; these agreements became incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; in addition, non-EU states Iceland and Norway (as part of the Nordic Union) have been included in the Schengen area since 1996 (full members in 2001), bringing the total current membership to 24; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part in only some aspects of the Schengen area, especially with respect to police and criminal matters; nine of the 12 new member states that joined the EU in 2004 joined Schengen on 21 December 2007; of the three remaining EU states, Cyprus is expected to join by 2009, while Romania and Bulgaria continue to enhance their border security systems

This page was last updated on 15 July, 2008